The France Sevens, also called the Paris Sevens, is an annual international rugby sevens tournament that is one of ten competitions on the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. The France Sevens is generally held in May or June on the weekend following the London Sevens and is the last competition in the Sevens Series. France has also hosted tournaments within the European Sevens Grand Prix Series, often at Lyon.
History France hosted its first International Sevens tournament at Melun, in the outskirts of Paris, in May 1995.
The 16 team tournament, culminated in a repeat of the pool game between England and France.
Winners of the previous day's clash, a very strong England side captained by Rob Kitchen, took the lead with two tries by player of the tournament Gerry Ainscough, both of which he converted.
Captained by Alain Penaud and including a number of other players with full caps, France recovered and snatched a 21 - 14 victory in the dying minutes of a very high quality game.
From 1996 to 1999 the tournament was known as the Air France Sevens, and in the year 2000 it was part of the inaugural IRB Sevens World Series.
The IRB hosted the tournament at Bordeaux in 2004, before returning to Paris for 2005 and 2006. The event was effectively replaced in the World Sevens Series by the Scotland Sevens at Edinburgh for the 2006-07 season.
Between 2011 and 2015, Lyon hosted a leg of the European circuit, the Sevens Grand Prix Series.
The Sevens World Series returned to France for the 2015–16 season, with the revival of the Paris Sevens tournament in 2016.
International sevens
Invitational tournament YearVenueCup finalPlacingsRefs Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield 1996 Sébastien Charléty Paris38–19n/a 1997 Sébastien Charléty Paris13–7 French Barbariansn/a 1998 Sébastien Charléty Paris33–26 SouthAmerican Barbariansn/a 1999 Sébastien Charléty Paris36–26 French Barbariansn/a
World Rugby Sevens Series Year Venue Cup finalPlacingsRefs Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield 2000 Sébastien Charléty Paris69–10n/aIRB Sevens I – Paris, Rugby7.com. No tournament in the World Series for men's teams played in France from 2001 to 2003 2004Chaban-Delmas Bordeaux28–19IRB Sevens V – Bordeaux, Rugby7.com. 2005 Paris28–19IRB Sevens VI – Paris, Rugby7.com. 2006Sébastien Charléty, Paris33–12IRB Sevens VII – Paris, Rugby7.com. No tournament in the World Series for men's teams played in France from 2007 to 2015 2016Stade Jean-BouinParis29–26Sevens World Series - Leg 9 (Paris) 2015/16 Rugby Archive Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth 2017 Stade Jean-Bouin Paris15–5Sevens World Series - Leg 9 (Paris) 2016/17 Rugby Archive 2018 Stade Jean-Bouin Paris 24–14 IRB Sevens XIX – Paris, Rugby7.com. 2019 Stade Jean-Bouin Paris35–24IRB Sevens XX – Paris, Rugby7.com. World Series tournaments planned for Paris were cancelled in 2020 and 2021, due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse29–17IRB Sevens XXXIII – Toulouse, Rugby7.com.2023Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse24–19 No tournament in the World Series for men's teams played in France from 2024 to 2025 2026 Stade Atlantique Bordeaux TBC 14–5
European Grand Prix In most years since 2011, France has hosted a leg of the Sevens Grand Prix Series, a multi-leg competition sponsored by Rugby Europe every summer involving teams from Europe.
YearVenueCup finalPlacingsRefsLyon Sevens Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth 2011 Matmut Stadium Lyon28–142011 Euro Sevens X – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com. 2012 Matmut Stadium Lyon26–142012 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com. 2013 Matmut Stadium Lyon33–52013 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com. 2014 Matmut Stadium Lyon40–10n/a2014 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com. 2015 Matmut Stadium Lyon20–72015 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com. 2016 No Grand Prix Series event hosted in France for 2016 2017 Gabriel Montpied Clermont17–142017 Euro Grand Prix – Clermont, France, Rugby7.com. 2018 Marcoussis49–72018 Euro Grand Prix – Marcoussis, France, Rugby7.com.
See also France Women's Sevens
References