The 2013 New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament known as the Pub Charity Sevens was hosted in Queenstown, New Zealand, on 12–13 January 2013. It was the 10th and final year Queenstown hosted the event, with matches played at the Queenstown Recreational Ground and Jack Reid Park in Arrowtown.Fond farewell to a southern favourite The Southern Times, 11 January 2013 Sixteen men's provincial teams qualified to compete in the annual national tournament following three regional tournaments (Southern, Central and Northern regions) in November and December.

Format Teams from the 26 Provincial Unions have to qualify to attend at the National Event in Queenstown. The teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers dropped into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl was contested by the third- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the losers in the Bowl quarterfinals dropping into the bracket for the Shield.

Qualifying 2013 Pub Charity Rugby Sevens qualifying began on the 24 November 2012 in Timaru, where 16 teams earned a place in the tournament, this automatically qualified them for the event in Queenstown.

Central Northern Southern

Wairarapa Bush

South Canterbury

Southern Region Otago defeated Canterbury 34-21 in the men's final to claim the Tofa Shield. Canterbury, Tasman, Southland and tournament hosts South Canterbury have all qualified for the men's National Sevens for 2013. Otago are not required to qualify given they host the Nationals in Queenstown but they won the event and so it was down to the other 3 semi-finalists plus the winner of the 5th/6th playoff.

GamesPool stage 24 November 2012Tasman 17–15 Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Otago 43–5 North Otago Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Canterbury 24–5 Mid Canterbury Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Southland 26–12 South Canterbury Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Tasman 17–35 Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Otago 35–21 Mid Canterbury Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012South Canterbury 19–7 North Otago Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Canterbury 19–12 Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Mid Canterbury 19–26 North Otago Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012South Canterbury 7–31 Timaru, New Zealand 5th/6th Playoff 24 November 2012South Canterbury 38–7 North Otago Timaru, New Zealand Semi-finals 24 November 2012Canterbury 26–21 Timaru, New Zealand24 November 2012Otago 43–14 Timaru, New Zealand Final 24 November 2012Otago 34–21 Timaru, New Zealand

Northern Region Of the eight men's teams competing, there were six spots up for grabs for nationals and with the Auckland Barbarians not eligible to qualify it means just one team will miss out. Auckland hosted the Northern Region National Sevens Qualifying tournament at the Waitemata Rugby Club.

Waikato, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty and Northland all qualified for 2013. Thames Valley were the only team to miss out after losing their 6th v 7th playoff 15–10 to Northland.

GamesPool stage 8 December 2012Counties Manukau 24–12 Thames Valley Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Auckland 26–12 Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Counties Manukau– Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Auckland 24–14 Thames Valley Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Bay of Plenty 38–5 Thames Valley Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Auckland 24–5 Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012North Harbour 22–15 Auckland Barbarians Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Waikato 33–12 Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012North Harbour 17–14 Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Waikato 21–12 Auckland Barbarians Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Northland 19–19 Auckland Barbarians Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012Waikato 7–22 Waitemata, New Zealand 7th/8th Playoff 8 December 2012Northland 15–10 Thames Valley Waitemata, New Zealand

Semi-finals 8 December 2012Auckland 19–21 Waitemata, New Zealand8 December 2012North Harbour 24–12 Waitemata, New Zealand Final 8 December 2012Waikato 36–26 Waitemata, New Zealand

Central Region The Men's competition will follow a cross pool structure with teams being split into two pools of three, each team will play all teams from the opposing pool to develop a ranking system for playoffs. Pools were selected based on official rankings from the 2012 National sevens held in Queenstown.

Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wairarapa Bush and Wellington all qualified for the men's 2013 Pub Charity Sevens with Horowhenua Kapiti missing out after finishing 6th.

GamesPool stage 15 December 2012Taranaki 12–33 Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Wellington 26–7 Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Horowhenua Kapiti 12–17 Wairarapa Bush Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Wellington 5–26 Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Taranaki 43–7 Wairarapa Bush Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Horowhenua Kapiti 5–22 Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Wellington 17–26 Wairarapa Bush Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Horowhenua Kapiti 0–41 Palmerston North, New Zealand15 December 2012Taranaki 12–14 Palmerston North, New Zealand 3rd/4th Playoff 15 December 2012Wairarapa Bush 0–29 Taranaki Palmerston North, New Zealand 5th/6th Playoff 15 December 2012Wellington 33–5 Horowhenua Kapiti Palmerston North, New Zealand Final 15 December 2012Manawatu 19–47 Palmerston North, New Zealand

Pool stage The first round, or pool stage, saw the 16 teams divided into four pools of four teams. Each pool was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams were awarded three points for a win, two points for a draw and one for a defeat.

The teams finishing in the top two of each pool advanced to the cup quarterfinals.

Key to colours in group tablesTeams that advance to the Cup Quarterfinal Pld = matches played, W = matches won, D = draws, L = losses, TF = tries for, PF = match points for, PA = match points against, +/− = sum total of points for/against, Pts = pool points

Pool A TeamPldWDLPFPA+/−Pts33009531+64932017257+15731025372−195South Canterbury30033191−603

Pool B TeamPldWDLPFPA+/−Pts32108938+51832018153+28731118148+336Wairarapa Bush300315127−1123

Pool C TeamPldWDLPFPA+/−Pts32015839+19732015552+3731027358+15531023572−375

Pool D TeamsPldWDLPFPA+/−Pts33005541+14932016139+22731023949−10530033965−263

Knockout stage

Shield

Bowl

Plate

Cup

References

"Waikato suffer surprise losses at national sevens" Fairfax NZ News, 13 January 2013

External links Official site