Rugby World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) was the former quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it consisted of men's and women's tournaments, and was the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.

The first tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, and was won by England. The winners of the men's tournament were awarded the Melrose Cup, named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first rugby sevens game was played. A women's tournament was introduced at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, and was first won by Australia.

After the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, the tournament took an extended, five-year hiatus to allow the integration of rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics into the competitive calendar. The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Cape Town Stadium, in Cape Town, South Africa, with Fiji winning the men's tournament and Australia winning the women's tournament.

In January 2025, it was reported that World Rugby will not schedule future Rugby World Cup Sevens, instead crowning the winners of the SVNS tournament series as world champion.

History The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Board. The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1993, and has been held every four years since. England won the inaugural tournament, defeating Australia 21–17 in the final.

Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, hosted the 1997 event. The final was won by Fiji over South Africa. The 2001 tournament was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong.

At the 2009 tournament, Wales, Samoa, Argentina and Kenya combined to stun the rugby world by defeating the traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, England, South Africa and Fiji in the quarter-finals, guaranteeing a new Melrose Cup winner. Wales and Argentina met in the final, with Wales triumphing 19–12.

The IRB made a submission to the International Olympic Committee in 2005 for rugby sevens to become an Olympic sport. However, the submission failed because committee members felt IRB needed to improve promotion of the women's game. To that end, the IRB implemented the first women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in 2009. The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Dubai during the first weekend of March 2009 and included a separate women's tournament. Cumulative attendance was 78,000., ESPN, (13 August 2009), Retrieved 29 March 2011

Prior to the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, the IRB stated that their intention would be to end the World Cup Sevens so that the Olympic Games would be the one pinnacle in a four-year cycle for Rugby Sevens.RWC Sevens to be scrapped for Olympics, ESPN, 27 May 2009 Retrieved 24 February 2011 The adoption of rugby sevens and golf was recommended to the full International Olympic Committee council by its executive board in August 2009.Lowe, Alex (7 October 2009). "Lomu lends his weight to rugby sevens Olympic bid", The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 March 2011 The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 for rugby sevens to become a medal event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.John Duce, (27 March 2011). "New Zealand Beat England 29–17 to Win Hong Kong Rugby Sevens", Bloomberg, Retrieved 29 March 2011

The IRB Council in 2010 awarded the hosting of the 2013 tournament to Moscow, Russia from a field of eight nations that had expressed formal interest in hosting. The IRB intended that the exposure to rugby from hosting the World Cup Sevens would accelerate the growth of rugby in Russia. It featured 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

The IRB originally intended to discontinue Rugby World Cup Sevens after the 2013 edition, in favour of the Olympic tournament. However, it was later decided in 2013 that the tournament would continue to be held, as it can accommodate a larger field than the Olympic rugby sevens tournaments, and would allow an elite-level competition to take place biennially from 2016. The next tournament would be held in 2018, one year later than usual, in order to accommodate the integration of the Olympics into the competitive calendar.Sallay, Alvin (29 March 2011). "IRB under pressure to save World Cup Sevens", South China Morning Post On 13 May 2015, it was announced that the United States would host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Attendance + Tournament AttendanceYearTotal AttendanceAverage Daily Attendance 1993 – – 1997 – – 2001 – – 2005 120,000 40,000 2009 78,000 26,000 2013 – – 2018 100,000 33,3332022 105,000 35,000

Men's tournament YearHost First place game Losing semifinalists Champion Score Runner-up11993 Edinburgh 21–172421997 Hong Kong24–212432001 Mar del Plata 31–122442005 Hong Kong29–192452009 Dubai 19–122462013 Moscow 33–02472018 San Francisco 33–122482022 Cape Town 29–1224

Notable players + Player of the TournamentYearChampionPlayer 1993 Lawrence Dallaglio 1997 Waisale Serevi 2001 Jonah Lomu 2005 Waisale Serevi 2009 Tal Selley 2013 Tim Mikkelson 2018 Scott Curry2022 Kaminieli Rasaku

The 2001 tournament added another chapter to the legend of New Zealand's Jonah Lomu. Lomu, used sparingly in pool play, received his opportunity when New Zealand captain Eric Rush broke his leg in the last pool match. Lomu went on to score three tries in the final.

In 2005, Waisale Serevi came out of international retirement to captain and lead Fiji to their second Melrose Cup. At the 2009 tournament, Wales defeated Argentina 19–12 in the final, and Wales' Taliesin Selley was named player of the tournament.

Player Records The top all-time try-scorer for the Rugby World Cup Sevens is Fijian winger Marika Vunibaka, who scored 23 tries in three of the Sevens World Cups he played in from 1997 to 2005. Serevi ranks second with 19 career World Cup Sevens tries, over four tournaments from 1993 to 2005. Brian Lima ranks third with 17 tries. The top points scorers are Serevi with 297 points, Vunibaka with 115 points, and Lima with 101 points.

+ Most career tries Rank Player Tries 1 Marika Vunibaka 23 2 Waisale Serevi 19 3 Brian Lima 17 4 Andrew Turnbull 16 5 Roger Randle 14 Brendan Williams 14 7 Tevita Tuʻifua 14 8 Andy Harriman 12 António Aguilar 12 10 Joost van der Westhuizen 11

+ Most career points Rank Player Points 1 Waisale Serevi 297 2 Marika Vunibaka 115 3 Brian Lima 101 4 Amasio Valence 100 5 Ben Gollings 98 6 Glen Osborne 91 7 Andre Joubert 88 8 Andrew Aiolupo 85 Colin Gregor 85 10 Nick Beal 84

+ Most career matches Rank Player Matches 1 Waisale Serevi 31 2 Collins Injera 21 3 Marika Vunibaka 19 4 Brian Lima 18 5 Andrew Turnbull 17 6 Min-Suk Yoo 16 Pedro Leal 16 8 8 players tied with 15

Up to date as of 12 September 2022

Results by nation Team 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2018 2022 Years Arabian Gulf 21st 1 9th 13th 3rd 5th 2nd 11th 5th 5th 8 2nd 5th 2nd 3rd 10th 5th 10th 4th 8 15th 21st 5th 18th 13th 9th 12th 13th 8 17th 17th 14th 3 11th 13th 2 21st 21st 21st 3 1st 5th 5th 3rd 5th 2nd 2nd 9th 8 3rd 1st 3rd 1st 5th 3rd 4th 1st 8 15th 5th 21st 5th 13th 5th 8th 6th 8 10th 11th 21st 19th 4 18th 1 3rd 19th 19th 13th 18th 9th 3rd 7 17th 17th 21st 3 17th 10th 21st 21st 19th 21st 18th 19th 8 24th 24th 2 13th 17th 13th 13th 21st 18th 15th 7 19th 19th 3rd 4th 16th 12th 6 11th 5th 13th 21st 21st 5 21st 1 19th 1 21st 21st 2 21st 1 7th 3rd 1st 2nd 5th 1st 1st 2nd 8 21st 1 21st 1 21st 18th 10th 11th 13th 22nd 6 17th 13th 2 9th 11th 17th 14th 4 5th 2nd 5th 5th 5th 5th 3rd 7th 8 5th 3rd 5th 9th 3rd 10th 13th 8th 8 14th 11th 5th 9th 11th 7th 16th 7 10th 13th 11th 21st 4 7th 9th 19th 11th 13th 22nd 20th 7 13th 13th 21st 3 19th 17th 2 21st 19th 19th 20th 10th 5 17th 18th 13th 13th 13th 13th 6th 11th 8 11th 13th 11th 1st 5th 11th 15th 7 21st 21st 17th 13th 23rd 23rd 6

Women's tournament YearHost First place game Losing semifinalists Champion Score Runner-up1200915–10162201329–121632018 29–01642022 24–2216

Results by nation Team 2009 2013 2018 2022 Years 1st 5th 3rd 1st 4 10th 13th 13th 11th 4 6th 2nd 7th 6th 4 9th 11th 12th 13th 4 16th 1 5th 6th 9th 8th 4 9th 11th 5th 3 7th 11th 2nd 3rd 4 7th 6th 7th 3 11th 1 13th 13th 10th 9th 4 15th 1 16th 1 13th 10th 2 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 4 15th 1 10th 1 11th 7th 8th 3 4th 13th 14th 14th 4 7th 4th 5th 12th 4 13th 1 13th 1 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4 13th 1

Rugby World Cup Sevens

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