2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series
The 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 21st annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000.
| 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens | |
|---|---|
| Series XXI | |
| Hosts | |
| Date | 5 December 2019 – 8 March 2020 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  |
| Runners-up |  |
| Third |  |
| Series details | |
| Top point scorer | Napolioni Bolaca (159) |
| Top try scorer | Jordan Conroy (23) |
← 2018–19 2020–21 → | |
In March 2020, World Rugby postponed all remaining tournaments in the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The events in London and Paris were postponed provisionally until September,[1] preceding the Singapore and Hong Kong events previously postponed until October.[2] On 30 June, the remaining four rounds of the series was cancelled which meant that New Zealand was awarded the title by 11 points over second place South Africa.[3]
Format
Sixteen nations competed at each event, drawn into four pools of four teams.[4][5] Following the pool matches at each tournament, the top eight teams (two teams from each pool) played off for a Cup, with gold, silver and bronze medals also awarded to the first three teams.[6] The bottom eight teams after the pool matches played off for the lower-ranked placings from ninth to sixteenth at each tournament. The winner of the series was determined by the overall points standings gained across all events in the season.[7]
Core teams
The fifteen "core teams" qualified to participate in all series events for 2019–20 are:
Ireland joined as a core team for the first time after winning the 2019–20 World Series qualifier held in Hong Kong. They replaced Japan who were relegated after finishing as the lowest-placed core team in 2018–19. However, Japan will play in several tournaments as the wild card team in preparation to host the Olympic tournament.
Tour venues
The official schedule for the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series was:[8]
| Leg | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | The Sevens | Dubai | 5–7 December 2019 | |
| South Africa | Cape Town Stadium | Cape Town | 13–15 December 2019 | |
| New Zealand | FMG Stadium Waikato | Hamilton | 25–26 January 2020 | |
| Australia | Bankwest Stadium | Sydney | 1–2 February 2020 | |
| United States | Dignity Health Sports Park | Los Angeles | 29 February – 1 March 2020 | |
| Canada | BC Place | Vancouver | 7–8 March 2020 | |
The Singapore and Hong Kong events were originally scheduled to be played in April 2020 but were postponed due to health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to October 2020.[2] In June 2020, the remaining four rounds of the tournament (Singapore, Hong Kong, England and France) was cancelled due to the pandemic.[3]
Standings
Official standings for the 2019–20 series:
| 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series XXI | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos |
Event Team |
 Dubai |
Cape Town |
Hamilton |
.svg.png){kind=small} Sydney |
 Los Angeles |
.svg.png){kind=small} Vancouver |
Points total |
| 1 | |
19 | 22 | 22 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 115 |
| 2 | |
22 | 19 | 7 | 19 | 22 | 15 | 104 |
| 3 | |
8 | 15 | 8 | 22 | 19 | 11 | 83 |
| 4 | |
13 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 81 |
| 5 |  |
17 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 77 |
| 6 |  |
12 | 17 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 74 |
| 7 | |
10 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 72 |
| 8 | |
7 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 57 |
| 9 |  |
11 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 56 |
| 10 |  |
5 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 49 |
| 11 |  |
3 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 37 |
| 12 |  |
4 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 35 |
| 13 |  |
15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 33 |
| 14 |  |
6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 33 |
| 15 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 16 |  |
1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | 10 |
| 17 |  |
– | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
Source: World Rugby
Legend No colour Core team in 2019–20 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series Yellow Invited team
- World Rugby announced that there would be no relegation this season. Therefore, Wales, who would have been relegated as the lowest placed core team, re-qualified as a core team for the 2020-21 World Rugby Sevens Series.
Players
Scoring leaders
| Rank | Player | Tries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 30 |
| 2 | | 22 |
| 3 | | 20 |
| 4 | | 19 |
| 5 | | 17 |
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 159 |
| 2 | | 150 |
| 3 | | 141 |
| 4 | | 125 |
| 5 | | 124 |
Updated: 11 March 2020
References
- "World Rugby update on COVID-19 response measures and statement from Sir Bill Beaumont". World Rugby. 20 March 2020.
- "World Rugby Statement: Singapore and Hong Kong Sevens rescheduled". World.Rugby. 13 February 2020.
- "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". World Rugby. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- Tournament Rules 2018, p. 2.
- Tournament Rules 2018, p. 3.
- Tournament Rules 2018, pp. 3–5.
- Tournament Rules 2018, pp. 2–3.
- "Schedule announced for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020". World.Rugby. 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019.
Sources
- "Terms of participation: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series" (PDF). World Rugby. 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.