| 2007–08 IRB Sevens World Series | |
|---|---|
| Host nations | Dubai South Africa New Zealand United States Hong Kong Australia England Scotland |
| Date | 30 November 2007 - 1 June 2008 |
| Nations | 32 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | New Zealand |
| Runners-up | South Africa |
| Tournament details | |
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← 2006-07
2008-09 →
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The 2007–08 IRB Sevens World Series was the ninth of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. The defending series champions, New Zealand, completely dominated this season's competition, winning the first five events, setting new records for consecutive tournament wins and consecutive match wins,[1] and clinching the 2007–08 series with one tournament remaining after winning the Plate Final of the London leg.[2] They ended with six wins out of the eight events.
Sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union, with seven players on each side rather than fifteen. Games are much shorter, seven or ten minutes each half, and tend to be very fast-paced. Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format; however, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days.
The series' tournaments, which were identical to those in 2006–2007, span the globe:
| 2007-08 Itinerary[3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg | Venue | Date | Winner |
| Dubai | Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground | November 30–December 1, 2007 | New Zealand |
| South Africa | Outeniqua Park, George | December 7–8 2007 | New Zealand |
| New Zealand | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | February 1–2 2008 | New Zealand |
| United States | PETCO Park, San Diego, California | February 9–10 2008 | New Zealand |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | March 28–30 2008 | New Zealand |
| Australia | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | April 5–6 2008 | South Africa |
| London | Twickenham | May 24–25 2008 | Samoa |
| Scotland | Murrayfield, Edinburgh | May 31–June 1, 2008 | New Zealand |
Contents |
In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate. Because of its place as the sports most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament as 24 teams. In each tournament, the teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. Points are awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.[4]
Four trophies are awarded in each tournament, except for Hong Kong. In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. In Hong Kong, the Shield is not awarded. Each trophy is awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[5]
In a 16 team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advance to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl is contested by the third-place finishers in each pool, while the Shield is contested by the last-place teams from each pool.[4] In Hong Kong, the six pool winners, plus the two highest-finishing second-place teams, advance to the Cup. The Plate participants are the eight highest-ranked teams remaining, while the lowest eight drop to the Bowl.[6]
The season championship is determined by points earned in each tournament. For most events, points are awarded on the following schedule:[5]
Points are awarded on a different schedule for the Hong Kong Sevens:[5]
| Final 2007-08 Standings[7] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Country | Dubai | South Africa (George) |
New Zealand (Wellington) |
USA (San Diego) |
Hong Kong | Australia (Adelaide) |
England (London) |
Scotland (Edinburgh) |
Overall | |
| 1 | New Zealand | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 16 | 8 | 20 | 154 | |
| 2 | South Africa | 12 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 106 | |
| 3 | Samoa | 6 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 20 | 12 | 100 | |
| 4 | Fiji | 16 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 98 | |
| 5 | England | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 54 | |
| 6 | Argentina | 8 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 43 | |
| 7 | Kenya | 4 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 38 | |
| 8= | Australia | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 30 | |
| 8= | Wales | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | |
| 10 | Scotland | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 26 | |
| 11 | Tonga | - | - | 12 | - | 2 | 8 | - | - | 22 | |
| 12 | France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | |
| 13 | United States | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 6 | |
| 14= | Cook Islands | - | - | 0 | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 | |
| 14= | Portugal | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 16 | Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 17 | Russia | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18= | Moldova | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18= | Spain | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18= | Japan | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Hong Kong | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | China | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Chinese Taipei | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | South Korea | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Sri Lanka | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | West Indies | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Chile | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Mexico | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Papua New Guinea | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Uganda | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 18= | Arabian Gulf | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
| Individual points [8] Updated:2008-04-04 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | Tomasi Cama | New Zealand | 188 |
| 2 | Fabian Juries | South Africa | 150 |
| 3 | Neumi Nanuku | Fiji | 146 |
| 4 | Renfred Dazel | South Africa | 137 |
| 5 | Lote Raikabula | New Zealand | 136 |
| 6 | Steven Yates | New Zealand | 130 |
| 7= | Mikaele Pesamino | Samoa | 127 |
| 7= | Emosi Vucago | Fiji | 127 |
| 9 | Philip Mack | Canada | 126 |
| 10 | Ben Gollings | England | 124 |
| Individual tries [9] Updated:2008-04-04 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Player | Country | Tries |
| 1 | Fabian Juries | South Africa | 30 |
| 2 | Steven Yates | New Zealand | 26 |
| 3 | Mikaele Pesamino | Samoa | 25 |
| 4= | Alafoti Fa'osiliva | Samoa | 23 |
| 4= | Victor Vito | New Zealand | 23 |
| 6 | Zar Lawrence | New Zealand | 20 |
| 7= | Emosi Vucago | Fiji | 19 |
| 7= | Chris Wyles | United States | 19 |
| 9= | Tomasi Cama | New Zealand | 18 |
| 9= | Lote Raikabula | New Zealand | 18 |