2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series

2010–11 IRB Sevens
Series XII
Hosts
Date3 December 2010 - 29 May 2011
Final positions
Champions New Zealand
Runners-up South Africa
Third England
← 2009-10
2011-12 →

The 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series was the 12th annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.

Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format. However, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, was played over three days, largely because it involved 24 teams instead of the normal 16.

Itinerary

The IRB announced dates for the 2010–11 events on 1 June 2010, only two days after the final event of the 2009–10 series, the Edinburgh Sevens.[1] The stops remained unchanged from recent years; the only scheduling change for 2010–11 was that the Adelaide event, which moved from its traditional slot of one week after Hong Kong to one week before in 2010,[2] returned to its prior slot for 2011.[1]

This was the last season for the South Africa leg in George and the Australia leg in Adelaide. On 13 April 2011, both countries' national unions announced that their respective legs of the series would move to new sites for 2011–12. The South Africa Sevens will move to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.[3] The Australia leg will move to Skilled Park in the Gold Coast; it was initially known as the "International Rugby Sevens Gold Coast",[4] but later rebranded simply as the "Gold Coast Sevens".[5]

2010–11 Itinerary[1]
Leg Venue Date Winner
Dubai The Sevens 3–4 December 2010  England
South Africa Outeniqua Park, George 10–11 December 2010  New Zealand
New Zealand Westpac Stadium, Wellington 4–5 February 2011  New Zealand
United States Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas 12–13 February 2011  South Africa
Hong Kong Hong Kong Stadium 25–27 March 2011  New Zealand
Australia Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 2–3 April 2011  New Zealand
London Twickenham 21–22 May 2011  South Africa
Edinburgh Murrayfield, Edinburgh 28–29 May 2011  South Africa

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that received guaranteed berths in each event in that season's series. The core teams for 2010–11 were:

The core teams were unchanged from 2009–10.

Points schedule

The season championship was determined by points earned in each tournament. The points allocations for all events were identical to those in the 2009–10 series, reflecting changes that the IRB made starting with that season:[6]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)
  • Cup winner (1st place): 24 points
  • Cup runner-up: 20 points
  • Losing Cup semifinalists: 16 points
  • Plate winner (5th place): 12 points
  • Plate runner-up: 8 points
  • Losing Plate semifinalists: 6 points
  • Bowl winner (9th place): 4 points
24-team event (Hong Kong)
  • Cup winner: 30 points
  • Cup runner-up: 25 points
  • Losing Cup semifinalists: 20 points
  • Plate winner (5th place): 16 points
  • Plate runner-up: 10 points
  • Losing Plate semifinalists: 8 points
  • Bowl winner (9th place): 5 points

Tournament structure

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participated. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament had 24 teams. In each 16-team tournament, the teams were divided into pools of four teams, who played a round-robin within the pool. Points were 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 was the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.[7]

Four trophies were awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they were the Cup, whose winner was the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. The Shield was contested in Hong Kong for the first time in 2010. Each trophy was awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[8]

In a 16-team tournament, 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.[7]

The Hong Kong Sevens adopted a new structure effective with its 2010 edition. As in previous years, the 24 teams were divided into six pools of four teams each, with the competition points system and tiebreakers identical to those for a 16-team event. Also as in the past, the six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition.[9]

  • The Plate competition was contested by the losing quarterfinalists from the Cup, as in all other events in the series.
  • The Bowl was contested by the four remaining second-place finishers and the top four third-place finishers.
  • The Shield was contested by the remaining eight entrants.

Final standings

The points awarded to teams at each event, as well as the overall season totals, are shown in the table below. Points for the event winners are indicated in bold. A zero (0) is recorded in the event column where a team competed in a tournament but did not gain any points. A dash (–) is recorded in the event column if a team did not compete at a tournament.

2010–11 IRB Sevens – Series IX [10]
 
Pos.
Event 
Team
Dubai
George
Well­ing­ton
Las Vegas
Hong Kong
Adel­aide
Lon­don
Edin­burgh 		Points
total
   
1  New Zealand 16 24 24 16 30 24 16 16 166
2  South Africa 12 12 8 24 16 20 24 24 140
3  England 24 20 20 16 25 16 0 6 127
4  Fiji 16 16 12 20 20 6 20 12 122
5  Samoa 20 16 16 12 20 16 12 8 120
6  Australia 8 6 16 6 10 6 8 20 80
7  Wales 6 6 6 0 0 12 16 16 62
8  Argentina 4 8 6 6 0 8 6 0 38
9  Kenya 0 0 4 8 0 0 0 4 16
10  Scotland 0 4 0 4 0 0 4 0 12
11  France 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 12
12  United States 6 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 10
13  Russia 0 0 – – 8 – 0 0 8
14  Portugal 0 0 – – 8 – 0 0 8
15  Canada – – 0 0 5 – 0 0 5

Notes:
  Light blue line on the left indicates a core team eligible to participate in all events of the series.

Player scoring

Individual points

Individual points [11]
Pos. Player Country Points
1 Cecil Afrika  South Africa 381
2 Tomasi Cama  New Zealand 299
3 Ben Gollings  England 278
4 Hamish Angus  Australia 240
5 Andrew Skeen  Scotland 201
6 Emosi Vucago  Fiji 195
7 Bernard Foley  Australia 123
8 Frank Halai  New Zealand 175
9 Dan Norton  England 164
10 Gonzalo Gutierrez Taboada  Argentina 159

Individual tries

Individual tries [12]
Pos. Player Country Tries
1 Cecil Afrika  South Africa 40
2 Frank Halai  New Zealand 35
3 Dan Norton  England 32
4 Humphrey Kayange  Kenya 31
5-tie Seremaia Burotu  Fiji 29
5-tie Collins Injera  Kenya 29
7 Toby Arnold  New Zealand 27
8-tie Bernard Foley  Australia 26
8-tie Declan O'Donnell  New Zealand 26

Tournaments

Dubai

Main article: 2010 Dubai Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  England 29 – 21  Samoa  Fiji
 New Zealand
Plate  South Africa 19 – 12  Australia  United States
 Wales
Bowl  Argentina 21 – 0  Zimbabwe  Russia
 Scotland
Shield  Kenya 26 – 0  France  Portugal
 Arabian Gulf

South Africa

Main article: 2010 South Africa Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 22 – 19  England  Samoa
 Fiji
Plate  South Africa 10 – 5  Argentina  Wales
 Australia
Bowl  Scotland 26 – 0  Russia  Portugal
 France
Shield  Zimbabwe 14 – 5  Kenya  Namibia
 United States

New Zealand

Main article: 2011 Wellington Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 29 – 14  England  Samoa
 Australia
Plate  Fiji 26 – 12  South Africa  Argentina
 Wales
Bowl  Kenya 19 – 0  Tonga  Scotland
 Cook Islands
Shield  United States 19 – 12  France  Canada
 Papua New Guinea

United States

Main article: 2011 USA Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  South Africa 24 – 14  Fiji  England
 New Zealand
Plate  Samoa 26 – 15  Kenya  Australia
 Argentina
Bowl  Scotland 19 – 14  Canada  France
 Wales
Shield  United States 19 – 12  Japan  Uruguay
 Guyana

Hong Kong

Main article: 2011 Hong Kong Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists Quarter Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 29 – 17  England  Fiji
 Samoa
Plate  South Africa 26 – 19  Australia  Portugal
 Russia
Bowl  Canada 35 – 12  Japan  United States
 Wales 		 Scotland
 Tonga
 France
 Argentina
Shield  Kenya 17 – 12  Spain  China
 Zimbabwe 		 Malaysia
 Hong Kong
 South Korea
 Mexico

Australia

Main article: 2011 Adelaide Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 28 – 20  South Africa  England
 Samoa
Plate  Wales 14 – 7  Argentina  Australia
 Fiji
Bowl  United States 17 – 10  Kenya  France
 Scotland
Shield  Japan 22 – 5  Tonga  Cook Islands
 Papua New Guinea

England

Main article: 2011 London Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  South Africa 24 – 14  Fiji  New Zealand
 Wales
Plate  Samoa 22 – 12  Australia  Argentina
 France
Bowl  Scotland 21 – 19  Kenya  Spain
 Russia
Shield  England 22 – 7  Portugal  United States
 Canada

Scotland

Main article: 2011 Edinburgh Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  South Africa 36 – 35  Australia  Wales
 New Zealand
Plate  Fiji 26 – 14  Samoa  England
 France
Bowl  Kenya 21 – 14  Scotland  Spain
 Argentina
Shield  Canada 17 – 12  Russia  United States
 Portugal

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dates set for 2010/11 IRB Sevens World Series" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-06-04. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  2. ^ "2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series schedule set" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 8 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  3. ^ "Port Elizabeth named as new host of SA Sevens event" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Gold Coast to Become New Home for Australian Sevens" (Press release). Australian Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Gold Coast Sevens". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Points system" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2010-12-04. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-04.{cite press release}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ a b "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2009-07-14.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Rules". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-04.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009–2010. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-28.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Overall Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2010-12-04.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2010-12-04.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-12-04.{cite web}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links