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2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Tournament details
Host nation  United States
Venue AT&T Park, San Francisco
DatesJuly 20 – July 22
No. of nations
  • 24 (men)
  • 16 (women)
Final positions
Champions 
2013
2022

The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organized by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men's tournament had 24 teams and the women's tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format. [1] New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.

Bidding

The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows: [2]

  1. February 28, 2014 —Interested countries declare their "intent to tender"
  2. August 29, 2014 — World Rugby (then the IRB) distributes the tender documentation
  3. December 5, 2014 — Countries submit their bids to World Rugby
  4. May 13, 2015 — World Rugby Council chooses the host country

The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event: [3] [4]

Venue

USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, was announced as a second venue. [5] [6] However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue. [7] [8]

San Francisco
Location of 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
AT&T Park
Capacity: 42,000

Popularity

The three-day tournament was the most-watched live rugby cast in the U.S. on record. [9] In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1. [10] Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers. [9] [11] Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event, which was a record-breaking crowd for a rugby event in the United States. [12]

Schedule

Over the three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions.

All times in Pacific Daylight Time ( UTC−07:00).

Date Time Stage Matches
July 20, 2018
(Friday)
10:00–12:56 Women's Championship Cup Round of 16 8
13:01-15:57 Men's Championship Cup Pre-round of 16 8
16:02-18:58 Women's Challenge Quarterfinals
Women's Championship Cup Quarterfinals
8
19:03-21:59 Men's Championship Cup Round of 16 8
July 21, 2018
(Saturday)
09:30–13:57 Women's Challenge Semifinals
Women's Championship Cup Semifinals
Men's Bowl Quarterfinals
12
14:04-17:00 Men's Challenge Quarterfinals
Men's Championship Cup Quarterfinals
8
17:10-20:29 Women's 11th-16th Place Matches
Women's Challenge Final
Women's 5th-8th Place Matches
Women's Bronze Medal match
Women's Championship Cup Final
Women's Ceremony
8
July 22, 2018
(Sunday)
09:00-14:52 Men's Bowl Semifinals
Men's Challenge Semifinals
Men's Championship Cup Semifinals
Men's 19th-24th Place Matches
Men's Bowl Final
16
15:02-16:30 Men's 11th-16th Place Matches
Men's Challenge Final
4
16:40-18:31 Men's 5th-8th Place Matches
Men's Bronze Medal Match
Men's Championship Cup Final
Men's Ceremony
4

Qualifying – Men

Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place. [13]

Qualifying Africa North America South America Asia Europe Oceania
Automatic
Qualifiers
  Kenya
  South Africa
  United States (Hosts)   England
  France
  Wales
  Australia
  Fiji
  New Zealand (Holders)
2016–17 World
Series
  Canada   Argentina   Scotland   Samoa
Continental
Qualifiers
  Uganda
  Zimbabwe
  Jamaica   Uruguay
  Chile
  Hong Kong
  Japan
  Ireland
  Russia
  Papua New Guinea
  Tonga
Total
Places (24)
4 3 3 2 6 6

Qualifying – Women

Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 Women's World Sevens Series also qualified. The remaining eight places will be filled via continental qualifiers. [13]

Africa North America South America Asia Europe Oceania
Automatic
Qualifiers
  United States (Hosts)
  Canada
  Spain   New Zealand (Holders)
2016–17 World
Series
  France
  Russia
  Australia
  Fiji
Continental
Qualifiers
  South Africa   Mexico   Brazil   China
  Japan
  England
  Ireland
  Papua New Guinea
Total
Places (16)
1 3 1 2 5 4

Tournament – Men

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Melrose Cup   New Zealand 33–12   England   South Africa (3)
  Fiji
5th Place   Argentina 33–7   United States   Scotland (7)
  France
Challenge Trophy   Ireland 24–14   Australia   Wales (11)
  Canada
13th Place   Samoa 22–17   Russia   Japan (15)
  Kenya
Bowl   Chile 20–7   Hong Kong   Uganda (19)
  Uruguay
21st Place   Papua New Guinea 31–14   Tonga   Zimbabwe (23)
  Jamaica

Tournament – Women

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
World Cup   New Zealand 29–0   France   Australia (3)
  United States
5th Place   Spain 12–7   Ireland   Canada (7)
  Russia
Challenge Trophy   England 31–5   Japan   Fiji (11)
  China
13th Place   Brazil 22–0   South Africa   Papua New Guinea (15)
  Mexico

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018". Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. ^ USA Rugby announces "intent to tender" for IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 Archived April 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, USARugby.com, April 2, 2014.
  3. ^ 25 Unions vie to host Sevens World Series [usurped], IRB.com, March 3, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  4. ^ "Wales bid for 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens". www.espn.co.uk. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ^ San Francisco Tapped for RWC 7s Bid - Rugby Today, December 17, 2014
  6. ^ USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, Worldrugby.com
  7. ^ "Logo and website launched for RWC Sevens 2018 in San Francisco" (Press release). World Rugby. September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  8. ^ "San Jose knocked out of hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens". The Mercury News. April 7, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "RWC Sevens 2018 sets record rugby broadcast audience in USA". world rugby. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  10. ^ "Overnight Ratings: NBCSN Draws 1.6 For Lone NASCAR Race At NHMS". sports business daily. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "NBC SPORTS SETS RECORDS WITH RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS COVERAGE". NBC sports group. August 9, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rugby World Cup Sevens: New Zealand wins historic title". CNN. July 23, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 qualification process". World Rugby. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.