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2011–12 IRB Sevens
Series XIII
Hosts
Date25 November 2011
Nations30
Final positions
Champions  New Zealand
Runners-up  Fiji
Third  England
Series details
Top try scorer England Mathew Turner
(38 tries)
Top point scorer New Zealand Tomasi Cama
(390 points)
2012–13 →

The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of the IRB Sevens World Series 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 involves 24 teams instead of the usual 16. In addition, the USA Sevens were a three-day affair this season despite being a standard 16-team event.

Itinerary

The IRB announced the schedule for the 2011–12 series on 18 August 2011. The most important development was the addition of a leg in Japan, expanding the circuit to nine legs. Two other significant scheduling changes were made. The Australian leg, which had previously followed the Hong Kong Sevens, was now the first event in the series. Also, the last two legs of the series, originally slated for Edinburgh and London, switched places on the schedule, making the London leg the last in the series. [1]

On 13 April 2011, the Australian and South African unions (ARU and SARU, respectively) both announced that their countries' legs of the series would move to new sites effective this season. The ARU announced that its leg would move from Adelaide to the Gold Coast. Initially, the event was called the "International Rugby Sevens Gold Coast", but was later rebranded as simply the "Gold Coast Sevens". [2] [3] The SARU announced that Port Elizabeth would become the new host of the South Africa leg, replacing George. [4]

On 9 December 2011, the IRB and the Scottish Rugby Union announced that the Scotland Sevens, also previously known as the Edinburgh Sevens, would move to Glasgow from the 2012 edition. [5]

2011–12 Itinerary [1]
Leg Venue Date Winner
Australia Skilled Park, Gold Coast 25–26 November 2011   Fiji
Dubai The Sevens, Dubai 2–3 December 2011   England
South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth 9–10 December 2011   New Zealand
New Zealand Westpac Stadium, Wellington 3–4 February 2012   New Zealand
United States Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas 10–12 February 2012   Samoa
Hong Kong Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 23–25 March 2012   Fiji
Japan Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo 31 March–1 April 2012   Australia
Scotland Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow 5–6 May 2012   New Zealand
England Twickenham, London 12–13 May 2012   Fiji

Women's sevens

The 2011 Dubai Sevens saw the IRB organise its first officially sanctioned women's international sevens tournament apart from the Rugby World Cup Sevens. It involved eight teams—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, South Africa, Spain, and the USA—and the semifinals and final were held on the main pitch at The Sevens. This was part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13. [6]

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that received guaranteed berths in each event of that season's series. The core teams for 2011–12 were: [7]

The core teams have been unchanged since the 2008–09 series.

Points schedule

The season championship was determined by points earned in each tournament. A new points system, in which each participating team now receives Series points, was introduced shortly before the 2011–12 season kicked off: [8]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)
  • Cup winner (1st place): 22 points
  • Cup runner-up (2nd place): 19 points
  • Cup third-place play-off winner (3rd place): 17 points
  • Cup third-place play-off loser (4th place): 15 points
  • Plate winner (5th place): 13 points
  • Plate runner-up (6th place): 12 points
  • Losing Plate semi-finalists (joint 7th place): 10 points
  • Bowl winner (9th place): 8 points
  • Bowl runner-up (10th place): 7 points
  • Losing Bowl semi-finalists (joint 11th place): 5 points
  • Shield winner (13th place): 3 points
  • Shield runner-up (14th place): 2 points
  • Losing Shield semi-finalists (joint 15th place): 1 point
24-team event (Hong Kong)
  • To be announced

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. In case of a tie on competition points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: [9]

  1. Head-to-head result
  2. Difference in points scored in all pool matches
  3. Difference in tries scored in all pool matches
  4. Total points scored in all pool matches
  5. Total tries scored in all pool matches
  6. Coin toss

A tie between more than two teams is resolved in the same manner, but without considering head-to-head results. [9]

Four trophies were awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they were the Cup (overall tournament champion), Plate, Bowl and Shield. Each trophy was awarded at the end of a knockout tournament. [10]

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. [9]

The Hong Kong Sevens used a similar structure, though adjusted for the larger number of teams involved. Its 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. The six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition. [11]

  • 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.

2011–12 IRB Sevens – Series XIII  [12]
 
Pos.
Event 
Team
Gold Coast
Dubai
Port Eliza­beth
Well­ing­ton
Las Vegas
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Glas­gow
Lon­don 		Points
total
   
1   New Zealand 19 10 22 22 19 19 17 22 17 167
2   Fiji 22 17 12 19 17 22 13 17 22 161
3   England 10 22 15 17 10 15 15 19 12 135
4   Samoa 12 3 17 15 22 13 19 13 19 133
5   South Africa 17 12 19 13 15 17 12 10 10 125
6   Australia 15 13 10 7 7 10 22 15 13 112
7   Argentina 8 15 5 5 12 12 10 10 15 92
8   Wales 13 10 13 5 10 10 10 12 8 91
9   France 10 19 10 10 3 5 8 5 3 73
10   Scotland 7 8 8 3 2 5 3 5 7 48
11   United States 5 7 5 1 5 7 7 2 2 41
12   Kenya 1 2 2 8 13 8 2 3 1 40
13   Canada – 5 7 10 8 3 – - – 33
14   Spain – - – - – 2 – 7 10 19
15   Portugal – 5 1 – - 1 5 1 5 18
16   Tonga 5 – - 12 – 0 – - – 17
17   Russia – - – - – 0 1 8 1 10
17   Zimbabwe – 1 3 – - 0 – 1 5 10
17   Japan 2 – - 1 5 1 1 – - 10
20   Hong Kong – - – - – 0 5 – - 5
21   Papua New Guinea 3 – - – - – - – - 3
22   Cook Islands – - – 2 – - – - – 2
23   Uruguay – - – - 1 0 – - – 1
23   Brazil – - – - 1 – - – - 1
23   United Arab Emirates – 1 – - – - – - – 1
23   Morocco – - 1 – - – - – - 1
23   Niue 1 – - – - – - – - 1
28   China – – - – - 0 - – - 0
28   Guyana – – - – - 0 - – - 0
28   Philippines – – - – - 0 - – - 0

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

Player scoring

Most points

Most points [13]
Pos. Player Points
1   Junior Tomasi Cama ( NZL) 390
2   Metuisela Talebula ( FIJ) 271
3   Colin Gregor ( SCO) 242
4   Mathew Turner ( ENG) 194
5   Dan Norton ( ENG) 191
6   Branco du Preez ( RSA) 175
7   Tom Iosefo ( SAM) 167
8   Paul Albaladejo ( FRA) 159
9   Tom Mitchell ( ENG) 154
10   Frank Halai ( NZL) 150

Most tries

Most tries [14]
Pos. Player Tries
1   Mathew Turner ( ENG) 38
2   Dan Norton ( ENG) 37
3   Junior Tomasi Cama ( NZL) 34
4   Tom Iosefo ( SAM) 33
5   Frank Halai ( NZL) 30
6   James Fleming ( SCO) 29
7   Joeli Lutumailagi ( FIJ) 28
8   Paul Perez ( SAM) 27
9   Richard Smith ( WAL) 26
10   Waisea Nayacalevu ( FIJ) 25
10   Metuisela Talebula ( FIJ) 25

Tournaments

Gold Coast

Main article: 2011 Gold Coast Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   Fiji 26 – 12   New Zealand   Australia
  South Africa
Plate   Wales 26 – 15   Samoa   England
  France
Bowl   Argentina 17 – 14   Scotland   Tonga
  United States
Shield   Papua New Guinea 31 – 19   Japan   Kenya
  Niue

Dubai

Main article: 2011 Dubai Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   England 29 – 12   France   Argentina
  Fiji
Plate   Australia 17 – 14   South Africa   New Zealand
  Wales
Bowl   Scotland 26 – 0   United States   Canada
  Portugal
Shield   Samoa 31 – 17   Kenya   United Arab Emirates
  Zimbabwe

South Africa

Main article: 2011 South Africa Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   New Zealand 31 – 26   South Africa   England
  Samoa
Plate   Wales 48 – 0   Fiji   Australia
  France
Bowl   Scotland 22 – 19   Canada   Argentina
  United States
Shield   Zimbabwe 19 – 12   Kenya   Morocco
  Portugal

Wellington

Main article: 2012 Wellington Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   New Zealand 24 – 7   Fiji   England
  Samoa
Plate   South Africa 24 – 0   Tonga   Canada
  France
Bowl   Kenya 12 – 7   Australia   Argentina
  Wales
Shield   Scotland 19 – 17   Cook Islands   Japan
  United States

United States

Main article: 2012 USA Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   Samoa 26 – 19   New Zealand   Fiji
  South Africa
Plate   Kenya 21 – 7   Argentina   England
  Wales
Bowl   Canada 19 – 17   Australia   Japan
  United States
Shield   France 22 – 7   Scotland   Brazil
  Uruguay

Hong Kong

Main article: 2012 Hong Kong Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   Fiji 35 – 28   New Zealand   England
  South Africa
Plate   Samoa 12 – 10   Argentina   Australia
  Wales
Bowl   Kenya 14 – 12   United States   France
  Scotland
Shield   Canada 22 – 5   Spain   Japan
  Portugal

Japan

Main article: 2012 Japan Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   Australia 28 – 26   Samoa   England
  New Zealand
Plate   Fiji 14 – 10   South Africa   Argentina
  Wales
Bowl   France 17 – 12   United States   Hong Kong
  Portugal
Shield   Scotland 26 – 12   Kenya   Japan
  Russia

Scotland

Main article: 2012 Scotland Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   New Zealand 29 – 14   England   Australia
  Fiji
Plate   Samoa 31 – 12   Wales   Argentina
  South Africa
Bowl   Russia 33 – 19   Spain   France
  Scotland
Shield   Kenya 22 – 14   United States   Portugal
  Zimbabwe

London

Main article: 2012 London Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup   Fiji 38 – 15   Samoa   Argentina
  New Zealand
Plate   Australia 14 – 12   England   South Africa
  Spain
Bowl   Wales 27 – 5   Scotland   Portugal
  Zimbabwe
Shield   France 19 – 12   United States   Kenya
  Russia

References

  1. ^ a b "Japan joins expanded HSBC Sevens World Series" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  2. ^ "Gold Coast to Become New Home for Australian Sevens" (Press release). Australian Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Gold Coast Sevens". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Port Elizabeth named as new host of SA Sevens event". South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  5. ^ "World Series moves to Glasgow" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2011.{{ cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  6. ^ "First IRB Women's Sevens event announced" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  7. ^ "Teams announced for Gold Coast kickoff" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 8 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  8. ^ "New Points System for HSBC Sevens World Series". South African Rugby Union. 25 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". HSBC Sevens World Series. International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  10. ^ "Rules". HSBC Sevens World Series (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  11. ^ "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  12. ^ "HSBC Sevens World Series Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  13. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)
  14. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)

External links

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