New Zealand Sevens (tournament)

(Redirected from Wellington sevens)

The New Zealand Sevens was an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand.[1][2] For the first eighteen years of its history the event was held in Wellington.[1][3] The event was the third on the World Rugby Sevens Series circuit and is generally held in late January or early February.

New Zealand Sevens
Most recent season or competition:
2023 New Zealand Sevens
SportRugby sevens
Founded2000
No. of teams16
CountryNew Zealand
Most recent
champion(s)
 Argentina (2023)
Most titles New Zealand (10 titles)
Official websitesevens.co.nz
Fiji's Waisale Serevi at Wellington in 2007.

History

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Wellington

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Wellington first hosted a tournament in 2000 as part of the inaugural Sevens World Series. The event was the first to be held in the newly-developed Westpac Stadium.[4] The tournament built a reputation for a party atmosphere, with a large proportion of attendees choosing to wear fancy dress.[5] Movie figures such as the Men in Black (MIB) and Austin Powers were crowd favorites and an impersonator of Austin Powers was a regular for many years performing for the crowd.[4] Host team New Zealand dominated the sevens competition in Wellington, winning just over half of all the tournaments held.

Hamilton

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The location of the tournament was moved to Hamilton in 2018,[3] after attendances in Wellington had declined.[6] The tournament was hosted as part of an integrated men's and women's event from 2019.[7] Discussion was also begun on alternating the host location of the tournament between Hamilton and Suva, in Fiji, following the 2020 edition.[8][9]

Results

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Year  Venue  Cup final Placings
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
2000 Westpac Stadium  
Fiji
24–14  
New Zealand
 
Canada
 
France
n/a
2001 Westpac Stadium  
Australia
19–17  
Fiji
 
Samoa
 
South Africa
 
Japan
2002 Westpac Stadium  
South Africa
17–14  
Samoa
 
Argentina
 
France
 
Cook Islands
2003 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
38–26  
England
 
Samoa
 
Canada
 
Tonga
2004 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
33–15  
Fiji
 
Tonga
 
Argentina
 
United States
2005 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
31–7  
Argentina
 
Australia
 
Kenya
 
Niue
2006 Westpac Stadium  
Fiji
27–22  
South Africa
 
England
 
Scotland
 
Tonga
2007 Westpac Stadium  
Samoa
17–14  
Fiji
 
England
 
Argentina
 
Portugal
2008 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
22–17  
Samoa
 
South Africa
 
England
 
United States
2009 Westpac Stadium  
England
19–17  
New Zealand
 
South Africa
 
Cook Islands
 
Scotland
2010 Westpac Stadium  
Fiji
19–14  
Samoa
 
Australia
 
Wales
 
United States
2011 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
29–14  
England
 
Fiji
 
Kenya
 
United States
2012 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
24–7  
Fiji
 
South Africa
 
Kenya
 
Scotland
2013 Westpac Stadium  
England
24–19  
Kenya
 
Australia
 
Canada
 
Wales
2014 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
21–0  
South Africa
 
Australia
 
Kenya
 
United States
2015 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
27–21  
England
 
Fiji
 
France
 
Canada
2016 Westpac Stadium  
New Zealand
24–21  
South Africa
 
Australia
 
Samoa
 
France
Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth
2017 Westpac Stadium  
South Africa
26–5  
Fiji
 
Scotland
 
Canada
 
Argentina
2018 Waikato Stadium  
Fiji
24–17  
South Africa
 
Australia
 
New Zealand
 
United States
2019 Waikato Stadium  
Fiji
38–0  
United States
 
New Zealand
 
South Africa
 
Samoa
2020 Waikato Stadium  
New Zealand
27–5  
France
 
Australia
 
England
 
Canada
World Series tournaments planned for Hamilton were cancelled in 2021 [10] and 2022,[11] due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 Waikato Stadium  
Argentina
14–12  
New Zealand
 
United States
 
France
 
Australia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "HSBC New Zealand Sevens: Hamilton". Sky. 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ "HSBC New Zealand Sevens". HamiltonNew Zealand. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "New Zealand Sevens World Series event moving to Hamilton from 2018". Stuff. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Sevens' man steps away from annual city 'party'". Dominion Post. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Sevens Rugby - the party, the costumes, the players". Talking Rugby Union. 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Plenty of finger-pointing about demise of the Wellington Sevens". Stuff. 8 February 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Rugby sevens: Hamilton sevens to stage men and women". The New Zealand Herald. 23 February 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. ^ "New Zealand Sevens tournament could alternate between Hamilton and Fiji". Stuff. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Pacific Island nations possible hosts for NZ Sevens - NZ Rugby boss Steve Tew". Stuff. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. ^ "2021 Hamilton, Sydney Sevens cancelled due to COVID-19". ESPN. 4 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021.
  11. ^ Ekin, Kim (3 September 2021). "Four stages of World Rugby Sevens Series cancelled in space of an hour". Rugby Pass. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021.
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