2016–17_World_Rugby_Sevens_Series
2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series
18th annual international series in men's rugby sevens
The 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was the 18th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000. South Africa won the Series with a comfortable 28-point margin over England; South Africa won five of the ten tournaments.
| 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens | |
|---|---|
| Series XVIII | |
| Hosts | |
| Date | 2 Dec 2016 – 21 May 2017 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  South Africa |
| Runners-up |  England |
| Third |  Fiji |
← 2015–16 2017–18 → | |
The 2016–17 Series also served as a qualifying tournament for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Nine of the core teams had already qualified but the four highest-placed finishers from among the remaining six core teams also gained qualification for the 2018 RWC Sevens.[1]
The official schedule for the 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series was as follows:[3]
| Leg | Stadium | City | Date | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | The Sevens | Dubai | 2–3 December 2016 | South Africa |
| South Africa | Cape Town Stadium | Cape Town | 10–11 December 2016 | England |
| New Zealand | Wellington Regional Stadium | Wellington | 28–29 January 2017 | South Africa |
| Australia | Sydney Football Stadium | Sydney | 4–5 February 2017 | South Africa |
| United States | Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas | 3–5 March 2017 | South Africa |
| Canada | BC Place | Vancouver | 11–12 March 2017 | England |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | Hong Kong | 7–9 April 2017 | Fiji |
| Singapore | National Stadium | Singapore | 15–16 April 2017 |  Canada |
| France | Stade Jean-Bouin | Paris | 13–14 May 2017 | South Africa |
| England | Twickenham Stadium | London | 20–21 May 2017 |  Scotland |
There were no major changes to the schedule.
Final table:
| Pos. |
Event Team |
 Dubai |
Cape Town |
 Wellington |
 Sydney |
 Las Vegas |
Vancouver |
 Hong Kong |
 Singapore |
 Paris |
London |
Points total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa |
22 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 22 | 13 | 192 |
| 2 | England |
17 | 22 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 19 | 164 |
| 3 | Fiji |
19 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 150 |
| 4 | New Zealand |
10 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 137 |
| 5 | United States |
8 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 129 |
| 6 | Australia |
13 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 113 |
| 7 | Scotland |
12 | 15 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 22 | 109 |
| 8 | Canada |
3 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 98 |
| 9 |  Argentina |
5 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 90 |
| 10 |  Wales |
15 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 73 |
| 11 | France |
10 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 66 |
| 12 |  Kenya |
5 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 63 |
| 13 |  Samoa |
7 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 51 |
| 14 |  Russia |
1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29 |
| 15 |  Japan |
1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| 16 |  Chile |
– | – | – | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 6 |
| 17 |  Uganda |
2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| 18 |  Papua New Guinea |
– | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 19 |  Spain |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 |  South Korea |
– | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| 21 | Hong Kong |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
Source: World Rugby. Archived [4]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Qualification for the 2017–18 World Sevens Series | |
| No colour | Core team in 2016–17 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series |
| Pink | Relegated as the lowest placed core team at the end of the 2016–17 season |
| Yellow | Not a core team |
| Qualification for 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens | |
| Already confirmed for 2018 (host country United States and 2013 quarterfinalists) | |
| Qualified as one of the four highest placed eligible teams from the 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series not already qualified.[5] | |
Scoring leaders
| Rank | Player | Tries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Baker | 57 |
| 2 | Dan Norton | 51 |
| 3 | Justin Douglas | 40 |
| 4 | Seabelo Senatla | 32 |
| 5 | James Fleming | 32 |
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Baker | 285 |
| 2 | Ethan Davies | 281 |
| 3 | Madison Hughes | 279 |
| 4 | Nathan Hirayama | 269 |
| 5 | Scott Wight | 266 |
Updated: 22 May 2017
Dream Team
| Forwards | Backs |
|---|---|
| Chris Dry Kalione Nasoko Danny Barrett | Jerry Tuwai Rosko Specman Dan Norton Perry Baker |
Tallies of top four tournament placings during the 2016–17 series, by team:
| Cup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team |  Gold |
 Silver |
 Bronze |
Fourth | Total |
| South Africa |
5 | 3 | - | - | 8 |
| England |
2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Fiji |
1 | 3 | 1 | - | 5 |
| Scotland |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Canada |
1 | - | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| United States |
- | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| New Zealand |
- | - | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Australia |
- | - | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Wales |
- | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
In this series, World Rugby abolished the minor trophies of Plate, Bowl and Shield that were previously awarded in the finals play-offs at each tournament. While the winner's Cup was retained as the major trophy, the awarding of gold, silver and bronze medals to players from the three top-placed teams was introduced for this series with the third-placed match now renamed as the bronze-medal match. A Challenge Trophy was established for teams competing in the lower bracket of the finals play-offs at each tournament.[6] Additionally, the playing time for Cup final matches was reduced from 20 minutes to 14 minutes, in line with all other tournament matches.[7]
Dubai
Cape Town
Wellington
| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | South Africa |
26–5 | Fiji |
Scotland (Bronze) Canada |
| 5th Place | Argentina |
17–12 | New Zealand |
England France |
| Challenge Trophy | Kenya |
19–17 | Australia |
United States Wales |
| 13th Place | Samoa |
19–12 | Russia |
Japan Papua New Guinea |
Sydney
| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | South Africa |
29–14 | England |
New Zealand (Bronze) Australia |
| 5th Place | Fiji |
35–12 | United States |
Argentina Wales |
| Challenge Trophy | Russia |
26–0 | France |
Samoa Japan |
| 13th Place | Canada |
10–5 | Kenya |
Papua New Guinea Scotland |
Las Vegas
Vancouver
Hong Kong
| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | Fiji |
22–0 | South Africa |
Australia (Bronze) United States |
| 5th Place | New Zealand |
10–7 | Argentina |
Canada England |
| Challenge Trophy | Scotland |
21–19 | Kenya |
France Russia |
| 13th Place | Japan |
28–21 | Wales |
South Korea Samoa |
| World Series Qualifier | Spain |
12–7 |  Germany |
Chile Papua New Guinea |
Singapore
Paris
London
- "World Rugby". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20.
- "HSBC Sevens World Series". Worldrugby.org. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
- "HSBC Sevens World Series Standings". World Rugby. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 qualification process Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine. World Rugby.
- "Men's and women's sevens winners to strike gold". World Rugby.org. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016.
- Newman, Beth (19 November 2016). "Big Sevens finals cut to seven minutes". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017.