New Zealand Sevens (tournament) explained

New Zealand Sevens
Pixels:170
Sport:Rugby sevens
Founded:2000
Last Season:2023 New Zealand Sevens
Teams:16
Country:New Zealand
Champion: (2023)
Most Champs: (10 titles)
Website:sevens.co.nz

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

History

Wellington

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. The tournament built a reputation for a party atmosphere, with a large proportion of attendees choosing to wear fancy dress. 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. Host team New Zealand dominated the sevens competition in Wellington, winning just over half of all the tournaments held.

Hamilton

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

Results

YearVenueCup finalPlacings
width=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Winnerwidth=8% style="font-weight:bold;" Scorewidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Runner-upwidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Platewidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Bowlwidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Shield
2000Westpac Stadium24–14n/a
2001Westpac Stadium19–17
2002Westpac Stadium17–14
2003Westpac Stadium38–26
2004Westpac Stadium33–15
2005Westpac Stadium31–7
2006Westpac Stadium27–22
2007Westpac Stadium17–14
2008Westpac Stadium22–17
2009Westpac Stadium19–17
2010Westpac Stadium19–14
2011Westpac Stadium29–14
2012Westpac Stadium24–7
2013Westpac Stadium24–19
2014Westpac Stadium21–0
2015Westpac Stadium27–21
2016Westpac Stadium24–21
width=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Winnerwidth=8% style="font-weight:bold;" Scorewidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Runner-upwidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Thirdwidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Fourthwidth=15% style="font-weight:bold;" Fifth
2017Westpac Stadium26–5
2018Waikato Stadium24–17
2019Waikato Stadium38–0
2020Waikato Stadium27–5
World Series tournaments planned for Hamilton were cancelled in 2021[1] and 2022,[2] due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023Waikato Stadium14–12

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021 Hamilton, Sydney Sevens cancelled due to COVID-19 . ESPN . https://web.archive.org/web/20210904133538/https://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id/29789312/2021-hamilton-sydney-sevens-cancelled-due-covid-19 . 4 September 2021 . 4 September 2021.
  2. Web site: Ekin . Kim . Four stages of World Rugby Sevens Series cancelled in space of an hour . Rugby Pass . https://web.archive.org/web/20210903110133/https://www.rugbypass.com/news/four-stages-of-world-series-sevens-cancelled-in-space-of-an-hour/ . 3 September 2021 . 3 September 2021.