2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series

The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series was the eleventh of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. Samoa won the IRB Sevens World Series crown for their first time.

2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series
Hosts United Arab Emirates
 South Africa
 New Zealand
 United States
 Hong Kong
 Australia
 England
 Scotland
Date4 December 2009 - 30 May 2010
Final positions
Champions Samoa
Runners-up New Zealand
Third Australia
2008-09
2010-11

Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format. However, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the normal 16.

The 2009-10 Series was won by Samoa, who won four of the eight tournaments and placed second in two others. Samoa were led by top try-scorer Mikaele Pesamino, who led the Series with 56 tries.

Itinerary

The series' tournaments were identical to those in 2008–09 and spanned the globe, visiting five of the six populated continents.

2009–10 Itinerary[1]
Leg Venue Date Winner
DubaiThe SevensDecember 4–5, 2009 New Zealand
South AfricaOuteniqua Park, GeorgeDecember 11–12, 2009 New Zealand
New ZealandWestpac Stadium, WellingtonFebruary 5–6, 2010 Fiji
United StatesSam Boyd Stadium, Las VegasFebruary 13–14, 2010 Samoa
AustraliaAdelaide Oval, AdelaideMarch 19–21, 2010 Samoa
Hong KongHong Kong StadiumMarch 26–28, 2010 Samoa
LondonTwickenhamMay 22–23, 2010 Australia
EdinburghMurrayfield, EdinburghMay 29–30, 2010 Samoa

Two minor changes were made to the schedule:

  • The USA event moved from San Diego, its home from 2007 to 2009, to Las Vegas.[2]
  • The Adelaide event moved from its previous slot of one week after Hong Kong to one week before.[1]

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that will receive guaranteed berths in each event in that season's series. The core teams for 2009–10 were:[3]

The core teams were unchanged from 2008–09; the most recent change came before that season, when the USA replaced its neighbor Canada.[4]

Points schedule

The season championship is determined by points earned in each tournament. Effective with this season, the IRB changed the points allocations for all events as follows:[5]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)
  • Cup winner (1st place): 24 points
  • Cup runner-up: 20 points
  • Losing Cup semifinalists: 16 points
  • Plate winner (5th place): 12 points
  • Plate runner-up: 8 points
  • Losing Plate semifinalists: 6 points
  • Bowl winner (9th place): 4 points
24-team event (Hong Kong)
  • Cup winner: 30 points
  • Cup runner-up: 25 points
  • Losing Cup semifinalists: 20 points
  • Plate winner (5th place): 16 points
  • Plate runner-up: 10 points
  • Losing Plate semifinalists: 8 points
  • Bowl winner (9th place): 5 points

Tournament structure

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament has 24 teams. In each 16-team tournament, the teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. Points are awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.[6]

Four trophies are awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. The Shield was contested in Hong Kong for the first time in 2010. Each trophy is awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[7]

In a 16-team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advance to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl is 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.[6]

The Hong Kong Sevens adopted a new structure effective with its 2010 edition. As in previous years, the 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. Also as in the past, the six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition.[8] The changes made in 2010 were:[9]

  • 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. In previous years, these teams competed for the Plate.
  • The Shield was contested by the remaining eight entrants. In previous years, these teams competed for the Bowl.

Standings

2009–10 Standings[10]
Pos. Country Dubai South Africa
(George)
New Zealand
(Wellington)
USA
(Las Vegas)
Australia
(Adelaide)
Hong Kong England
(London)
Scotland
(Edinburgh)
Overall
1 Samoa206202424301624164
2 New Zealand2424162012251216149
3 Australia126121616162420122
4 Fiji162024862086108
5 England161216642061696
6 South Africa8881281020680
7 Argentina6160016016862
8 Kenya616616080052
9 Wales4446606434
10 United States 00042080032
11 CanadaDNPDNP60DNP54015
12 Scotland00000001212
13 France000000000

Player scoring

Most points

Most points [11]
Pos. Player Country Points
1Ben Gollings England332
2Mikaele Pesamino Samoa282
3Lolo Lui Samoa264
4James Stannard Australia257
5Tomasi Cama New Zealand241
6Cecil Afrika South Africa210
7Kurt Baker New Zealand191
8Lavin Asego Kenya173
9Mzwandile Stick South Africa171
10William Ryder Fiji166

Most tries

Most tries [12]
Pos. Player Country Tries
1Mikaele Pesamino Samoa56
2=Kurt Baker New Zealand33
2=Humphrey Kayange Kenya33
4=Rayno Benjamin South Africa32
4=Collins Injera Kenya32
6Brackin Karauria-Henry Australia30
7Alafoti Fa'osiliva Samoa29
8=Renaud Delmas France28
8=Clinton Sills Australia28
10Sherwin Stowers New Zealand27

Tournaments

Dubai

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 24 – 12  Samoa  England
 Fiji
Plate  Australia 7 – 0  South Africa  Argentina
 Kenya
Bowl  Wales 38 – 7  Zimbabwe  United States
 France
Shield  Russia 17 – 14  Portugal  Scotland
 Arabian Gulf

South Africa

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  New Zealand 21 – 12  Fiji  Argentina
 Kenya
Plate  England 21 – 7  South Africa  Samoa
 Australia
Bowl  Wales 14 – 5  Russia  United States
 Portugal
Shield  Scotland 28 – 19  France  Zimbabwe
 Tunisia

New Zealand

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  Fiji 19 – 14  Samoa  England
 New Zealand
Plate  Australia 26 – 22  South Africa  Canada
 Kenya
Bowl  Wales 7 – 5  France  Argentina
 Niue
Shield  United States 17 – 14  Tonga  Papua New Guinea
 Scotland

United States

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  Samoa 33 – 12  New Zealand  Australia
 Kenya
Plate  South Africa 12 – 7  Fiji  England
 Wales
Bowl  United States 28 – 17  France  Argentina
 Chile
Shield  Scotland 17 – 7  Japan  Canada
 Guyana

Australia

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  Samoa 38 – 10  United States  Argentina
 Australia
Plate  New Zealand 21 – 14  South Africa  Fiji
 Wales
Bowl  England 33 – 12  Kenya  France
 Scotland
Shield  Japan 22 – 19  Tonga  Niue
 Papua New Guinea

Hong Kong

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists Quarter Finalists
Cup  Samoa 24 – 21  New Zealand  England
 Fiji
Plate  Australia 12 – 5  South Africa  Kenya
 United States
Bowl  Canada 35 – 19  Wales  Portugal
 Scotland
 Argentina
 France
 Japan
 Tonga
Shield  Hong Kong 19 – 17  Russia  Italy
 Zimbabwe
 China
 Chinese Taipei
 South Korea
 Thailand

London

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  Australia 19 – 14  South Africa  Argentina
 Samoa
Plate  New Zealand 26 – 24  Fiji  England
 Wales
Bowl  Canada 19 – 17  Portugal  Scotland
 United States
Shield  Kenya 24 – 21  France  Italy
 Russia

Scotland

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi Finalists
Cup  Samoa 41 – 14  Australia  England
 New Zealand
Plate  Scotland 19 – 0  Argentina  Fiji
 South Africa
Bowl  Wales 26 – 10  Kenya  France
 United States
Shield  Russia 26 – 7  Canada  Italy
 Portugal

References

  1. "2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series schedule set" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-07-08. Archived from the original on 2009-07-11. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  2. "USA Sevens Signs Letter Of Intent to Bring Tournament to New Venue in 2010" (Press release). USA Sevens, LLC. 2009-07-13. Archived from the original on 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  3. "Pools and matches set for South Africa Sevens" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-10-12. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  4. "USA Rugby receives major Sevens boost" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2008-09-22. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  5. "Overhaul for Sevens World Series point system" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-11-05. Archived from the original on 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  6. "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  7. "Rules". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  8. "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009–2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  9. "All 24 teams announced for Hong Kong Sevens" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  10. "Overall Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  11. "IRB Sevens World Series 2009/10 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  12. "IRB Sevens World Series 2009/10 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.