Admittingly, the following article is not directly 7s-related, however, the close connections between German rugby and the Bamboos as well as the extraordinary developments, makes it well worth reporting.

While many rugby fans around the globe most likely followed the events at Twickenham, Cardiff and Edinburgh last weekend, in the south of France, Kenya, Canada, Hong Kong and Germany, were fighting for the very last spot at next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Pic: World Rugby

For the second time this season, England beat South Africa in the final to win Gold at the Canada Sevens in Vancouver. The 19-7 victory helped England to move to second position in the table and reduce the gap to leaders South Africa to 23 points.

Back-to-back series champions Fiji drop to third in the standings (100 points) after a close 28-24 win over USA in the Bronze final.

Once again it was Gloucester-born Dan Norton who lead England to the Cup win with an outstanding performance, resulting in the DHL Impact Player award, HSBC Player of the Final award and also levelling Kenya’s Collins Injera record for all-time tries on the series.

Earlier in the Cup semi-finals South Africa beat a strong USA team 14-10, while England overcame Fiji 40-7 in an impressive display.  

The series continues with the Hong Kong Sevens on 7th of April.

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Canada Sevens | Results

Text, Photos and Videos: World Rugby

Fiji’s 31-12 victory saw them finish the HSBC Canada Sevens unbeaten and move to second place, overtaking New Zealand, in the 2018 series standings.

Today’s Cup win is Fiji first in Vancouver and their 33rd win in 66 Cup finals.

The thrilling final was the second meeting between the two sides this weekend as both Fiji and Kenya went head to head in Pool C on day one. Fiji took the spoils in that match with a closely contested 24-21 score line.

The final on day two followed Fiji’s victories over Argentina (43-7) in the quarter-final and South Africa (15-12) in the semi-final. It was Kenya who were first on the scoring board with a try from Willy Ambaka, but Fiji responded through Josua Vakurunabili and by half time both sides had added another to draw even 12-12 at the break.  Fiji dominated the second half with three further tries, Sevuloni Mocenacagi adding to his first half score to secure a brace and the HSBC Player of the Final title.

After the full-time whistle Head Coach Gareth Baber was pleased with their final performance and the two days as a whole, “There’s a real sense of pride more than anything today. We handled ourselves well across the weekend to get to a final with Kenya, who we’d had a tough battle with yesterday. It was very close at the break, we hadn’t really played much at half time but the team responded in the second half and produced the rugby that we now Fijians can and it was great to watch.”

“You’re always looking for some consistency in form and you get confidence from it and when you have confidence you play better again. We learned from last weekend, losing to USA but we knew we had to come here and get something out of it to keep pressure on the top of the table and that’s what we’ve done - mission accomplished as far as Vancouver is concerned and we go back to Fiji now to prepare for Hong Kong.”

South Africa claimed the bronze medal after beating USA 29-7, the series leaders running in five tries to one in front of a packed BC Place.

The Challenge Trophy winners were Scotland after day two victories over Canada (19-0), Wales 26-15) and Spain (25-5) in the final. Samoa secured the 13th place win over Canada 21-15 and England beat Australia for 5th place 31-4.

Afters six rounds, South Africa retain their top spot in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2018 standings but Fiji, now in second place, are only eight points behind them with New Zealand in third. The teams will reconvene in Hong Kong 6-8 April.

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Canada Sevens | Results

World Rugby Sevens Series | Standings

Pictures & Text via World Rugby

New Zealand moved a step closer to regaining the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series title in Langford, Canada, on Sunday when they put in a gutsy display in the final against the home side that was enjoying playing in front of a partisan and packed crowd.

A barnstorming display by Rubi Tui that won her the HSBC Player of the Final award, spearheaded an impressive Black Ferns Sevens performance as the series champions-in-waiting registered a 17-7 victory in the final. 

Two early NZ tries from Michaella Blyde (one of a remarkable nine she scored this weekend) and Tyla Nathan-Wong, rocked the home team, who found themselves 12-0 down with just three minutes gone. An eerie hush descended on Westhills Stadium, which just moments before had cheered raucously after a rousing rendition of ‘Oh Canada’. But if anyone thought it was going to be a stroll in the park for New Zealand, that’s not how it would pan out as Canada fought their way back into the game.

Indeed, with captain Ghislaine Landry leading from the front, Canada threatened to upset the Kiwis and they hit before the break with a try from speedster Julia Greenshields. And that’s the way it stayed until the final play of the game when replacement Alena Saili crossed in the corner to seal the deal for New Zealand. 

Led by Tui, Theresa Fitzpatrick and Niall Williams, NZ did their best to control the ball in that tense second half and they were largely successful, frustrating the home side by denying them possession at every turn.

HSBC Player of the Final Tui was typically humble in accepting her award and also made reference to a number of players who were unable to make the trip to Langford due to commitments with the New Zealand 15s team. She said: “I couldn’t do a single part of my job if it wasn’t the whole team. There were a few girls back home we wanted to make proud, the whole Black Ferns 15s team – it’s a countrywide thing so it was great for us to be able to do that for them. I know they’ll have been following us and they’ll be so pleased.”

Far from being put off by the home support, Tui had nothing but praise for the 4,000 or so Canadians who turned up to shout for their team.

She said: “The crowd here was the bomb, they were off the chain! You can’t ask more from a home town crowd than to cheer for their country as loud as they can because to me that’s cheering for all of rugby so it’s awesome and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

While it was to be New Zealand’s day, it’s worth mentioning how good Canada were this weekend, too. Their chosen theme song, which blasted out across the ground this weekend whenever they scored, was ‘Takin’ Care of Business’ by the cult Canadian rock band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Of course, when Randy Bachman wrote that great 1970s anthem he was being somewhat ironic (“If you ever get annoyed, look at me I'm self-employed; I love to work at nothing all day”). 

But no one watching the HSBC Canada Sevens in British Columbia this week could accuse these Canadians of having a work ethic that was anything short of industrious. Whether in attack or defence, they gave everything they had in every game and, in spite of the pressures put on them by the expectant home support, they rose to the occasion, moved into an overdrive of their own and took care of business in front of an adoring and, at times, delirious Langford crowd.

That is, right up to the final when they came up against a young and relatively inexperienced New Zealand that clearly had something to prove to those who said they couldn’t do it without the likes of Sarah Goss, Portia Woodman and Kelly Brazier in the side.

Earlier, the quarter-finals went pretty much to form with Canada, Australia, France and New Zealand all making it into the last four. The home team had never made it past that stage in Langford so it settled plenty of local nerves when Canada took control from the first minute of the game against England with a try from Ashley Steacy. And they never took the foot off the pedal, giving the English no way back into the game, finishing the game 33-5 to the good thanks to further tries from Landry (two), Brittany Benn and Megan Lukan.

The Aussies were too strong for the United States with a brace of tries from Emilee Cherry proving the difference as the Olympic champions ran out 22-10 winners. 

France have been one of the success stories of this season’s series and again proved they are something to be reckoned with by beating a tenacious Ireland 19-5 in the third quarter-final thanks to tries from Pauline Biscarat, Fanny Horta and Montserrat Amedee.

New Zealand had it all their own way against Russia, keeping coach Andrey Kuzin’s side scoreless as Blyde, Crystal Mayes, Tui and Saili getting over the whitewash to win 24-0.

The semi-final against France was more of the same for the Black Ferns Sevens as they continued to improve through the tournament. Blyde and Mayes again scored tries, as did Katarina Whata-Simpkins and the peerless Niall Williams as NZ glided serenely into the final.

For Canada, it was less straightforward as they had to come from behind to beat Australia, who went on to beat France in the bronze final, but it was like the crowd in Westhills carried them over the line on occasion as they came back into the contest after an early Aussie try from inspirational captain Sharni Williams. Composure under pressure, coupled with the blistering pace of players like Greenshields and Charity Williams saw the local favourites into the final as they desperately sought to become the first team ever to win a series event at home. Sadly for them, that is an unusual record that still stands.

Among those who didn’t emerge from pool play, Fiji put some of that disappointment behind them by winning the Challenge Trophy, beating Spain 31-7 in the final with two stunning tries from Miriama Naiobasali. On Saturday, Fiji had given up a 14-0 lead to lose eventually to Ireland and then they went down 12-7 to Spain before playing brilliantly to hold Australia to a 24-24 draw. No one doubts that when Fiji finally click they might just be unstoppable. 

Pic: World Rugby

Australia qualified for the Cup quarter-finals of the HSBC Sydney Sevens after a sunny first day of action, while England, Wales and New Zealand stayed unbeaten in the pool stage. 

The Australians will face Wales in just their second Cup quarter-final of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2016-17. Wales topped their pool after a magnificent win against Fiji, thanks to a hat-trick from Morgan Williams.

England recovered well from last week’s disappointing performance. Three out of three wins, including one over series leaders South Africa and with Dan Norton becoming the second highest try scorer of all-time, England created a dream start to the tournament. They will face Argentina in the Cup quarter-finals on day two of the men's event.

New Zealand will play Fiji after they managed three victories against Scotland, Papua New Guinea and hosts Australia. USA will challenge South Africa in the Cup quarter-finals. The Americans lost to Russia in the opening game but won the remaining matches against Canada and Argentina.

Meanwhile, Kenya will play Russia, Scotland face Samoa, Canada meet Japan and France take on Papua New Guinea in the Challenge Trophy quarter-finals on Sunday.

Sydney Sevens Men's | Cup Quarter-Finals

ENGLAND v ARGENTINA

NEW ZEALAND v FIJI

USA v SOUTH AFRICA

WALES v AUSTRALIA 

Pic: World Rugby

While the men’s tournament continues on Sunday, the women’s competition finished with a breath taking final and a number of great surprises. Olympic Bronze winners Canada beat rivals USA 21-17 to claim their third tournament win, in front of a packed house at the Allianz Stadium. 

After a disappointing performance in Dubai, USA shocked New Zealand to reach the final, while Canada overcame top-favourites Australia 12-7 in the second semi-final of the day. 

Meanwhile, on a day of shock results, Brazil beat England 17-12 to claim the Challenge Trophy as New Zealand went on to beat their rivals Australia to claim the bronze medal on Saturday.

In the overall standings, New Zealand is now, with 36 points, four points ahead of Australia (32) followed by Canada (30 pts) and Fiji (24 pts). Click here for the full standings.

Sydney Sevens Women's | Results

Cup Final | USA 17 - 21 CAN

Bronze Final | NZL 19 - 0 AUS

Challenge Trophy | ENG 12 -17 BRA

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Sydney Sevens Men's | Results Day 1

Sydney Sevens Men's | Fixtures Day 2

Sydney Sevens Women's | Results Day 2

Pic: World Rugby

On day one of the USA Sevens, Fiji was one of six unbeaten teams. The islanders are staying on track to win a third consecutive tournament in Las Vegas. Fiji however, is still in search for the first tournament win this season, but two convincing victories over Japan and Scotland in Pool D made clear that Gareth Baber's side is in strong form. 

Beside Fiji, hosts USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England all recorded two wins from two as well. 

Series leaders South Africa traveled with the confidence of two back-to-back tournament wins to the USA and showed strong performances including a 26-7 win over Canada and a 24-0 win over France. The French started off strongly with a 33-7 win over Wales, who were later beaten by Damian McGrath's Canada side when Mike Fuailefau scored a late try to the delight of the large pockets of Canadian fans in the stands. 

Hosts USA demonstrated once again their ambitions to win the first title on home soil with a 26-5 win over Samoa and a 31-0 victory against South American side Chile. New Zealand dominated Pool C with wins against Kenya and Russia. Argentina, started their campaign strongly beating Russia 43-0 but just drew against Kenya in their final day one match. 

Australia also had a strong opening tournament day with a 28-21 win over Scotland and a 19-12 success against Japan in Pool D setting up the pool decider against Fiji on day two.

HSBC Women's Sevens Series

While the men's still have an outstanding round of pool matches ahead, the women's will head into the quarterfinals on the second day of the USA Sevens. Canada and New Zealand go into the Cup quarter-finals unbeaten after some imposing performances. England failed to progress from the pool stage once again and will now play for the Challenge trophy. 

Current series champions Australia also qualified for the Cup quarter-finals despite losing to New Zealand. Fiji lost to the hosts USA in their final pool match but managed to beat Spain and Ireland earlier. With the two wins, Fiji booked a quarter-final encounter against Australia, while Ireland will face USA on the final day. 

USA Sevens Women's | Cup Quarter-Finals

CANADA v FRANCE

FIJI v AUSTRALIA

USA v IRELAND

NEW ZEALAND v RUSSIA

Quick Links

USA Sevens Men's | Results and Fixtures

USA Sevens Women's | Results and Fixtures 

Pic: World Rugby

Admittedly, it was rather disappointing to follow the first day of the Wellington Sevens, witnessing a 34,500 seater that looked empty. Considering that tickets for this tournament used to be the most popular in town, the organisers seemed to struggle with ticket sales this year. Stricter rules on alcohol consumption and an attempt to make the event more family-friendly didn’t attract the desired numbers. Officially, around 10.000 people visited the tournament on Saturday. Hopefully, numbers will pick up again on the second day and in future, because the Wellington Sevens are one of the most prestigious stops on the circuit.  

Whereas the atmosphere off the pitch was nowhere near the usual party bash that we all love, the quality on the pitch didn’t let anyone down. Hosts New Zealand went, as expected, unbeaten through day one.  The big surprise though came from Canada. The North-Americans won all three of their pool games against Wales, Scotland and Russia to set up a quarter-final against Argentina on Sunday. 

In the "Pool of death", current series leaders South Africa beat Fiji, Australia and Japan. Besides New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, England also remained unbeaten as they overcame Papua New Guinea (40-0), Argentina (26-7) and Kenya (31-12). 

The Cup quarter-finals on Sunday see England play Scotland, New Zealand face Fiji, Canada take on Argentina, while South Africa play France.

Day 2 of the Wellington Sevens starts tomorrow at 11.00am local time (22.00 UK time). You can follow all matches on Sky Sports or here.

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Wellington Sevens | Results Day 1

Wellington Sevens | Fixtures Day 2

Pic: World Rugby

Rugby Canada secures hosting rights to HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event for four more years; Grosvenor and Sport Hosting Vancouver re-sign as Premier Partners for the record-breaking HSBC Canada Sevens that will continue until 2023.

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series delivered scintillating action in Las Vegas last weekend with a victory for USA on home soil.

The win puts the Eagles top of the table going into the HSBC Canada Sevens in Vancouver, hosted at the BC Stadium on 9-10 March.

Text, Pictures and Video via World Rugby

The tournament is the penultimate round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2019 with New Zealand sitting top of the standings with 72 points.

Hosts Canada, who are currently ranked second with 66 points after winning the Cup final in Kitakyushu last month, will be hoping for their first win on home soil this weekend.

Sports streaming platform SidelineApp is proud to announce that it has secured digital streaming rights to bring international rugby sevens action to friends, family and fans of the teams competing in this week’s World Schools Sevens tournament.

Pic: World Rugby

Seven players made it into the Singapore Sevens Dream Team. After the sensational Canadian win in the final against rivals USA, the amount of North American players was deservedly higher than usual.

Singapore Sevens | Dream Team

1 - Simon Kennewell (AUS)

2 - Stephen Tomasin (USA)

3 - Danny Barrett (USA)

4 - Waisea Nacuqu (FIJ)

5 - Nathan Hirayama (CAN)

6 - Justin Douglas (CAN)

7 - Perry Baker (USA)

1) Canada’s new coach McGrath says “digestibility” of sevens is key

Former Samoa and newly appointed Canada coach Damian McGrath said in the Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail” that the digestibility of rugby sevens is one of the main reasons for the sports growing success. Beside the raw pace and power which sevens features, especially newcomers will be attracted by the “bite-sized chunks of excitement”. Englishman McGrath described the 15-a-side game as “physical chess” that can be tough for an outsider and sometimes “a little bit boring”. 

Canada’s men and women teams will start the new season at next week’s Dubai 7s, the first leg of the Sevens World Series. While the men failed to qualify for Rio 2016, the women’s finished the tournament in third position.

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2) Rio 2016 attracted nearly 17m new rugby fans 

Mike Rowbottom, writer at inside the games, reflects in an extensive article the astounding success which came along with the Olympic Games. An online research study conducted before and after the Games by Nielsen Sports in the six core markets of Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States indicated that the tournament attracted nearly 17 million new fans. 

Additionally the study implements that the Olympic status had increased the sport's reach, particularly with women and the 18-24 age groups. Rugby outperformed other sports on the Olympic programme in terms of growth in interest after Rio 2016, with an average increase of 10 per cent. Within the UK the research found that nearly four in 10 18-24s watched on television as Britain's men claimed silver and its women lost the bronze medal match. Meanwhile, World Rugby reported that its social media fan-base grew by 670,000 during 2016.  

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3) Forbes on track for new record

New Zealand’s former captain DJ Forbes aims for the all-time tournament appearance record at the HSBC Dubai Sevens next week. Forbes currently shares the tournament appearance record of 79 with Samoa's Uale Mai. The 33-year-old stepped down as captain ahead of the 2015-16 series, with Scott Curry set to lead the side in Dubai.

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4) England’s Sevens team ready for Dubai with new kit 

 

The new #England7s kit is out! Head over to englandrugby.com to see who made the Men's and Women's squads for the #Dubai7s 🌹 #rugby #rugbygram #worldrugby7s

A photo posted by England Rugby (@englandrugby) on Nov 21, 2016 at 6:59am PST

In a shiny new kit, England’s silver medallist, captained by Tom Mitchell, will face Samoa, Russia and New Zealand in Dubai. Beside Mitchell, fellow Olympians Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Ollie Lindsay-Hague, Ruaridh McConnochie, Dan Norton and James Rodwell also made it into the squad. In addition Tom Bowen, Alex Davis, Richard de Carpentier, Charlie Hayter and Ethan Waddleton were selected this week.

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5) New Fiji Sevens documentary 

Fiji’s remarkable back-to-back World Series wins and an incredible first-ever Olympic medal in Rio are two huge achievements which are now documented in a new stunning film by HSBC Sport. A promising trailer has just been released and it looks like this is documentary not to be missed.

Pic: World Rugby

The Blitzboks stay on top after three rounds of the World Sevens Series. Another tournament win against Fiji last weekend in Wellington should give South Africa plenty of confidence for round four in Sydney this weekend. However, the likes of Fiji, England and hosts Australia will put in everything to make the life hard for the leaders. These seven players made it into the Wellington Sevens Dream Team:

1 - Jasa Veremalua (Fiji)	2 - Kwagga Smith (South Africa)	3 - Adam Zaruba (Canada)	4 - Jerry Tuwai (Fiji)
5 - James Fleming (Scotland)	6 - Seabelo Senatla (South Africa)	7 - Joeli Lutumailagi (Fiji)