Jump to content

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Tournament details
Host nation United States
VenueAT&T Park, San Francisco
DatesJuly 20 – July 22
No. of nations
  • 24 (men)
  • 16 (women)
Final positions
Champions 
← 2013
2022 →

The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organized by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men's tournament had 24 teams and the women's tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format.[1] New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.

Bidding

[edit]

The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows:[2]

  1. February 28, 2014 —Interested countries declare their "intent to tender"
  2. August 29, 2014 — World Rugby (then the IRB) distributes the tender documentation
  3. December 5, 2014 — Countries submit their bids to World Rugby
  4. May 13, 2015 — World Rugby Council chooses the host country

The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event:[3][4]

Venue

[edit]

USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, was announced as a second venue.[5][6] However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue.[7][8]

San Francisco
class=notpageimage|
Location of 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
AT&T Park
Capacity: 42,000

Popularity

[edit]

The three-day tournament was the most-watched live rugby cast in the U.S. on record.[9] In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1.[10] Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers.[9][11] Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event, which was a record-breaking crowd for a rugby event in the United States.[12]

Schedule

[edit]

Over the three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions.

All times in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00).

Date Time Stage Matches
July 20, 2018
(Friday)		 10:00–12:56 Women's Championship Cup Round of 16 8
13:01-15:57 Men's Championship Cup Pre-round of 16 8
16:02-18:58 Women's Challenge Quarterfinals
Women's Championship Cup Quarterfinals		 8
19:03-21:59 Men's Championship Cup Round of 16 8
July 21, 2018
(Saturday)		 09:30–13:57 Women's Challenge Semifinals
Women's Championship Cup Semifinals
Men's Bowl Quarterfinals		 12
14:04-17:00 Men's Challenge Quarterfinals
Men's Championship Cup Quarterfinals		 8
17:10-20:29 Women's 11th-16th Place Matches
Women's Challenge Final
Women's 5th-8th Place Matches
Women's Bronze Medal match
Women's Championship Cup Final
Women's Ceremony		 8
July 22, 2018
(Sunday)		 09:00-14:52 Men's Bowl Semifinals
Men's Challenge Semifinals
Men's Championship Cup Semifinals
Men's 19th-24th Place Matches
Men's Bowl Final 		16
15:02-16:30 Men's 11th-16th Place Matches
Men's Challenge Final		 4
16:40-18:31 Men's 5th-8th Place Matches
Men's Bronze Medal Match
Men's Championship Cup Final
Men's Ceremony		 4

Qualifying – Men

[edit]
Main article: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Men

Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place.[13]

Qualifying Africa North America South America Asia Europe Oceania
Automatic
Qualifiers 		 Kenya
 South Africa 		 United States (Hosts) — —  England
 France
 Wales 		 Australia
 Fiji
 New Zealand (Holders)
2016–17 World
Series 		—  Canada  Argentina —  Scotland  Samoa
Continental
Qualifiers 		 Uganda
 Zimbabwe 		 Jamaica  Uruguay
 Chile 		 Hong Kong
 Japan 		 Ireland
 Russia 		 Papua New Guinea
 Tonga
Total
Places (24) 		4 3 3 2 6 6

Qualifying – Women

[edit]
Main article: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying – Women

Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 Women's World Sevens Series also qualified. The remaining eight places will be filled via continental qualifiers.[13]

Africa North America South America Asia Europe Oceania
Automatic
Qualifiers 		—  United States (Hosts)
 Canada 		— —  Spain  New Zealand (Holders)
2016–17 World
Series 		— — — —  France
 Russia 		 Australia
 Fiji
Continental
Qualifiers 		 South Africa  Mexico  Brazil  China
 Japan 		 England
 Ireland 		 Papua New Guinea
Total
Places (16) 		1 3 1 2 5 4

Tournament – Men

[edit]
Main article: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament
Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Melrose Cup  New Zealand 33–12  England  South Africa (3)
 Fiji
5th Place  Argentina 33–7  United States  Scotland (7)
 France
Challenge Trophy  Ireland 24–14  Australia  Wales (11)
 Canada
13th Place  Samoa 22–17  Russia  Japan (15)
 Kenya
Bowl  Chile 20–7  Hong Kong  Uganda (19)
 Uruguay
21st Place  Papua New Guinea 31–14  Tonga  Zimbabwe (23)
 Jamaica

Tournament – Women

[edit]
Main article: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament
Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
World Cup  New Zealand 29–0  France  Australia (3)
 United States
5th Place  Spain 12–7  Ireland  Canada (7)
 Russia
Challenge Trophy  England 31–5  Japan  Fiji (11)
 China
13th Place  Brazil 22–0  South Africa  Papua New Guinea (15)
 Mexico

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018". Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. ^ USA Rugby announces "intent to tender" for IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 Archived April 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, USARugby.com, April 2, 2014.
  3. ^ 25 Unions vie to host Sevens World Series[usurped], IRB.com, March 3, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  4. ^ "Wales bid for 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens". www.espn.co.uk. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ^ San Francisco Tapped for RWC 7s Bid - Rugby Today, December 17, 2014
  6. ^ USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, Worldrugby.com
  7. ^ "Logo and website launched for RWC Sevens 2018 in San Francisco" (Press release). World Rugby. September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  8. ^ "San Jose knocked out of hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens". The Mercury News. April 7, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "RWC Sevens 2018 sets record rugby broadcast audience in USA". world rugby. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  10. ^ "Overnight Ratings: NBCSN Draws 1.6 For Lone NASCAR Race At NHMS". sports business daily. July 23, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "NBC SPORTS SETS RECORDS WITH RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS COVERAGE". NBC sports group. August 9, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rugby World Cup Sevens: New Zealand wins historic title". CNN. July 23, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 qualification process". World Rugby. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2018_Rugby_World_Cup_Sevens&oldid=1224239581"