World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

The first 2012–13 series consisted of four tournaments on three continents. The first two events were hosted by the United Arab Emirates (specifically Dubai) and the United States, both of which host events in the men's version. The other two events were hosted by China and the Netherlands.

For the second series in 2013–14, five tournaments took place; a sixth had initially been announced, but never materialized. All nations that hosted events in 2012–13 hosted in the second season, with the added event hosted by Brazil.[3]

The series expanded to six events for 2014–15. The Dubai, Brazil, USA, and Netherlands events remained on the schedule. China was not on the 2014–15 schedule. New rounds of the series were launched in Canada (specifically in Greater Victoria) and London.[4]

Logo 2015–16

Initially, the 2015–16 series was announced with only four events, with London and the Netherlands dropping from the schedule, but a fifth event was eventually added, hosted by France. Events in Australia and Japan were added in 2016–17. With the USA hosting the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, the USA was not on the 2017–18 schedule.[5]

The USA Women's Sevens returned to the schedule for the 2018–19 series, but the event was moved within the season to become the opening event. The same season saw three events move to new locations.[6] First, the USA event moved from Las Vegas to the Denver suburb of Glendale, Colorado. The Australian Women's Sevens, as well as the country's corresponding event in the men's Sevens Series, moved within Sydney from Sydney Football Stadium to Sydney Showground Stadium. This was necessary because the Football Stadium was demolished, with an entirely new stadium to be built on the same site.[7] Finally, the France Women's Sevens, originally set for Paris, was moved to Biarritz, with the date also being moved forward two weeks from its original schedule. This change was promoted by both World Rugby and the French Rugby Federation (FFR) as "enabl[ing] the FFR to maximise the visibility, attendance and impact of hosting the final round of the record-breaking series."[8]

Rugby sevens is a version of rugby union, invented in Scotland in the 19th century, with seven players each side on a normal-sized field. Games are much shorter, generally lasting only seven minutes each half, and tend to be very fast-paced, open affairs. The game is quicker and higher-scoring than 15-a-side rugby and the rules are simpler, which explains part of its appeal. It also gives players the space for superb feats of individual skill. Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format.

The women's series features 12 teams in each tournament. The remaining participants are invited on the basis of regional tournament rankings.[11]

Each tournament uses a format similar to that of the men's series, adjusted for the lower number of teams, with pool play followed by three separate knockout tournaments.

Prior to the inaugural season, a group of "core teams" that are guaranteed places in all series events was announced. This concept is taken directly from the men's series. Unlike the men's series, which features 15 core teams as of the 2012–13 season, the women's series began with only six.

For the 2013–14 series, the number of core teams was increased to eight, all reached the quarter final from the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens:[3]

Brazil was invited to participate in all events for the 2013–14 series. This was part of an IRB initiative to help jump-start women's rugby development in the country, which is set to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.[3]

For the 2014–15 series, the number of core teams increased to 11, and qualification was extensively revamped, changing to a system more similar to that currently used in the men's World Series. The top seven teams in the 2013–14 series retained core team status. Four additional core teams were determined in a 12-team qualifying tournament held in Hong Kong on 12–13 September 2014.[12] World Rugby did not initially announce full details of the qualification system for future series, but eventually determined that the top nine teams from the 2014–15 series would retain their status for 2015–16, with a world qualifier following in September 2015.[13]

Core teams	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Australia	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Brazil					•			•
Canada	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
China			•				•
England	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Fiji			•	•	•	•	•	•
France			•	•	•	•	•	•
Ireland		•		•	•	•	•	•
Japan				•		•
Netherlands	•
New Zealand	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Russia		•	•	•	•	•	•	•
South Africa			•
Spain		•	•	•	•	•	•	•
United States	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Total	6[11]	8	11	11[14]	11	11	11	11

The overall winner of the series was determined by points gained from the standings across all events in the season.[16] The points schedule is similar to that of the men's Series, with the differences noted above.[17][18]

In Series V, 2016–17 the awards changed. At each event teams compete for gold, silver and bronze medals while lower ranked teams will contest a new Challenge Trophy competition.[19] In the first four Series teams played, after the pool stage, for a Cup (1st four teams), a Plate (second 4 teams) and a Bowl (last 4 teams)

Twelve teams competed at each event; nine being "core" teams, with three teams invited to participate in particular events (similar to previous women's series as well as the men's counterpart).

Place	Status	Points
	Cup winner and gold medalist	20
	Cup runner-up and silver medalist	18
	3rd-place play-off winner and bronze medalist	16
4	3rd-place play-off loser	14
5	5th-place play-off winner	12
6	5th-place play-off loser	10
7	7th-place play-off winner	8
8	7th-place play-off loser	6
9	9th-place play-off winner	4
10	9th-place play-off loser	3
11	11th-place play-off winner	2
12	11th-place play-off loser	1

Tie-breaking: Should teams finish equal on series points at the end of the season, the tiebreakers are the same as those in the men's series:[17]

1. Overall scoring differential in the season.
2. Total try count in the season.
3. If neither produces a winner, the teams are tied.

• Rugby sevens
• World Rugby Sevens Series (for men)
• Rugby World Cup Sevens
• Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics

• Official website