Rugby Union Sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

- a short form of the sport of rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 - was first played in 1883, with the first (men's) internationals taking place in 1973. As women's rugby union

Women's rugby union

Women's rugby union is a sport identical to the men's game with the same rules, same sized pitch, and same equipment. However, it has a history which is significantly different, due to various social pressures, and the self-image of rugby union in general...

 developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world.

However, although the first Women's international rugby union

Women's international rugby union

Women's rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary...

 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first Women's International Rugby Union Sevens

Women's International Rugby Union Sevens

Rugby Union Sevens - a short form of the sport of rugby union - was first played in 1883, with the first internationals taking place in 1973...

 tournaments were played, when the Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship. This reached its zenith with the first Women's Sevens World Cup

Women's Sevens World Cup

The Women's Sevens World Cup is a rugby sevens competition.- Background :Date/Venue: March 5-7, Dubai *A sixteen team competition played at the same time as the men's tournament...

in 2009, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens will be included in the Olympics from 2016.

The following are details of all Hong Kong women's international tournaments played since 1997, listed chronologically with the earliest first, with all result details, where known.

NOTE: New Zealand Wild Ducks and Aotearoa Maori New Zealand. Prior to the early 2000s, the NZRFU would not condone or send any official team, but an invitation team made up largely of Black Ferns and upcoming talented players did go to the HKG 7s each year in the late nineties from the inception of the HKG tournament. This team was named the Wild Ducks. It had no official status whatsoever, and the matches it played cannot be considered official internationals. The first official NZ team took part in 2000 and 2001, but from 2002 onwards the NZRFU again declined to send a team, whereby interested women's rugby officials from the Bay of Plenty in particular received the union's blessing to send a Maori team "Aotearoa" to HKG. For the first couple of years this team was pretty much strictly Maori in its makeup. However for the later tournaments Black Ferns and upcoming players of any ethnicity were selected. It is not an official team and its matches should not be considered internationals but it has the union's blessing to compete in international tournaments.

Classification Stages

Bowl Semi Finals

• Netherlands 51-5 Singapore
• Fiji 25-5 Japan

Plate Semi Finals

• Australia 41-0 Arabian Gulf
• Canada 17-12 Scotland *After extra-time

Cup Semi Finals

• New Zealand Wild Ducks 39-7 Hong Kong
• USA 17-5 England

Bowl Final

• Netherlands 29-17 Fiji

Plate Final

• Australia 17-7 Canada

Cup Final

• New Zealand Wild Ducks 43-0 USA

Additional Info

The first women's tournament at Hong Kong. The plate final result is listed as 1996 on Australia national pages. Teams were split into two groups of 6.

• Player of the Tournament: Anna Richards (New Zealand Wild Ducks)
• Best Try: Annie Toh (Singapore)
• Most Tries: Tasha Williams (New Zealand Wild Ducks)

Classification Stages

Plate Quarter Finals

• Samoa 36-0 Russia
• Singapore 12-0 China
• Japan 15-5 Hong Kong

Plate Semi Finals

• Samoa 31-5 Arabian Gulf
• Japan 41-0 Singapore

Plate Final

• Samoa 46-0 Japan

Cup Semi Finals

• USA 24-5 England
• New Zealand Wild Ducks 38-0 Australia

Cup Final

• New Zealand Wild Ducks 29-0 USA

2000

Venue/Date: Hong Kong, 22–24 March 2000

Games involving Arabian Gulf, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Thailand also comprised 2000 the Asian Sevens championship.

Classification Stages

BOWL

Semi Finals

• Japan 46-0 Arabian Gulf (Asian Sevens)
• Singapore 19-0 Thailand (Asian Sevens)

Final

• Japan 55-7 Singapore (Asian Sevens 3rd/4th)

PLATE

Semi Finals

• Kazakhstan 46-0 Hong Kong
• Netherlands 12-7 Wales

Final

• Kazakhstan 20-7 Netherlands

CUP

Semi Finals

• Australia 26-10 Samoa
• New Zealand 17-10 USA

Final

• New Zealand 36-10 Australia

Asian Cup Final

Believed to be an additional match called an Asian Final, based on group standings.

• Kazakhstan 41-0 Hong Kong

2001

Venue/Date: Hong Kong, 28–30 March 2001 (Source Hong Kong Union) Summarised

Additional Info

• The tournament also incorporated an Asian Group with Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and Japan also playing in the main competition. It is possible that the first matches for the Asian teams were knockout to see who would proceed into both the Asian Semi Finals and the main competition but this is not confirmed. If this is the case China did not play a knockout game but went on to win the Asian sub group and claim a place in the semi finals.

Classification Stages

Bowl Semi Final

• Arabian Gulf 19-7 Japan
• Thailand 0-5 China

Cup Semi Final

• New Zealand 19-0 Kazakhstan
• Hong Kong 0-15 USA

7th 8th

• Japan 12-10 Thailand

Bowl Final

• Arabian Gulf 22-5 China

Plate and Asian Championship Final

• Hong Kong 0-55 Kazakhstan

Cup Final

• New Zealand 14-7 USA

2003

Venue/Date: Hong Kong, 27–28 March 2003 (Source Hong Kong Union) Summarised

Participants: England, Aotearoa Maori New Zealand, USA, Fiji and 4 from the preceding Asian tournament.

Classification Stages

Cup Quarter Finals

• England 27-0 Arabian Gulf
• Kazakhstan 27-5 Fiji
• USA 29-0 Hong Kong
• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 46-0 Thailand

Shield Semi Finals

• Fiji 34-0 Arabian Gulf
• Hong Kong 19-5 Thailand

Cup Semi Finals

• England 19-5 Kazakhstan
• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 17-5 USA

Shield Final

• Arabian Gulf 24-5 Thailand (also reported as 24-7)

Bowl Final

• Fiji 34-12 Hong Kong

Plate Final

• Kazakhstan 14-7 USA (Kazakhstan, as highest placed Asian team, were declared Asian champions)

Cup Final

• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 27-0 England

2004

Venue/Date: Hong Kong, March 2004 (Source Hong Kong Union)

Participants: Aotearoa Maori New Zealand, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, USA (with Macao and Hong Kong Barbarians as showcase teams)

Classification Stages

Macao v Hong Kong Barbarians (Exhibition - three games played)

4th and 5th placed teams

Nation	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
Thailand	3	0	0	53	17
Hong Kong	2	0	1	58	5
Sri Lanka	1	0	2	34	63
China	0	0	3	17	77

• Hong Kong 29-0 Sri Lanka
• Thailand 26-5 China
• Hong Kong 0-5 Thailand
• Sri Lanka 22-12 China
• Hong Kong 29-0 China
• Sri Lanka 12-22 Thailand

1st, 2nd and 3rd placed teams



Bowl Final

• Singapore 0-68 USA

Plate Final

• Japan 5-29 Kazakhstan

Cup Final

• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 10-0 Australia

Classification Stages

Bowl/Shield Semi Finals

• Singapore 10-22 China
• Hong Kong 7-15 Thailand

Cup/Plate Semi Finals

• USA 5-10 Australia
• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 43-0 Japan

Shield Final

• Singapore 0-34 Hong Kong

Bowl Final

• China 24-7 Thailand

Plate Final

• USA 31-7 Japan

Cup Final

• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 19-12 Australia

2006

Venue/Date: Hong Kong March 2006 (Source Hong Kong Union) Summarised (but with a number of missing games)

Group games

• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 7-5 China
• Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 38-0 Japan
• China beat Japan

2008

Played March 27 and 28th at Hong Kong (So Kon Po stadium, final at the International Stadium) (Source HK Rugby and South China Morning Post) (Summarised)

Pool A: USA, Netherlands (last took part in 2006), Hong Kong

Pool B: Kazakhstan (current Asian champs), Fiji (last took part in 2003), France (debut)

Pool C: China, Thailand, Japan

Pool D: Canada, Singapore, Arabian Gulf

• New Zealand did not defend the tournament that they have never lost and Australia were also a noted absentee.
• Pool games were followed by a range of classification games.
• Fiji withdrew late on and Papua New Guinea stepped in avoiding the need for a "select" team (they took part in 2007)

Classification Stages

Cup Quarter Finals

Canada 35-14 Netherlands

Kazakhstan 12-7 China

USA 45-0 Arabian Gulf

France 15-7 Japan

9th to 12th Semi Finals

Hong Kong 15-0 Singapore

Papua New Guinea 0-29 Thailand

Bowl (5th to 8th) Semi Finals

Netherlands 5-5 China (China win on try countback)

Arabian Gulf 0-10 Japan

Cup Semi Finals

Canada 26-0 Kazakhstan

USA 5-0 France

11th Place

Singapore 5-17 Papua New Guinea

9th Place

Hong Kong 15-7 Thailand

7th Place

Netherlands 19-0 Arabian Gulf

Bowl Final

China 17-7 Japan

Plate Final

France 24-0 Kazakhstan

Cup Final

USA 21-7 Canada

Classification Games

9th place

• Hong Kong 7-0 Guam

7th place

• Japan 7-0 Singapore

Bowl Final

• Arabian Gulf 12-14 Papua New Guinea

Plate Final

• Thailand 22-7 Tunisia

Cup Final

• Australia 24-7 China