2021 World Rugby Sevens
Series XXII
Hosts
Date18–26 September 2021
Nations12
Final positions
Champions South Africa
Runners-up Great Britain
Third Kenya
Series details
Top try scorerMuller du Plessis (13)
Top point scorerRonald Brown (91)

The 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 22nd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999. Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, only two tournaments were played in the 2021 series instead of the usual ten.[1] The number of teams participating was also reduced from sixteen to twelve at the tournaments, with many of the top teams from the previous series not taking part.[2]

The series was won by South Africa who won both tour events on their way to claiming their fourth World Series title.

Teams

The twelve national men's teams competing in the 2021 series were:

Core teams qualified from the previous season and not competing in 2021 were:

Tour venues

The official schedule for the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was:[7][8]

2021 Itinerary
Leg Stadium City Dates Winner
Vancouver BC Place Vancouver 18–19 September 2021  South Africa
Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium Edmonton 25–26 September 2021  South Africa

On 4 August organisers announced the cancellation of the Hong Kong Sevens for the second year running because of the emerging Covid-19 Delta variant and global travel restrictions.[9]

On 3 September, World Rugby cancelled the Singapore and Cape Town tournaments due to ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and announced that the 2021 Dubai Sevens tournament would no longer be part of the 2021 series but incorporated into the 2021-22 series instead.[1] This reduced the 2021 series to just two events held in Canada.

Standings

For the tie-breaker rules, see World Rugby Sevens Series § Tiebreakers.

Official standings for the 2021 series:

2021 World Rugby Sevens – Series XXI
 
Pos.
Event 
Team
Van­couver
Edmon­ton 		Points
total[c]
   
1  South Africa 20 20 40
2  Great Britain[b] 16 18 34
3  Kenya 18 16 34
4  Canada 10 14 24
5  United States 12 10 22
6  Ireland 14 6 20
7  Germany 4 12 16
8  Hong Kong 8 8 16
9  Spain 6 4 10
10  Jamaica 3 2 5
11  Chile 2 3 5
12  Mexico 1 1 2

Source: World Rugby[10]

Players

Scoring leaders

See also: World Rugby Sevens Series § Player records
Tries scored
Rank Player Tries
1 Muller du Plessis 13
2 Malacchi Esdale 12
Max McFarland 12
4 Alvin Otieno 11
Siviwe Soyizwapi 11

Updated: 27 September 2021

Points scored
Rank Player Points
1 Ronald Brown 91
2 Muller du Plessis 65
3 Diego Warnken 64
4 Brennig Prevost 62
5 Malacchi Esdale 60
Max McFarland 60

Updated: 27 September 2021

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019–20 champion team New Zealand, Olympic gold medallist Fiji, as well as Australia, Argentina, and Samoa did not compete in the 2021 series,[3] and neither did Japan, the team promoted to core status from the 2020 Challenger Series,[4][5] or France, a late withdrawal due to travel issues.[2]
  2. ^ a b Great Britain represented England, Scotland and Wales during the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, following their appearance as Team GB at the Olympic Sevens earlier in the year.[6]
  3. ^ Due to only 12 teams competing in each event in the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, the maximum number of points awarded for a tournament win was 20, in line with the usual system for 12 teams in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

References

  1. ^ a b "World Rugby cancels Sevens events in Cape Town and Singapore". ESPN. 4 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Davidson, Neil (10 September 2021). "Field for Canadian rugby sevens events diluted by pandemic-related issues". Lethbridge News Now. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021.
  3. ^ Johnston, Patrick (12 August 2021). "Rugby: COVID-19 keeping leading teams away from 2021 Canada Sevens". The Province. Vancouver. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021.
  4. ^ Johnston, Patrick (27 August 2021). "Canada Sevens: Team lineup confirmed as Jamaica, Hong Kong added". The Province. Vancouver. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Plans revised for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021". World Rugby. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  6. ^ "HSBC Canada Sevens Update". Canada Sevens. 9 August 2021. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 schedule updated". World.Rugby. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021.
  8. ^ "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series". World.Rugby. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Hong Kong Sevens cancelled for second year as organisers turn to April 2022 – 'the potential risk of exposure was just too great'". South China Morning Post. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  10. ^ "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Standings". World Rugby. 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.

External links

2021 World Rugby Sevens Series
SVNS
Categories