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2011–12 IRB Sevens
2011–12 IRB Sevens
Series XIII
Hosts	Australia; United Arab Emirates; South Africa; New Zealand; United States; Hong Kong; Japan; Scotland; England;
Date	25 November 2011
Nations	30
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runners-up	Fiji
Third	England
Series details
Top try scorer	Mathew Turner; (38 tries)
Top point scorer	Tomasi Cama; (390 points)
	← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of the IRB Sevens World Series tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.

Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format. However, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, was played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the usual 16. In addition, the USA Sevens were a three-day affair this season despite being a standard 16-team event.

Itinerary

The IRB announced the schedule for the 2011–12 series on 18 August 2011. The most important development was the addition of a leg in Japan, expanding the circuit to nine legs. Two other significant scheduling changes were made. The Australian leg, which had previously followed the Hong Kong Sevens, was now the first event in the series. Also, the last two legs of the series, originally slated for Edinburgh and London, switched places on the schedule, making the London leg the last in the series.^[1]

On 13 April 2011, the Australian and South African unions (ARU and SARU, respectively) both announced that their countries' legs of the series would move to new sites effective this season. The ARU announced that its leg would move from Adelaide to the Gold Coast. Initially, the event was called the "International Rugby Sevens Gold Coast", but was later rebranded as simply the "Gold Coast Sevens".^[2]^[3] The SARU announced that Port Elizabeth would become the new host of the South Africa leg, replacing George.^[4]

On 9 December 2011, the IRB and the Scottish Rugby Union announced that the Scotland Sevens, also previously known as the Edinburgh Sevens, would move to Glasgow from the 2012 edition.^[5]

2011–12 Itinerary^[1]
Leg	Venue	Date	Winner
Australia	Skilled Park, Gold Coast	25–26 November 2011	Fiji
Dubai	The Sevens, Dubai	2–3 December 2011	England
South Africa	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	9–10 December 2011	New Zealand
New Zealand	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	3–4 February 2012	New Zealand
United States	Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas	10–12 February 2012	Samoa
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	23–25 March 2012	Fiji
Japan	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo	31 March–1 April 2012	Australia
Scotland	Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow	5–6 May 2012	New Zealand
England	Twickenham, London	12–13 May 2012	Fiji

Women's sevens

The 2011 Dubai Sevens saw the IRB organise its first officially sanctioned women's international sevens tournament apart from the Rugby World Cup Sevens. It involved eight teams—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, South Africa, Spain, and the USA—and the semifinals and final were held on the main pitch at The Sevens. This was part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13.^[6]

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that received guaranteed berths in each event of that season's series. The core teams for 2011–12 were:^[7]

The core teams have been unchanged since the 2008–09 series.

Points schedule

The season championship was determined by points earned in each tournament. A new points system, in which each participating team now receives Series points, was introduced shortly before the 2011–12 season kicked off:^[8]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)

Cup winner (1st place): 22 points
Cup runner-up (2nd place): 19 points
Cup third-place play-off winner (3rd place): 17 points
Cup third-place play-off loser (4th place): 15 points
Plate winner (5th place): 13 points
Plate runner-up (6th place): 12 points
Losing Plate semi-finalists (joint 7th place): 10 points
Bowl winner (9th place): 8 points
Bowl runner-up (10th place): 7 points
Losing Bowl semi-finalists (joint 11th place): 5 points
Shield winner (13th place): 3 points
Shield runner-up (14th place): 2 points
Losing Shield semi-finalists (joint 15th place): 1 point

24-team event (Hong Kong)

To be announced

Tournament structure

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participated. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament had 24 teams. In each 16-team tournament, the teams were divided into pools of four teams, who played a round-robin within the pool. Points were awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. In case of a tie on competition points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[9]

Head-to-head result
Difference in points scored in all pool matches
Difference in tries scored in all pool matches
Total points scored in all pool matches
Total tries scored in all pool matches
Coin toss

A tie between more than two teams is resolved in the same manner, but without considering head-to-head results.^[9]

Four trophies were awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they were the Cup (overall tournament champion), Plate, Bowl and Shield. Each trophy was awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.^[10]

In a 16-team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers dropped into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl was contested by the third- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the losers in the Bowl quarterfinals dropping into the bracket for the Shield.^[9]

The Hong Kong Sevens used a similar structure, though adjusted for the larger number of teams involved. Its 24 teams were divided into six pools of four teams each, with the competition points system and tiebreakers identical to those for a 16-team event. The six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition.^[11]

The Plate competition was contested by the losing quarterfinalists from the Cup, as in all other events in the series.
The Bowl was contested by the four remaining second-place finishers and the top four third-place finishers.
The Shield was contested by the remaining eight entrants.

Final standings

The points awarded to teams at each event, as well as the overall season totals, are shown in the table below. Points for the event winners are indicated in bold. A zero (0) is recorded in the event column where a team competed in a tournament but did not gain any points. A dash (–) is recorded in the event column if a team did not compete at a tournament.

2011–12 IRB Sevens – Series XIII ^[12]
Pos.	Event Team	Gold Coast	Dubai	Port Elizabeth	Wellington	Las Vegas	Hong Kong	Tokyo	Glasgow	London	Points total

1	New Zealand	19	10	22	22	19	19	17	22	17	167
2	Fiji	22	17	12	19	17	22	13	17	22	161
3	England	10	22	15	17	10	15	15	19	12	135
4	Samoa	12	3	17	15	22	13	19	13	19	133
5	South Africa	17	12	19	13	15	17	12	10	10	125
6	Australia	15	13	10	7	7	10	22	15	13	112
7	Argentina	8	15	5	5	12	12	10	10	15	92
8	Wales	13	10	13	5	10	10	10	12	8	91
9	France	10	19	10	10	3	5	8	5	3	73
10	Scotland	7	8	8	3	2	5	3	5	7	48
11	United States	5	7	5	1	5	7	7	2	2	41
12	Kenya	1	2	2	8	13	8	2	3	1	40
13	Canada	–	5	7	10	8	3	–	-	–	33
14	Spain	–	-	–	-	–	2	–	7	10	19
15	Portugal	–	5	1	–	-	1	5	1	5	18
16	Tonga	5	–	-	12	–	0	–	-	–	17
17	Russia	–	-	–	-	–	0	1	8	1	10
17	Zimbabwe	–	1	3	–	-	0	–	1	5	10
17	Japan	2	–	-	1	5	1	1	–	-	10
20	Hong Kong	–	-	–	-	–	0	5	–	-	5
21	Papua New Guinea	3	–	-	–	-	–	-	–	-	3
22	Cook Islands	–	-	–	2	–	-	–	-	–	2
23	Uruguay	–	-	–	-	1	0	–	-	–	1
23	Brazil	–	-	–	-	1	–	-	–	-	1
23	United Arab Emirates	–	1	–	-	–	-	–	-	–	1
23	Morocco	–	-	1	–	-	–	-	–	-	1
23	Niue	1	–	-	–	-	–	-	–	-	1
28	China	–	–	-	–	-	0	-	–	-	0
28	Guyana	–	–	-	–	-	0	-	–	-	0
28	Philippines	–	–	-	–	-	0	-	–	-	0

Notes:
Light blue line on the left indicates a core team eligible to participate in all events of the series.

Player scoring

Most points

Most points^[13]
Pos.	Player	Points
1	Junior Tomasi Cama (NZL)	390
2	Metuisela Talebula (FIJ)	271
3	Colin Gregor (SCO)	242
4	Mathew Turner (ENG)	194
5	Dan Norton (ENG)	191
6	Branco du Preez (RSA)	175
7	Tom Iosefo (SAM)	167
8	Paul Albaladejo (FRA)	159
9	Tom Mitchell (ENG)	154
10	Frank Halai (NZL)	150

Most tries

Most tries^[14]
Pos.	Player	Tries
1	Mathew Turner (ENG)	38
2	Dan Norton (ENG)	37
3	Junior Tomasi Cama (NZL)	34
4	Tom Iosefo (SAM)	33
5	Frank Halai (NZL)	30
6	James Fleming (SCO)	29
7	Joeli Lutumailagi (FIJ)	28
8	Paul Perez (SAM)	27
9	Richard Smith (WAL)	26
10	Waisea Nayacalevu (FIJ)	25
10	Metuisela Talebula (FIJ)	25

Tournaments

Gold Coast

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	26 – 12	New Zealand	Australia South Africa
Plate	Wales	26 – 15	Samoa	England France
Bowl	Argentina	17 – 14	Scotland	Tonga United States
Shield	Papua New Guinea	31 – 19	Japan	Kenya Niue

Dubai

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	England	29 – 12	France	Argentina Fiji
Plate	Australia	17 – 14	South Africa	New Zealand Wales
Bowl	Scotland	26 – 0	United States	Canada Portugal
Shield	Samoa	31 – 17	Kenya	United Arab Emirates Zimbabwe

South Africa

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	31 – 26	South Africa	England Samoa
Plate	Wales	48 – 0	Fiji	Australia France
Bowl	Scotland	22 – 19	Canada	Argentina United States
Shield	Zimbabwe	19 – 12	Kenya	Morocco Portugal

Wellington

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	24 – 7	Fiji	England Samoa
Plate	South Africa	24 – 0	Tonga	Canada France
Bowl	Kenya	12 – 7	Australia	Argentina Wales
Shield	Scotland	19 – 17	Cook Islands	Japan United States

United States

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Samoa	26 – 19	New Zealand	Fiji South Africa
Plate	Kenya	21 – 7	Argentina	England Wales
Bowl	Canada	19 – 17	Australia	Japan United States
Shield	France	22 – 7	Scotland	Brazil Uruguay

Hong Kong

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	35 – 28	New Zealand	England South Africa
Plate	Samoa	12 – 10	Argentina	Australia Wales
Bowl	Kenya	14 – 12	United States	France Scotland
Shield	Canada	22 – 5	Spain	Japan Portugal

Japan

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Australia	28 – 26	Samoa	England New Zealand
Plate	Fiji	14 – 10	South Africa	Argentina Wales
Bowl	France	17 – 12	United States	Hong Kong Portugal
Shield	Scotland	26 – 12	Kenya	Japan Russia

Scotland

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	29 – 14	England	Australia Fiji
Plate	Samoa	31 – 12	Wales	Argentina South Africa
Bowl	Russia	33 – 19	Spain	France Scotland
Shield	Kenya	22 – 14	United States	Portugal Zimbabwe

London

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	38 – 15	Samoa	Argentina New Zealand
Plate	Australia	14 – 12	England	South Africa Spain
Bowl	Wales	27 – 5	Scotland	Portugal Zimbabwe
Shield	France	19 – 12	United States	Kenya Russia

References

^ ^a ^b "Japan joins expanded HSBC Sevens World Series" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Gold Coast to Become New Home for Australian Sevens" (Press release). Australian Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Gold Coast Sevens". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Port Elizabeth named as new host of SA Sevens event". South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ "World Series moves to Glasgow" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
^ "First IRB Women's Sevens event announced" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Teams announced for Gold Coast kickoff" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 8 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "New Points System for HSBC Sevens World Series". South African Rugby Union. 25 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". HSBC Sevens World Series. International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Rules". HSBC Sevens World Series (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "HSBC Sevens World Series Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.