Dubai Sevens

Dubai Sevens

Most recent season or competition: 2023 Dubai Sevens
Sport	Rugby sevens
First season	1970
No. of teams	16
Most recent champion(s)	Fiji
Most titles	South Africa  (11 titles)

2007 Dubai Sevens

The Dubai 7s is an annual rugby sevens and social event held at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, UAE. Founded in 1970, the event is the longest running sports event in the Middle East.^[1]

Events

The Dubai 7s has six competitions each year:^[2]

• World Rugby Sevens Series
• World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
• Rugby Invitation Tournament
• Netball Invitation Tournament
• Cricket 7s Invitational Tournament
• WODON3, Fitness at the Emirates Dubai 7s

Dubai is the first leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series. Sixteen teams compete in the men's tournament divided into four pool of four teams each. On the first day, each team plays the other three teams in the pool. The two highest-placed teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinal knockout rounds, and the bottom two teams move to the challenge bracket.

Dubai also hosts a stop on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. Twelve teams compete in the women's tournament.

For the invitation tournaments, rugby teams take part in 15 sections.^[3] The rugby invitational tournament is popular, with hundreds of teams participating.^[4] The netball tournament includes teams in three sections: gulf women, open youth, and open women.

The Dubai Sevens is one of the more popular sporting events in Dubai, with over 100,000 fans attending the 2016 event.^[4][5]

Venue

The Dubai 7s has been held at The Sevens Stadium since 2008. Facilities at The Sevens include: eight rugby pitches, six cricket pitches, four netball/tennis courts, one basketball court, a grandstand, and ancillary facilities.^[6]

The tournament's move to that venue in 2008 was a success. The tournament broke the World Series single-day attendance record in its first year with over 50,000 fans appearing on the first day of the tournament.^[7]

World Series results

Summary of results

Five teams have won the Dubai Sevens at least once. The early years of the tournament on the World Series were less competitive. Prior to 2003, New Zealand won the final with a comfortable 20+ point margin each year. In the first decade from 1999 to 2008 only five teams (New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, and England) had reached the Dubai Sevens final. Since then, the tournament has been more competitive, with several additional teams making the final and semifinal stages.

Summary of Dubai Sevens results on the World Series (updated to 2022):

Team	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalist	Top 4 placing
South Africa	11	1	5	17
New Zealand	6	5	9	20
England	4	2	9	15
Fiji	3	6	9	18
Samoa	1	3	5	9
Australia	–	2	3	5
United States	–	2	2	4
France	–	1	2	3
Ireland	–	1	–	1
Argentina	–	1	4	5
Spain	–	1	–	1
Kenya	–	–	1	1
Wales	–	–	1	1
Total	24	24	48	96

Results by year

Year	Venue	Cup final			Placings			Refs
		Winner	Score	Runner-up	Plate	Bowl	Shield
1999	Dubai Exiles	New Zealand	38–14	Fiji	Australia	Scotland	—	[8]
2000	Dubai Exiles	New Zealand	34–5	Fiji	South Africa	Ireland	—	[9]
2001^a	Dubai Exiles	New Zealand	45–7	South Africa	Scotland	Wales	—
2002	Dubai Exiles	New Zealand	38–12	Samoa	Fiji	France	Namibia	[10]
2003	Dubai Exiles	South Africa	33–26	New Zealand	Argentina	Canada	Zambia	[11]
2004	Dubai Exiles	England	26–21	Fiji	Samoa	Portugal	Tunisia	[12]
2005	Dubai Exiles	England	28–26	Fiji	New Zealand	Wales	Kenya	[13]
2006	Dubai Exiles	South Africa	31–12	New Zealand	Samoa	Argentina	Wales	[14]
2007	Dubai Exiles	New Zealand	31–21	Fiji	Argentina	Australia	Zimbabwe	[15]
2008	The Sevens	South Africa	19–12	England	Samoa	Portugal	United States	[16]
2009	The Sevens	New Zealand	24–12	Samoa	Australia	Wales	Russia	[17]
2010	The Sevens	England	29–21	Samoa	South Africa	Argentina	Kenya	[18]
2011	The Sevens	England	29–12	France	Fiji	Australia	Scotland	[19]
2012	The Sevens	Samoa	26–15	New Zealand	Wales	Argentina	England	[20]
2013	The Sevens	Fiji	29–17	South Africa	Argentina	Australia	France	[21]
2014	The Sevens	South Africa	33–7	Australia	Argentina	Samoa	Canada	[22]
2015	The Sevens	Fiji	28–17	England	South Africa	France	Canada	[23]
		Winner	Score	Runner-up	Third	Fourth	Fifth
2016	The Sevens	South Africa	26–14	Fiji	England	Wales	Australia	[24]
2017	The Sevens	South Africa	24–12	New Zealand	England	Fiji	Australia	[25]
2018	The Sevens	New Zealand	21–5	United States	England	Australia	Fiji	[26]
2019	The Sevens	South Africa	15–0	New Zealand	England	Samoa	Australia	[27]
2020	The Sevens	Tournament cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.						[28] [29]
2021 I	The Sevens	South Africa	42–7	United States	Argentina	Fiji	Australia
2021 II	The Sevens	South Africa	10–7	Australia	Argentina	France	Great Britain
2022	The Sevens	South Africa	21–5	Ireland	New Zealand	United States	France
2023	The Sevens	South Africa	12–7	Argentina	New Zealand	Fiji	Ireland
2024	The Sevens	Fiji	19–5	Spain	Argentina	New Zealand	France

Notes:

^^a The event held on November 7–8, 2001, was downgraded in status and excluded from the Sevens World Series after several teams withdrew in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[30][31][32]

Earlier winners

Winners of the Emirates International Trophy from 1988 to 1998:^[33]

• 1988 The Thistles
• 1989 Crawshays
• 1990 Toulouse
• 1991 Queensland
• 1992 Scotland
• 1993 White Hart Marauders
• 1994 South Korea
• 1995 Kiwi Nomads
• 1996 Fiji
• 1997 New Zealand Invitation
• 1998 Fiji

See also

• Dubai Women's Sevens

References

1. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: History". Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
2. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: Event information".
3. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: News".
4. "The Dubai Rugby Sevens Broke Attendance Records" Archived 15 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Dubai Rugby 7s, 5 December 2016.
5. "Dubai Rugby Sevens 2018", Time Out Dubai, 29 November 2018.
6. The Sevens official website, 01.01.11.
7. "Dubai sets new Series attendance record", World Rugby, 29 November 2008.
8. "IRB Sevens I – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 1999.
9. "IRB Sevens II – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2000.
10. "IRB Sevens IV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2002.
11. "IRB Sevens V – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2003.
12. "IRB Sevens VI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2004.
13. "IRB Sevens VII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2005.
14. "IRB Sevens VIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2006.
15. "IRB Sevens IX – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2007.
16. "IRB Sevens X – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2009.
17. "IRB Sevens XI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2009.
18. "IRB Sevens XII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2010.
19. "IRB Sevens XIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2011.
20. "IRB Sevens XIV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2012.
21. "IRB Sevens XV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2013.
22. "IRB Sevens XVI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2014.
23. "World Sevens Series XVII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2015.
24. "World Sevens Series XVIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2016.
25. "World Sevens Series XIX– Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2017.
26. "World Sevens Series XX– Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2018.
27. del Carme, Liam (8 December 2019). "Brilliant Blitzbokke bag Dubai Sevens title". Business Live.
28. Radley, Paul (29 July 2020). "2020 Dubai Rugby Sevens cancelled because of coronavirus". The National News. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020.
29. "Plans revised for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021". World Rugby. 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020.
30. "Dubai scrubbed from Sevens Series". Irish Times. 16 October 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
31. Malin, Ian (24 October 2001). "England to miss Dubai's downgraded sevens". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016.
32. "Dubai sevens: Scots take Plate prize". 9 November 2001. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
33. "Dubai 7s". Rugby7.com.

External links

• Official website
• History of Dubai Exiles Rugby Club at archive.today (archived 31 October 2021)