1999–2000 World Sevens Series

1999–2000 IRB Sevens

Series I
Hosts|

* United Arab Emirates
* South Africa
* Uruguay
* Argentina
* New Zealand
* Fiji
* Australia
* Hong Kong
* Japan
* France

Date| 2 December 1999 – 28 May 2000
Final positions
Champions|  New Zealand
Runners-up|  Fiji
Third|  Australia

2000–01 →

The 1999–2000 World Sevens Series was the first season of the global circuit for men's national rugby sevens teams, organised by the International Rugby Board (now known as World Rugby). The series ran from December 1999 to May 2000 and incorporated ten tournaments spread over five continents. New Zealand was the series champion, winning five of the tournament events. Fiji finished as runner-up, eight points behind despite winning the remaining five tournaments. The leading try-scorer for the inaugural season was Fiji's Vilimoni Delasau, who notched 83 tries over the series.[1]

## Schedule

[edit]

The official schedule of ten events was announced by the International Rugby Board (IRB) on 2 December 1999. Prominent existing sevens tournaments were included in the new series, for the most part. The New Zealand and South Africa tournaments, however, were hosted as full international sevens events by their respective unions for the first time.[2][3] An eleventh tournament, to be held in England, was considered but this did not come to fruition and was left off the calendar.[4]

The prestige of the Hong Kong Sevens was acknowledged by increasing the points scale awarded to teams at the tournament by an extra 50 per cent. This recognised the special status of the event organized by the Hong Kong Rugby Union, played over three days instead of two and incorporating 24 teams instead of the usual 16.[5] The union had initially wanted the Hong Kong tournament to be the final stop of the tour,[6] but this proposal had been rejected earlier by the IRB.[7]

Leg  | Venue  | Dates  | Winner

|
|
|

Dubai | Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground | 2–3 December 1999  |  New Zealand
South Africa | Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch | 10–11 December 1999  |  Fiji
Punta del Este | Campus de Maldonado, Punta del Este | 7–8 January 2000  |  New Zealand
Mar del Plata | Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata | 12–13 January 2000  |  Fiji
Wellington | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | 4–5 February 2000  |  Fiji
Fiji | National Stadium, Suva | 11–12 February 2000  |  New Zealand
Brisbane | Lang Park, Brisbane | 18–19 February 2000  |  Fiji
Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong  | 24–26 March 2000  |  New Zealand
Japan | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo  | 1–2 April 2000  |  Fiji
Paris | Stade Sébastien Charléty, Paris  | 27–28 May 2000  |  New Zealand

## Final standings

[edit]

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 played in a tournament but did not gain any points, however excludes teams that did not accumulate any points overall. A dash (—) is recorded in the event column if a team did not compete at a tournament.

1999–2000 IRB Sevens – Series I
Pos.  |

Event

Team

Dubai |
Stellen­bosch |
Punta del Este |
Mar del Plata |
Well­ing­ton |
Suva |
Bris­bane |
Hong Kong |
Tokyo |
Paris | Points
total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
1 |  New Zealand | 20 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 12 | 30 | 16 | 20 | 186
2 |  Fiji | 16 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 180
3 |  Australia | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 118
4 |  Samoa | 12 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 82
5 |  South Africa | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ~~12~~ [a] | 8 | 4 | 16 | 80
6 |  Canada | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 60
7 |  Argentina | – | 0 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | — | 12 | 52
8 |  France | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 34
9 |  England | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | 4 | 22
10  |  Tonga | 4 | 2 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | 12
Georgia | 0 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 12
12  |  Papua New Guinea | — | — | — | — | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | — | 8
Uruguay | — | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 8
Japan | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8
15 |  Morocco | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 4
16  |  Spain | — | — | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2
Scotland | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | 0 | 2

Source: World Rugby (archived)

Notes:

1. ^ South Africa reached the semi-final stage of the Brisbane Sevens but was stripped of all points for the tournament due to fielding ineligible players.[8]

## Tournaments

[edit]

### Dubai

[edit]

Main article: 1999 Dubai Sevens

The opening tournament of the brand new series saw the teams head over to Dubai with the three day event starting on the Wednesday with the international tournament being played on the Thursday and Friday.[9] In the cup final, it was New Zealand that took out the cup final defeating Fiji by 24 points with Australia and Scotland taking out the plate and bowl respectively.[10]

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 38–14 |  Fiji |  South Africa
Samoa
Plate  |  Australia | 33–20 |  France |  Tonga
Canada
Bowl  |  Scotland | 31–24 |  Zimbabwe |  Kenya
United States

### South Africa

[edit]

Main article: 1999 South Africa Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 12–10 |  New Zealand |  Georgia
South Africa
Plate  |  Australia | 22–19 |  Samoa |  Canada
Morocco
Bowl  |  Tonga | 31–26 |  Argentina |  Uruguay
Namibia

### Punta del Este

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Punta del Este Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 42–19 |  Fiji |  South Africa
Samoa
Plate  |  Australia | 27–12 |  Canada |  Uruguay
Argentina
Bowl  |  France | 31–12 |  Germany |  Chile
Spain

### Mar del Plata

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Mar del Plata Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 26–14 |  New Zealand |  Samoa
Australia
Plate  |  Argentina | 41–7 |  Canada |  France
South Africa
Bowl  |  Spain | 40–7 |  Chile |  United States
Germany

### Wellington

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Wellington Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 24–14 |  New Zealand |  Samoa
Australia
Plate  |  Canada | 24–21 |  South Africa |  Argentina
Tonga
Bowl  |  France | 47–12 |  Croatia |  Japan
Papua New Guinea

### Fiji

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Fiji Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 31–5 |  Fiji |  Samoa
Australia
Plate  |  Argentina | 17–14 |  South Africa |  Canada
Uruguay
Bowl  |  Papua New Guinea | 21–17 |  Tonga |  Japan
France

### Australia

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Brisbane Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 24–21 |  Australia |  South Africa
New Zealand
Plate  |  Argentina | 33–14 |  France |  Samoa
Canada
Bowl  |  Tonga | 43–0 |  Papua New Guinea |  Hong Kong
Uruguay

### Hong Kong

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Hong Kong Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score[11] | Finalists  | Semi-finalists  | Quarter-finalists

|
|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 31–5 |  Fiji |  Australia
England |  Argentina
Canada
Samoa
South Africa
Plate  |  France | 19–14 |  Croatia |  Italy
Hong Kong |  Scotland
South Korea
United States
Japan
Bowl  |  Ireland | 59–7 |  China |  Thailand
Arabian Gulf |  Chinese Taipei
Malaysia
Sri Lanka
Singapore

### Japan

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Japan Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 27–22 |  New Zealand |  Canada
Australia
Plate  |  Japan | 26–14 |  Papua New Guinea |  France
South Africa
Bowl  |  Samoa | 19–12 |  South Korea |  Hong Kong
United States

### France

[edit]

Main article: 2000 Paris Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi-finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 69–10 |  South Africa |  Australia
Argentina
Plate  |  Fiji | 45–7 |  France |  Canada
England
Bowl  |  Samoa | 37–5 |  Morocco |  Ireland
French Barbarians

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Sevens Briefs Archived 7 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 14 December 2014.
2. ^ "Series schedule complete". International Rugby Board. 2 December 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.
3. ^ "Welcome to the IRB World Sevens Series Website". International Rugby Board. 1 December 1999. Archived from the original on 17 October 2000.
4. ^ Sallay, Alvin (28 March 2000). "England in line to host sevens final". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
5. ^ Sallay, Alvin (15 November 1999). "World Sevens Series recognises HK as premier event". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
6. ^ Sallay, Alvin (25 March 1999). "HK hopes to host sevens circuit finale". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
7. ^ Sallay, Alvin (28 March 1999). "IRB acknowledges HK Sevens' special status". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
8. ^ "New Zealand leaves Fijian nationality issue to IRB". espnscrum.com. 14 November 2000. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016.
9. ^ "World Sevens Series set for spectacular launch". International Rugby Board. 30 October 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.
10. ^ "New Zealand lead series table". International Rugby Board. 3 December 1999. Archived from the original on 7 July 2002.
11. ^ "Kiwis claim Hong Kong crown", BBC, 26 March 2000.

## Sources

[edit]

* Burgess, Michael (17 January 2008). "History of the IRB Sevens". TVNZ. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Official tournament site[usurped]
* "1999–2000 Season Overview". irb.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2013.

* v
* t
* e

IRB Sevens I

1999–2000 events|

* Dubai
* South Africa
* Punta del Este
* Mar del Plata
* Wellington
* Fiji
* Brisbane
* Hong Kong
* Tokyo
* Paris

Core teams|

* Australia
* Canada
* Fiji
* France
* New Zealand
* Samoa
* South Africa

Other teams|

* Arabian Gulf
* Argentina
* Brazil
* Chile
* China
* Chinese Taipei
* Cook Islands
* Croatia
* England
* Georgia
* Germany
* French Barbarians
* Hong Kong
* Ireland
* Italy
* Japan
* Kenya
* Malaysia
* Morocco
* Namibia
* Papua New Guinea
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Scotland
* Singapore
* South Korea
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Thailand
* Tonga
* United States
* Uruguay
* Vanuatu
* Zimbabwe

* IRB
* World Sevens Series

* v
* t
* e

SVNS

Seasons|

* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2021
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24

2023–24 events|

* Dubai
* Cape Town
* Perth
* Vancouver
* Los Angeles
* Hong Kong
* Singapore
* Madrid (Grand Final)

Former events|

* Argentina
* Chile
* China
* Fiji
* France
* Japan
* London (England)
* Malaysia
* New Zealand
* Scotland
* Uruguay
* Wales

Current stadiums|

* BC Place
* Cape Town Stadium
* Dignity Health Sports Park
* Hong Kong Stadium
* Metropolitano Stadium
* National Stadium, Singapore
* Perth Rectangular Stadium
* The Sevens

Related articles|

* Sevens Challenger Series
* Olympic Sevens
* Rugby World Cup Sevens

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