2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series

2009–10 IRB Sevens

Series XI
Hosts|

* United Arab Emirates
* South Africa
* New Zealand
* United States
* Hong Kong
* Australia
* England
* Scotland

Date| 4 December 2009 - 30 May 2010
Final positions
Champions|  Samoa
Runners-up|  New Zealand
Third|  Australia

← 2008-09

2010-11 →

The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series was the eleventh of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. Samoa won the IRB Sevens World Series crown for their first time.

Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format. However, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the normal 16.

The 2009-10 Series was won by Samoa, who won four of the eight tournaments and placed second in two others. Samoa were led by top try-scorer Mikaele Pesamino, who led the Series with 56 tries.

## Itinerary

[edit]

The series' tournaments were identical to those in 2008–09 and spanned the globe, visiting five of the six populated continents.

2009–10 Itinerary[1] Leg  | Venue  | Date  | Winner

|
|
|

Dubai | The Sevens | December 4–5, 2009 |  New Zealand
South Africa | Outeniqua Park, George | December 11–12, 2009 |  New Zealand
New Zealand | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | February 5–6, 2010 |  Fiji
United States | Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas | February 13–14, 2010 |  Samoa
Australia | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | March 19–21, 2010 |  Samoa
Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | March 26–28, 2010 |  Samoa
London | Twickenham | May 22–23, 2010 |  Australia
Edinburgh | Murrayfield, Edinburgh | May 29–30, 2010 |  Samoa

Two minor changes were made to the schedule:

* The USA event moved from San Diego, its home from 2007 to 2009, to Las Vegas.[2]
* The Adelaide event moved from its previous slot of one week after Hong Kong to one week before.[1]

## Core teams

[edit]

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that will receive guaranteed berths in each event in that season's series. The core teams for 2009–10 were:[3]

* Argentina
* Australia
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Kenya
* New Zealand
* Samoa
* Scotland
* South Africa
* United States
* Wales

The core teams were unchanged from 2008–09; the most recent change came before that season, when the USA replaced its neighbor Canada.[4]

## Points schedule

[edit]

The season championship is determined by points earned in each tournament. Effective with this season, the IRB changed the points allocations for all events as follows:[5]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)

* Cup winner (1st place): 24 points
* Cup runner-up: 20 points
* Losing Cup semifinalists: 16 points
* Plate winner (5th place): 12 points
* Plate runner-up: 8 points
* Losing Plate semifinalists: 6 points
* Bowl winner (9th place): 4 points

24-team event (Hong Kong)

* Cup winner: 30 points
* Cup runner-up: 25 points
* Losing Cup semifinalists: 20 points
* Plate winner (5th place): 16 points
* Plate runner-up: 10 points
* Losing Plate semifinalists: 8 points
* Bowl winner (9th place): 5 points

## Tournament structure

[edit]

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament has 24 teams. In each 16-team tournament, the teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. Points are awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.[6]

Four trophies are awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. The Shield was contested in Hong Kong for the first time in 2010. Each trophy is awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[7]

In a 16-team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advance to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl is 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.[6]

The Hong Kong Sevens adopted a new structure effective with its 2010 edition. As in previous years, the 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. Also as in the past, the six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition.[8] The changes made in 2010 were:[9]

* 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. In previous years, these teams competed for the Plate.
* The Shield was contested by the remaining eight entrants. In previous years, these teams competed for the Bowl.

## 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 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.

2009–10 IRB Sevens – Series XI[10]
Pos.  |

Event

Team

Dubai |
George |
Well­ing­ton |
Las Vegas |
Adel­aide |
Hong Kong |
Lon­don |
Edin­burgh | Points
total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
1 |  Samoa | 20 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 30 | 16 | 24 | 164
2 |  New Zealand | 24 | 24 | 16 | 20 | 12 | 25 | 12 | 16 | 149
3 |  Australia | 12 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 20 | 122
4 |  Fiji | 16 | 20 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 108
5 |  England | 16 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 96
6 |  South Africa | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 80
7 |  Argentina | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 62
8 |  Kenya | 6 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 52
9 |  Wales | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 34
10 |  United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32
11 |  Canada | – | – | 6 | 0 | – | 5 | 4 | 0 | 15
12 |  Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12
13 |  France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0

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

## Player scoring

[edit]

### Most points

[edit]

Most points[11]
Pos.  | Player  | Country  | Points

|
|
|

1 | Ben Gollings |  England | 332
2 | Mikaele Pesamino |  Samoa | 282
3 | Lolo Lui |  Samoa | 264
4 | James Stannard |  Australia | 257
5 | Tomasi Cama |  New Zealand | 241
6 | Cecil Afrika |  South Africa | 210
7 | Kurt Baker |  New Zealand | 191
8 | Lavin Asego |  Kenya | 173
9 | Mzwandile Stick |  South Africa | 171
10 | William Ryder |  Fiji | 166

### Most tries

[edit]

Most tries[12]
Pos.  | Player  | Country  | Tries

|
|
|

1 | Mikaele Pesamino |  Samoa | 56
2= | Kurt Baker |  New Zealand | 33
2= | Humphrey Kayange |  Kenya | 33
4= | Rayno Benjamin |  South Africa | 32
4= | Collins Injera |  Kenya | 32
6 | Brackin Karauria-Henry |  Australia | 30
7 | Alafoti Fa'osiliva |  Samoa | 29
8= | Renaud Delmas |  France | 28
8= | Clinton Sills |  Australia | 28
10 | Sherwin Stowers |  New Zealand | 27

## Tournaments

[edit]

### Dubai

[edit]

Main article: 2009 Dubai Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 24 – 12 |  Samoa |  England
Fiji
Plate  |  Australia | 7 – 0 |  South Africa |  Argentina
Kenya
Bowl  |  Wales | 38 – 7 |  Zimbabwe |  United States
France
Shield  |  Russia | 17 – 14 |  Portugal |  Scotland
Arabian Gulf

### South Africa

[edit]

Main article: 2009 South Africa Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  New Zealand | 21 – 12 |  Fiji |  Argentina
Kenya
Plate  |  England | 21 – 7 |  South Africa |  Samoa
Australia
Bowl  |  Wales | 14 – 5 |  Russia |  United States
Portugal
Shield  |  Scotland | 28 – 19 |  France |  Zimbabwe
Tunisia

### New Zealand

[edit]

Main article: 2010 Wellington Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Fiji | 19 – 14 |  Samoa |  England
New Zealand
Plate  |  Australia | 26 – 22 |  South Africa |  Canada
Kenya
Bowl  |  Wales | 7 – 5 |  France |  Argentina
Niue
Shield  |  United States | 17 – 14 |  Tonga |  Papua New Guinea
Scotland

### United States

[edit]

Main article: 2010 USA Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Samoa | 33 – 12 |  New Zealand |  Australia
Kenya
Plate  |  South Africa | 12 – 7 |  Fiji |  England
Wales
Bowl  |  United States | 28 – 17 |  France |  Argentina
Chile
Shield  |  Scotland | 17 – 7 |  Japan |  Canada
Guyana

### Australia

[edit]

Main article: 2010 Adelaide Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Samoa | 38 – 10 |  United States |  Argentina
Australia
Plate  |  New Zealand | 21 – 14 |  South Africa |  Fiji
Wales
Bowl  |  England | 33 – 12 |  Kenya |  France
Scotland
Shield  |  Japan | 22 – 19 |  Tonga |  Niue
Papua New Guinea

### Hong Kong

[edit]

Main article: 2010 Hong Kong Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists  | Quarter Finalists

|
|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Samoa | 24 – 21 |  New Zealand |  England
Fiji |
Plate  |  Australia | 12 – 5 |  South Africa |  Kenya
United States |
Bowl  |  Canada | 35 – 19 |  Wales |  Portugal
Scotland |  Argentina
France
Japan
Tonga
Shield  |  Hong Kong | 19 – 17 |  Russia |  Italy
Zimbabwe |  China
Chinese Taipei
South Korea
Thailand

### London

[edit]

Main article: 2010 London Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Australia | 19 – 14 |  South Africa |  Argentina
Samoa
Plate  |  New Zealand | 26 – 24 |  Fiji |  England
Wales
Bowl  |  Canada | 19 – 17 |  Portugal |  Scotland
United States
Shield  |  Kenya | 24 – 21 |  France |  Italy
Russia

### Scotland

[edit]

Main article: 2010 Edinburgh Sevens

Event  | Winners  | Score  | Finalists  | Semi Finalists

|
|
|
|

Cup  |  Samoa | 41 – 14 |  Australia |  England
New Zealand
Plate  |  Scotland | 19 – 0 |  Argentina |  Fiji
South Africa
Bowl  |  Wales | 26 – 10 |  Kenya |  France
United States
Shield  |  Russia | 26 – 7 |  Canada |  Italy
Portugal

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series schedule set" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-07-08. Archived from the original on 2009-07-11. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
2. ^ "USA Sevens Signs Letter Of Intent to Bring Tournament to New Venue in 2010" (Press release). USA Sevens, LLC. 2009-07-13. Archived from the original on 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
3. ^ "Pools and matches set for South Africa Sevens" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-10-12. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
4. ^ "USA Rugby receives major Sevens boost" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2008-09-22. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
5. ^ "Overhaul for Sevens World Series point system" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-11-05. Archived from the original on 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
6. ^ a b "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
7. ^ "Rules". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
8. ^ "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2009–2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
9. ^ "All 24 teams announced for Hong Kong Sevens" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
10. ^ "Overall Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
11. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2009/10 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
12. ^ "IRB Sevens World Series 2009/10 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2010-03-28.

## External links

[edit]

* Official tournament site[usurped]
* London Sevens Profile on UR7s.com

* v
* t
* e

2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series

2009–10 events|

* 2009 Dubai Sevens
* 2009 South Africa Sevens
* 2010 Wellington Sevens
* 2010 USA Sevens
* 2010 Adelaide Sevens
* 2010 Hong Kong Sevens
* 2010 London Sevens
* 2010 Edinburgh Sevens

2009–10 stadiums|

* The Sevens
* Outeniqua Park
* Westpac Stadium
* Sam Boyd Stadium
* Adelaide Oval
* Hong Kong Stadium
* Twickenham
* Murrayfield

Core teams|

* Argentina
* Australia
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Kenya
* New Zealand
* Samoa
* Scotland
* South Africa
* United States
* Wales

Other teams|

* Arabian Gulf
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Chinese Taipei
* Guyana
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Niue
* Papua New Guinea
* Portugal
* Russia
* South Korea
* Thailand
* Tonga
* Tunisia
* Zimbabwe

* 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
* 2024–25

2024–25 events|

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

Former events|

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

Current stadiums|

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

Related articles|

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

* v
* t
* e

Rugby union schedule for 2009

| Jan  | Feb  | Mar  | Apr  | May  | Jun  | Jul  | Aug  | Sep  | Oct  | Nov  | Dec

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Heineken Cup | Six Nations Championship | Heineken Cup | Mid-year tests |  |  |  | Heineken Cup | End-of-year int'ls | Heineken Cup
|  |  |  | British & Irish Lions tour
English Premiership |  |  |  | English Premiership
Celtic League |  |  |  | Celtic League
Top 14 |  | Top 14
Top League |  | Top League
|  |  | Shute Shield
|  |  |  |  |  | Currie Cup |  |
Sevens |  |  |  |  |  | Sevens
|  | World Cup Sevens | Pacific Rugby Cup | Churchill Cup | Air New Zealand Cup
| Super 14 | Pacific Nations Cup | Tri Nations

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Rugby union schedule for 2010

| Jan  | Feb  | Mar  | Apr  | May  | Jun  | Jul  | Aug  | Sep  | Oct  | Nov  | Dec

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H. Cup | Six Nations Championship | Heineken Cup | Mid-Year Tests |  |  |  | H. Cup | End of year Int'ls | H. Cup
Guinness Premiership |  |  |  | Aviva Premiership
Celtic League |  |  |  | Celtic League
Top 14 |  | Top 14
Top League |  | Top League
|  |  | Shute Shield
|  |  |  |  |  | Currie Cup |  |
Sevens |  |  |  |  |  | Sevens
|  | Pacific Rugby Cup | Churchill Cup | ITM Cup
| Super 14 | Pacific Nations Cup | Tri Nations
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