2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

Seventh edition of the global circuit for women's national rugby sevens teams

World Rugby
Women's Sevens Series VII
Hosts United States
 United Arab Emirates
 Australia
 Japan
 Canada
 France
Date20 October 2018 – 16 June 2019
Nations16
Final positions
Champions New Zealand
Runners-up United States
Third Canada

The 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the seventh edition of the global circuit for women's national rugby sevens teams, organised by World Rugby. Six tournament events were scheduled on the 2018–19 circuit with twelve teams competing in each tournament. The series also, for the second time, doubled as an Olympic qualifier.

The series was won by New Zealand who won four tour events on their way to claiming their fifth World Series title.

Format

Twelve teams compete at each event. The top-ranked teams at each tournament play off for a Cup, with gold, silver and bronze medals also awarded to the first three teams. Lower-ranked teams at each tournament play off for a Challenge Trophy. The overall winner of the series was determined by points gained from the standings across all events in the season.

Teams

The "core teams" qualified to participate in all series events for the 2018–19 series were:

One additional core team qualified through winning the 2018 Hong Kong Women's Sevens:

The twelfth team in each tournament is allocated based on performance in the respective continental competitions within Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas.

Tour venues

There were six tournaments in 2018–19:

2018–19 Itinerary
Leg Stadium City Dates Winner
United States Infinity Park Glendale (Denver) 20–21 October 2018  New Zealand
Dubai The Sevens Dubai 29–30 November 2018  New Zealand
Australia Spotless Stadium Sydney 1–3 February 2019  New Zealand
Japan Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu 20–21 April 2019  Canada
Canada Westhills Stadium Langford (Victoria) 11–12 May 2019  New Zealand
France Parc des Sports Aguiléra Biarritz 15–16 June 2019  United States

Standings

Official standings for the 2018–19 series:

2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens
Series VII
Pos
Event 
Team

Glendale

Dubai

Sydney

Kitakyushu

Langford

Biarritz
Points
total
1  New Zealand 20 20 20 12 20 18 110
2  United States 18 14 16 16 16 20 100
3  Canada 16 18 12 20 12 16 94
4  Australia 12 16 18 10 18 12 86
5  France 14 8 10 14 14 10 70
6  England[GB 1] 6 10 3 18 10 3 50
7  Russia 8 12 8 6 8 6 48
8  Ireland 10 6 14 8 2 1 41
9  Spain 4 3 6 3 6 14 36
10  Fiji 3 2 4 4 4 4 21[a]
11  China 2 4 2 2 3 8 21[a]
12  Scotland 2 2
13  Japan 1 1
14  Kenya 1 1
15  Brazil 1 1
16  Papua New Guinea 1 1
17  Mexico 1 1

Source: World Rugby

Legend
No colour Core team in 2018–19 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2019–20 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
Pink Relegated as the lowest placed core team at the end of the 2018–19 series
Yellow Invitational team
Qualified to the 2020 Olympic Sevens as one of the four highest placed eligible teams from the 2018–19 series.[1]
  1. ^ By agreement between the three unions on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), England represented Great Britain in qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Sevens.[2] The final make-up of the Great Britain women's team was determined by the British Olympic Association.

Placings summary

Tallies of top four tournament placings during the 2018–19 series, by team:

Team 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Fourth Total
 United States 1 1 3 1 6
 New Zealand 4 1 5
 Canada 1 1 2 4
 Australia 2 1 3
 France 3 3
 England 1 1
 Ireland 1 1
 Spain 1 1
Totals 6 6 6 6 24

Tournaments

Glendale

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 33–7  United States  Canada (Bronze)
 France
5th Place  Australia 21–19  Ireland  Russia (7th)
 England
Challenge Trophy  Spain 20–14  Fiji  China (11th)
 Mexico

Dubai

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 26–14  Canada  Australia (Bronze)
 United States
5th Place  Russia 12–7  England  France (7th)
 Ireland
Challenge Trophy  China 12–7  Spain  Fiji (11th)
 Kenya

Sydney

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 34–10  Australia  United States (Bronze)
 Ireland
5th Place  Canada 19–17  France  Russia (7th)
 Spain
Challenge Trophy  Fiji 15–12  England  China (11th)
 Papua New Guinea

Kitakyushu

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  Canada 7–5  England  United States (Bronze)
 France
5th Place  New Zealand 34–26  Australia  Ireland (7th)
 Russia
Challenge Trophy  Fiji 41–12  Spain  China (11th)
 Japan

Langford

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 21-17  Australia  United States (bronze)
 France
5th Place  Canada 31-7  England  Russia (7th)
 Spain
Challenge Trophy  Fiji 26-19  China  Ireland (11th)
 Brazil

Biarritz

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  United States 26-10  New Zealand  Canada (bronze)
 Spain
5th Place  Australia 24-10  France  China (7th)
 Russia
Challenge Trophy  Fiji 27-10  England  Scotland (11th)
 Ireland

Players

Scoring leaders

Tries scored
Rank Player Tries
1 Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe 35
2 Bianca Farella 34
3 Michaela Blyde 30
4 Ellia Green 27
5 Anne-Cécile Ciofani 21
Points scored
Rank Player Points
1 Tyla Nathan-Wong 207
2 Ghislaine Landry 202
3 Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe 175
4 Bianca Farella 170
5 Michaela Blyde 150

Updated: 16 June 2019

Awards

Impact player awards
Tour Leg Player Points
Glendale Alena Mikhaltsova 57
Dubai Evania Pelite 53
Sydney Michaela Blyde 57
Kitakyushu Charlotte Caslick 66
Langford Brittany Benn 48
Paris Hannah Smith 52
Total impact player points
Pos Player T B O C Total
1 Alena Mikhaltsova 74 32 26 127 259
2 Sarah Hirini 79 21 23 116 239
Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe 60 37 17 125 239
4 Charlotte Caslick 74 22 6 132 234
5 Eve Higgins 52 21 11 144 228
Baizat Khamidova 69 21 16 112 228
7 Brittany Benn 79 12 16 118 225
8 Shannon Izar 58 14 23 114 209
9 Bianca Farella 61 31 8 108 208
10 Michaela Blyde 38 28 24 111 201

Updated: 16 June 2019

See also

  • Sports portal

Notes

  1. ^ a b Point differential: Fiji –167, China –383.

References

  1. ^ "Olympic qualification pathway for rugby sevens confirmed for Tokyo 2020". World Rugby. 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Sevens Olympic pathway confirmed for 2020". England Rugby. 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018.