Rugby World Cup Sevens
| Sport | Rugby sevens |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| No. of teams | 24 (Finals) |
| Continent | International (IRB) |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Fiji |
The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international Rugby sevens version of rugby unioncompetition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is contested by the men's national sevens teams. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993, hosted by both Scotland, and is contested every four years.
The winners are awarded the Melrose Cup, named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first Sevens game was played. Fiji are the current World champions, having won the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in Hong Kong on 20 March 2005 with victory over New Zealand, the 2001 Champions. The next Rugby World Cup Sevens is due to be contested in Dubai in 2009.
Tournaments
| Year | Host | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | |||
| 1993 Details |
 Scotland |
 England |
21 - 17 |  Australia | |
| 1997 Details |
 Hong Kong |
 Fiji |
24 - 21 |  South Africa | |
| 2001 Details |
 Argentina |
 New Zealand |
31 - 12 | Australia | |
| 2005 Details |
Hong Kong |
Fiji |
29 - 19 | New Zealand | |
| 2009 Details |
 Dubai |
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History
The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Football Board. The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in April 1993.
Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, would host the 1997 event. The final, won by Fiji over South Africa, is still considered one of the best Sevens matches of all time. The Fiji team had promised the country it would return with the title, and captain Waisale Serevi had also promised his daughters the same.
The 2001 tournament, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, would add another chapter to the legend of New Zealand's Jonah Lomu. Lomu, used sparingly in pool play, received his opportunity when New Zealand captain and Sevens legend Eric Rush broke his leg against England in the last pool match. Lomu went on to score three tries in the final.
The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong. Serevi, who came out of international retirement to captain Fiji, placed an exclamation point on his storied career by leading Fiji to their second Melrose Cup. In the process, they denied New Zealand their second consecutive Melrose Cup and also prevented England from becoming the first nation to hold the Rugby World Cup in both fifteens and Sevens.
The top all-time try-scorer for the Rugby World Cup Sevens has been Fijian rugby winger Marika Vunibaka who has scored 23 tries in 3 of the sevens world cups he has played in since he made his debut in 1997.
See also
External links
- 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens website (from the IRB)
- RugbyRugby.com world rugby news website