New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament

The National Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament for New Zealand provincial teams. It is held annually and features a men's event and a women's event. The best teams in the country compete over two days for the respective men's and women's titles. The tournament is currently held in Tauranga.

New Zealand National Sevens
Tournament logo introduced in 2018
SportRugby union
Founded1975
No. of teams16
CountryNew Zealand
Most recent
champion(s)
Tasman – Men (2018)
Manawatu – Women (2018)
Official websitewww.nationalsevens.co.nz

The National Sevens also serves as an opportunity for players to be selected in New Zealand's national sevens teams.[1]

History

The National Sevens was first held in 1975 in Auckland, where Marlborough were the very first champions. Since then the tournament has been held every year (except 1987, 1988, and 2003) and held at various venues. A women's competition was introduced for the 1998 tournament in Roturura. In the first three decades Palmerston North hosted the National Sevens thirteen times, the last of which was in 2002. This was also the last tournament to host women's sevens until women's teams were reintroduced a decade later.

Sponsors of the National Sevens
2004–2013Pub Charity Ltd
2014–2018Bayleys Realty
2018–presentTECT

The National Sevens moved to Queenstown for ten seasons from 2004.[2] The 2009 event was the first tournament where the entire event was screened live by Sky TV.[3] A women's competition was reinstated in 2013. The National Sevens was relocated to Rotorua in 2014 and then to Tauranga in December 2018.

Format

The sixteen teams for men are divided into four pools. On day one each team plays the other three teams in its pool. The top two teams from each pool qualify for the championship playoffs while the bottom two enter the bowl competition.

Venue

The first tournament was held in Auckland in 1975. From there it moved to various venues around the country: Christchurch, Blenheim, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Feilding, Pukekohe and Rotorua. From 2004 to 2013 it was hosted in Queenstown at the Recreation Ground, which is usually the home of the Wakatipu Rugby Club. The tournament then returned to Rotorua for five seasons and, since December 2018, it is held in Tauranga.

Participants

A map of NZRU provincial union boundaries, including unions competing in the National Sevens

The following teams have participated in the tournament:

Province Appearances Championships 2009 Placing
Auckland 2005-2009 2005,2006,2007,2008
Bay of Plenty 2006,2008-2009
Buller 2006
Canterbury 2006,2008-2009
Counties Manukau 2006,2008-2009
Hawke's Bay 2006,2008-2009
Horowhenua-Kapiti 2008-2009
Manawatu 2006,2008-2009
North Harbour 2004,2006,2008-2009 2004, 2009
North Otago 2005
Northland 2008-2009
Otago 2004-2009
Otago Country 2007, 2009
South Canterbury 2006,2008,2010
Southland 2006,2008-2009
Taranaki 2006,2008-2009
Tasman 2008
Waikato 2006,2008-2009
Wellington 2006,2008-2009
West Coast 2006,2008-2009

Results by year

Men's tournament

National Sevens winners since 1975:[4]

1975–2002

Year Venue Champion
1975 Auckland Marlborough
1976 Christchurch Marlborough
1977 Blenheim Manawatu
1978 Hamilton Manawatu
1979 PalmerstonNorth Manawatu
1980 PalmerstonNorth Auckland
1981 PalmerstonNorth Taranaki
1982 Feilding Taranaki
1983 Feilding Auckland
1984 Feilding Auckland
1985 Feilding Counties
1986 Feilding North Harbour
1987 Feilding North Harbour
1988 Feilding Auckland
1989 Christchurch Auckland
1990 PalmerstonNorth Canterbury
1991 PalmerstonNorth Auckland
1992 PalmerstonNorth North Harbour
1993 PalmerstonNorth Canterbury
1994 PalmerstonNorth Counties
1995 PalmerstonNorth Counties
1996 PalmerstonNorth Waikato
1996–97a Rotorua? Waikato
1997 Rotorua Waikato
1998 Rotorua Waikato
1999 PalmerstonNorth North Harbour
2000 PalmerstonNorth North Harbour
2001 PalmerstonNorth North Harbour
2002 PalmerstonNorth Wellington

Notes

^a There were two events in 1996 due to a seasonal switch from March to November.[4] Waikato won four titles between 1996 and 1998.[5]

2004–2013

The National Sevens switched from a November schedule to a January schedule for the 2003–04 season and, as such, the 2002 tournament was followed by the 2004 tournament.[6] The new venue was the Recreation Ground in Queenstown which hosted the National Sevens for ten years from 2004 to 2013.[7]

Year Venue Cup final Placings Ref
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
2004 Queenstown
North Harbour
48–7
Otago

Auckland

Canterbury

Manawatu
[8]
[9]
2005 Queenstown
Auckland
42–12
Northland

Wellington

Otago

Manawatu
[10]
2006 Queenstown
Auckland
43–12
Wellington

Bay of Plenty

Southland

Canterbury
2007 Queenstown
Auckland
36–17
Canterbury

CountiesManukau

Wellington

Northland
2008
Details
Queenstown
Auckland
24–15
CountiesManukau

Manawatu

Wellington

Tasman
2009
Details
Queenstown
North Harbour
29–26
CountiesManukau

Wellington

Otago

Southland
2010 Queenstown
Waikato
21–14
Bay of Plenty

North Harbour

Horowhenua-Kapiti
2011 Queenstown
Auckland
36–26
Taranaki

North Harbour

Manawatu

Canterbury
2012 Queenstown
Auckland
36–24
Otago

Taranaki

Tasman

Bay of Plenty
[11]
2013
Details
Queenstown
Taranaki
32–17
North Harbour

Auckland

Hawke's Bay

CountiesManukau

2014 onwards

The tournament moved from Queenstown to Rotorua in 2014 for five seasons. A switch from playing in January to December coincided with the event moving to Tauranga for the 2018–19 season.

Year Venue Cup final Placings Ref
Winner Score Runner-up Semi-fi nalists
2014
Details
Rotorua
Wellington
26–19
Auckland

Taranaki

Northland
[12]
2015 Rotorua
Waikato
38–19
Wellington

CountiesManukau

Bay of Plenty
[13]
2016 Rotorua
CountiesManukau
54–14
North Harbour

Wellington

Bay of Plenty
[14]
2017 Rotorua
CountiesManukau
14–7
Waikato

Taranaki

Wellington
[15]
2018 Rotorua
Waikato
21–17
Tasman

Wellington

Taranaki
[16]
2018–19 Tauranga
Tasman
12–7
CountiesManukau

Wellington

North Harbour
[17]
[18]
2019 Tauranga
Waikato
31–5
Auckland

Taranaki

Bay of Plenty
[19]
[20]
2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic

Women's tournament

Women's teams initially competed at the National Sevens from 1998 through to 2002.[4] After a ten-season absence, the women's tournament was reintroduced for the 2013 National Sevens held in Queenstown, with Manawatu earning the title.[21] The tournament then moved to Rotorua in 2014 for five seasons. A switch from playing in January to December coincided with the event moving to Tauranga for the 2018–19 season.

1998–2002

Year Venue Champion
1998 Rotorua Auckland
1999 PalmerstonNorth Wellington
2000 PalmerstonNorth Wellington
2001 PalmerstonNorth Auckland
2002 PalmerstonNorth Canterbury

2013 onwards

Year Venue Cup final Placings Ref
Winner Score Runner-up Semi-fi nalists
2013 Queenstown
Manawatu
36–17
Waikato

Auckland
? [22]
2014 Rotorua
Manawatu
19–12
Auckland

Counties Manukau

Waikato
[12]
Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth
2015 Rotorua
Auckland
29–14
Manawatu

Waikato

Bay of Plenty
[13]
2016 Rotorua
Manawatu
16–19
Wellington

CountiesManukau

Canterbury
[23]
2017 Rotorua
CountiesManukau
24–17
Manawatu

Auckland

Waikato
[24]
2018 Rotorua
Manawatu
17–15
Waikato

Auckland

CountiesManukau
[16]
2018–19 Tauranga
Manawatu
12–7
Waikato

Auckland

Bay of Plenty
[25]
[18]
2019 Tauranga
CountiesManukau
12–5
Waikato

Auckland

Bay of Plenty
[26]
[20]
2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic

References

  1. "NZ rugby sevens in Queenstown". One Sport. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  2. "Queenstown shaping up for sevens fest". The Southland Times. 9 January 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008.
  3. Pub Charity Sevens to kick off the 2008 rugby year. Sky Sport.
  4. White, Steven (25 January 2015). "National Sevens in Rotorua this weekend". Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019.  1996: Waikato (Won March & November official National events) 
  5. "Counties Manukau, Waikato claim National Sevens titles". 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2019.  It is Waikato's eighth national title having won four-in-a-row between 1996-98 ...
  6. "De Goldi to lead New Zealand". ESPN. 29 January 2003.
  7. Caldwell, Olivia (11 January 2013). "Last home tournament". Otago Daily times. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019.
  8. "Sevens fun, even if we never made the final". Southland Times. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  9. "North Harbour take sevens title". ESPN. 18 January 2004. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  10. "Auckland win 2005 National Sevens". New Zealand Rugby Museum. 16 January 2005.
  11. "Auckland win 2012 National Sevens". New Zealand Rugby Museum. 8 January 2012.
  12. "Wellington men, Manawatu women National Sevens champions". Club Rugby. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
  13. "National Sevens Day 2 Results". Club Rugby. 18 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015.
  14. "Day 2 - Men's Play-offs" (PDF). nationalsevens.co.nz. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016.
  15. "Day 2 - Men's Play-offs" (PDF). nationalsevens.co.nz. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017.
  16. "National Sevens results January 2018". Archived from the original on 30 January 2018.
  17. "National Sevens results Day 2 – Men December 2018" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2019.
  18. "Tasman make sevens history with men's title as Manawatū retain women's trophy". Stuff. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  19. "National Sevens results Day 2 – Men December 2019". Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  20. "Waikato regains mens title and Counties Manukau lift womens trophy". Stuff. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  21. "Women's Rugby History". communityrugby.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  22. "Manawatu surprise winners of 2013 National Sevens". rugbygirl. 13 January 2013.
  23. "Day 2 - Women's Play-offs" (PDF). nationalsevens.co.nz. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016.
  24. "Day 2 - Women's Play-offs" (PDF). nationalsevens.co.nz. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017.
  25. "National Sevens results Day 2 – Wonen December 2018" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2019.
  26. "National Sevens results Day 2 – Women December 2019". Archived from the original on 18 December 2019.
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