New Zealand national rugby sevens team
The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record twelve World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team has been officially known as the All Blacks Sevens since 1 June 2012.[1]
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| Nickname(s) | All Blacks Sevens | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Silver fern | ||
| Union | New Zealand Rugby Union | ||
| Head coach | Clark Laidlaw | ||
| Top scorer | Tomasi Cama (2,026) | ||
| Top try scorer | Tim Mikkelson (235) | ||
| Home stadium | Waikato Stadium | ||
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| Rugby World Cup Sevens | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1993) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2001, 2013, 2018) | ||
The team played for the first time at the 1973 International Seven-A-Side Tournament. In 1983 it first entered the Hong Kong Sevens, where it has been champion 10 times and runner-up another 10 times.
The All Blacks Sevens are the current Rugby World Cup Sevens, Commonwealth Games and World Series Champions.
History
World Sevens Series
The team has won thirteen of the 21 World Rugby Sevens World Series events. Since 2000 when the series first started, the only times they have not won the series were in 2006 when Fiji were crowned champions, 2009, 2017 and 2018 won by South Africa. 2010 when they came second to Samoa and 2015, 2016 when Fiji won the series back to back and then in 2019 when Fiji won their 4th series title. New Zealand won a Covid-19 affect 2020 series, finishing at the top of the standings after six tournaments.
2007
In the 2006–07 series, it was left until the last round at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, to find out who would win. If Fiji had won their quarter-final against Wales then they would have won the series but they lost 21–14. This meant that New Zealand needed to win the final against Samoa to win the title. With a convincing six tries to one, 34–5 scoreline, they did just that and were crowned champions.[2]
2008
The 2007–08 series saw New Zealand set several records. They became the first team in the nine-year history of the IRB Sevens to have won the first four events of a season, having won the Dubai, South Africa, Wellington and USA tournaments. During the USA Sevens, they broke their own record, set in 2001 and 2002, for most consecutive match wins in the IRB Sevens. The team extended their streak of tournaments won to the first five of the season, and a record seven overall, by defeating South Africa in the final of the 2008 Hong Kong Sevens.[3]
Their record streaks of tournaments won (7) and match wins (47) ended in the final of the Adelaide Sevens with a 15–7 defeat to South Africa.[4] Although they would lose to England in the Cup quarterfinals of the next event, the London Sevens, they won the second-level Plate final, giving them enough points to secure the 2007–08 series crown with one round to spare.[5]
World Rugby Sevens Series
New Zealand has won the World Rugby Sevens Series a record 12 times. New Zealand were particularly dominant in the early years of the Series, winning the first six series.
| World Series Record | |
|---|---|
| Season | Position |
| 1999–00 | 1st |
| 2000–01 | 1st |
| 2001–02 | 1st |
| 2002–03 | 1st |
| 2003–04 | 1st |
| 2004–05 | 1st |
| 2005–06 | 4th |
| 2006–07 | 1st |
| 2007–08 | 1st |
| 2008–09 | 4th |
| 2009–10 | 2nd |
| 2010–11 | 1st |
| 2011–12 | 1st |
| 2012–13 | 1st |
| 2013–14 | 1st |
| 2014–15 | 3rd |
| 2015–16 | 3rd |
| 2016–17 | 4th |
| 2017–18 | 3rd |
| 2018–19 | 3rd |
| 2019–20 | 1st |
| Total | 12 Titles/20 |
Global tournaments
Summer Olympic Games
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Other international tournaments
Commonwealth Games
New Zealand is the most successful rugby sevens team at the Commonwealth Games. They have won five of the six Commonwealth Games tournaments so far, and finished second once. The team has only once lost a match at the Commonwealth Games — losing to South Africa in the final of the 2014 tournament.
| Commonwealth record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D | |||
 1998 |
Finals | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||
 2002 |
Finals | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 2006 |
Finals | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||
 2010 |
Finals | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||
 2014 |
Finals | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2018 |
Finals | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022 |
Schedule to be confirmed | ||||||||
| Total | 5 Titles | 6/6 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 0 | |||
Win summaries
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There are no fixtures available for 1999–2004
Team
Current squad
Scott Curry (Co-Captain)
Tim Mikkelson (Co-Captain)
Kurt Baker
Caleb Clarke
Dylan Collier
Sam Dickson
Scott Gregory
Trael Joass
Niko Jones
Vilimoni Koroi
Andrew Knewstubb
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black
Sione Molia
Etene Nanai-Seturo
Tone Ng Shiu
Amanaki Nicole
Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens
Joe Ravouvou
Salesi Rayasi
Akuila Rokolisoa
Ollie Sapsford
William Warbrick
Regan Ware
Joe Webber
Kitiona Vai
Player records
The following shows leading career New Zealand players based on performance in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Players in bold are still active.
| No. | Player | Tries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Mikkelson | 235 |
| 2 | DJ Forbes | 153 |
| 3 | Tomasi Cama | 145 |
| 4 | Kurt Baker | 126 |
| 5 | Sherwin Stowers | 126 |
World Rugby Player of the Year
Several New Zealand players have won or been nominated for the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award. The following table shows the players who have been nominated for the award at least twice and won the award at least once.
| Player | Wins | Years | Finalist | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Mikkelson | 1 | 2013 | 3 | 2011, 2013, 2014 |
| Tomasi Cama Jr. | 1 | 2012 | 2 | 2011, 2012 |
| DJ Forbes | 1 | 2008 | 2 | 2007, 2008 |
Former squads
The following is the New Zealand roster for the 2017 Canada Sevens tournament:[7]
Head coach: Scott Waldrom
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Matches | Points | Tries | Union |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FW | Scott Curry (c) | 17 May 1988 (aged 28) | 148 | 410 | 80 |  Bay of Plenty |
| BK | Tim Mikkelson | 13 August 1986 (aged 30) | 330 | 959 | 189 | Waikato |
| FW | DJ Forbes | 15 December 1982 (aged 34) | 420 | 737 | 147 | Counties Manukau |
| BK | Sione Molia | 5 September 1993 (aged 23) | 55 | 75 | 15 | Counties Manukau |
| FW | Dylan Collier | 27 April 1991 (aged 25) | 96 | 90 | 18 | Southland |
| BK | Ambrose Curtis | 17 April 1992 (aged 24) | 62 | 190 | 38 | Manawatu |
| FW | Iopu Iopu-Aso | 1 April 1991 (aged 25) | 30 | 25 | 5 | Taranaki |
| FW | Trael Joass | 12 May 1993 (aged 23) | 10 | 5 | 1 | Tasman |
| BK | Vilimoni Koroi | 17 April 1998 (aged 18) | 15 | 26 | 2 | Otago |
| BK | Sherwin Stowers | 19 May 1986 (aged 30) | 177 | 616 | 122 | Counties Manukau |
| BK | Isaac Te Tamaki | 20 February 1995 (aged 22) | 41 | 47 | 7 | Waikato |
| BK | Beaudein Waaka | 27 January 1993 (aged 24) | 52 | 223 | 13 | Taranaki |
Thirteenth player: Andrew Knewstubb Tasman
Travelling reserve: Tone Ng Shiu Tasman
Head coach: Gordon Tietjens
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Events | Points | Union |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | Scott Curry (c) | 17 May 1988 (aged 28) | 31 | 360 | Bay of Plenty |
| 2 | BK | Tim Mikkelson | 13 August 1986 (aged 29) | 62 | 882 | Waikato |
| 3 | FW | Akira Ioane | 16 June 1995 (aged 21) | 9 | 77 | Blues |
| 4 | FW | DJ Forbes | 15 December 1982 (aged 33) | 79 | 687 | Counties Manukau |
| 5 | BK | Lewis Ormond | 5 February 1994 (aged 22) | 8 | 82 | Taranaki |
| 6 | BK | Augustine Pulu | 4 January 1990 (aged 26) | 6 | 45 | Blues |
| 7 | FW | Sam Dickson | 28 October 1989 (aged 26) | 29 | 232 | Canterbury |
| 8 | BK | Gillies Kaka | 28 May 1990 (aged 26) | 30 | 721 | Hawke's Bay |
| 9 | BK | Regan Ware | 7 August 1994 (aged 21) | 9 | 85 | Bay of Plenty |
| 10 | BK | Rieko Ioane | 18 March 1997 (aged 19) | 10 | 265 | Blues |
| 11 | BK | Joe Webber | 27 August 1993 (aged 22) | 23 | 357 | Bay of Plenty |
| 12 | BK | Sonny Bill Williams | 3 August 1985 (aged 31) | 6 | 20 | Blues |
| 13 | BK | Sione Molia | 5 September 1993 (aged 22) | 6 | 35 | Counties Manukau |
Coaches
- Clark Laidlaw (Head Coach)
- Junior Tomasi Cama (Assistant Coach)
- Liam Barry (Assistant Coach)
References
- allblacks.com (1 June 2012). "AllBlacks name extended to NZSevens and NZMaori". Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- "NZ Sevens on top of the world". Television New Zealand. Newstalk ZB. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- "New Zealand maintain Series dominance in USA" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- "South Africa halt kiwi winning streak" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 6 April 2008. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- "Samoa win London Sevens as NZ clinch Series" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2020
- http://www.allblacks.com/News/30479/all-blacks-sevens-team-for-vancouver-tournament-named
- "Historic first for Rugby Sevens as 24 athletes named for Olympic Games". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
External links
Rugby World Cup Sevens winners | |
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