photo credit: Mike Lee / KLC / World Rugby

The Rugby Sevens World Cup Disappears

The Rugby Sevens World Cup disappears. This was the headline published by Spanish publication Marca. The tragic news for rugby players and supporters is that World Rugby administrators are cutting costs with the Sevens World Cup deemed not important enough to continue.

Rugby Sevens is the Olympic model of the sport of rugby. It has been played as a World Cup since 1993 in Men’s competition and since 2009 in Women’s. Both South America and North America played host to Rugby Sevens World Cups with Mar del Plata, pictured below, doing so in 2001 and San Francisco in 2018.

Marca report that the title of Rugby Sevens World Champion will go to the winner of the World Series Finals, the sport’s annual circuit. The model of having an annual champion  was introduced last season with the final tournament in Madrid.

In addition to reducing costs, World Rugby intends on place greater importance on the Olympic Games. Rugby joined the Olympics for the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro. Fiji won Gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021 while France won in Paris 2024 in the Men’s while Australia won Gold in 2016 and New Zealand did so in 2021 and 2024.

The decision to place greater importance on the Olympic Games comes with Rugby Sevens in turmoil. The 2022-2023 World Series featured eleven events while World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont handed over power to Brett Robinson with the series reduced to seven events. Beaumont also slashed the number of core teams from sixteen to twelve. The changes occurred alongside World Rugby struggling to receive bids to host the Rugby Sevens World Cup.

The removal of Rugby Sevens World Cups comes with the UK being front and center of the problem. Rugby in the Olympics means Team Great Britain rather than separate teams for England, Scotland, and Wales. Indeed, competing in IOC competition requires them to do so under the British flag.

The Rugby Sevens World Cup has seen stars of the sport demonstrate their magic. The likes of  Michael Lynagh (Australia), Felipe Contepomi (Argentina), Lawrence Dallaglio (England), Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa) and the greatest of all-time Jonah Lomu (New Zealand), all played in Rugby Sevens World Cups.

 

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Formally created in June 2015, this website's goal is to increase media exposure of the Tier 2 rugby nations, and create a hub with a focus on the stories of rugby in the Americas - North, Central and South.

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