Hong Kong Women's Sevens

Hong Kong Women's 7s
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 Hong Kong Sevens
SportRugby sevens
Founded1997
CountryHong Kong
Most recent
champion(s)
 New Zealand
(2024)
Most titles New Zealand (12 titles)
Related
competitions
Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong Women's Sevens held the first women's international rugby sevens tournament in 1997, and has since become an annual event. The 2020 edition marked the start of a new era for the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. For the first time, the tournament will be an official event in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.[1] The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3]

History

[edit]

The Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time under chairwoman Maria Allen and at the urging of USA 7s coach, Emil Signes.[4][5] Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championships. This reached its zenith with 2009's inaugural women's tournament for the Rugby World Cup Sevens, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens would be included in the Olympics from 2016.[citation needed]

New Zealand representative teams have competed in Hong Kong as early as 1997, winning the competition in 1997 and 1999. In 2000 New Zealand sent its first official Women's Sevens team to the Hong Kong Sevens.[6]

Past champions

[edit]

The following are details of all Hong Kong women's international tournaments played since 1997, listed chronologically with the earliest first, with all result details, where known.

Year  Venue  Cup final Placings
    Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl
1997 Hong Kong Stadium  New Zealand[a]
New Zealand Wild Ducks
43–0
United States

Australia

Netherlands
1999 Hong Kong Stadium New Zealand
New Zealand Wild Ducks
29–0
United States

Samoa
N/A
2000 Hong Kong Stadium
New Zealand
36–10
Australia

Kazakhstan

Japan
2001 Hong Kong Stadium
New Zealand
22–10
United States

Australia

Hong Kong
2002 Hong Kong Stadium  New Zealand[a]
Aotearoa Maori
14–7
United States

Kazakhstan
Arabian Gulf
2003 Hong Kong Stadium
Aotearoa Maori
27–0
England

Kazakhstan

Fiji
2004 Hong Kong Stadium
Aotearoa Maori
10–0
Australia

Kazakhstan

United States
2005 Hong Kong Stadium
Aotearoa Maori
19–12
Australia

United States

China
2006 Hong Kong Stadium
Aotearoa Maori
19–12
Australia

United States

Netherlands
2007 Hong Kong Stadium
Aotearoa Maori
10–0
Australia

United States

Kazakhstan
2008 Hong Kong Stadium
United States
21–7
Canada

France

China
2009 Hong Kong Stadium
Australia
24–7
China

Thailand

Papua New Guinea
2010 Hong Kong Stadium
Australia
28–0
China

Thailand

Japan
2011 Hong Kong Stadium
Canada
28–14
France

Netherlands

China
2012 Hong Kong Stadium
England
15–10
Australia

Spain

Brazil
2013 Hong Kong Stadium
Canada
29–0
Australia

South Africa

Ireland
2014 Hong Kong Stadium
Canada
24–0
France

Kazakhstan

Hong Kong
2015 Hong Kong Stadium
Canada
19–12
Japan

China

Papua New Guinea
2016 Hong Kong Stadium
South Africa VII
14–7
France VII

China

Kenya
World Series qualifier Winner Score Runner-up Semi-fi nalists
2017 So Kon Po Recreation Ground
Japan
22–10
South Africa

Belgium

Italy
2018 So Kon Po Recreation Ground
China
31–14
South Africa

Belgium

Kenya
2019 So Kon Po Recreation Ground
Brazil
28–19
Scotland

Japan

Kenya
World Series tournaments in Hong Kong for women's teams were cancelled in 2020 [7] and 2021 [8] due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
World Sevens Series Winner Score Runner-up Semi-fi nalists
2023 Hong Kong Stadium
New Zealand
26–17
Australia

Great Britain

Fiji
2024 Hong Kong Stadium
New Zealand
36–7
United States

Australia

France

Key:
 Dark blue line indicates a tournament included in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

Notes:

  1. ^ a b New Zealand Wild Ducks and Aotearoa Maori – Prior to the early 2000s, the NZRFU would not condone or send any official team, but an invitation team made up largely of Black Ferns and upcoming talented players did go to the HKG 7s each year in the late nineties from the inception of the HKG tournament. This team was named the Wild Ducks. It had no official status whatsoever, and the matches it played cannot be considered official internationals. The first official NZ team took part in 2000 and 2001, but from 2002 onwards the NZRFU again declined to send a team, whereby interested women's rugby officials from the Bay of Plenty in particular received the union's blessing to send a Maori team "Aotearoa" to HKG. For the first couple of years this team was pretty much strictly Maori in its makeup. However, for the later tournaments Black Ferns and upcoming players of any ethnicity were selected. It is not an official team and its matches should not be considered internationals but it has the union's blessing to compete in international tournaments.[9]

2006

[edit]

Venue/Date: Hong Kong, 31 March 2006.[10] (Source Hong Kong Union) Summarised (but with a number of missing games)

Group games

[edit]
Key to colours in group tables
Teams that advanced to the Cup
Teams advanced to the Plate

Group A

Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against
New Zealand Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 2 0 0 45 5
 China 1 0 0 5 7
 Japan U-23 0 0 2 0 38

Source:[10]

  • Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 7–5 China
  • Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 38–0 Japan U-23
  • China beat Japan U-23

Group B

Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against
 Australia
 Singapore
 Sri Lanka

Source:[10]

  • Australia ?–? Singapore
  • Australia ?–? Sri Lanka
  • Singapore ?–? Sri Lanka

POOL C

Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against
 United States 2 0 0 105 0
 Thailand 1 0 1 0 50
 Guam 0 0 2 0 55

Source:[11]

  • USA 50–0 Thailand
  • USA 55–0 Guam
  • Thailand ?–? Guam

POOL D

Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against
 Netherlands
 Kazakhstan
 Hong Kong

Source:[10]

  • Netherlands ?–? Kazakhstan
  • Netherlands ?–? Hong Kong
  • Kazakhstan?–? Hong Kong


Classification stages

[edit]

Cup Quarter-finals

  • Aotearoa Maori Zealand 45–0 Netherlands
  • Kazakhstan 14–12 China
  • Australia 63–? Thailand
  • USA 50–0 Singapore

Vase Semi-finals

  • Japan U-23 5-? Hong Kong
  • Sri Lanka 5-? Guam

Bowl Semi-finals

  • Netherlands 14–7 China
  • Thailand 5–5 Singapore

Cup Semi-finals

  • Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 25–7 Kazakhstan
  • Australia 15–0 USA

Spoon Final

  • Japan U-23 24–0 Guam

Vase Final

  • Hong Kong 26–5 Sri Lanka

Shield Final

  • China 50–0 Thailand

Bowl Final

  • Netherlands 36–0 Singapore

Plate Final

  • USA 31–0 Kazakhstan

Cup Final

  • Aotearoa Maori New Zealand 19–12 Australia

See also

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Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ "World Rugby announces new-look men's and women's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019-23" (Press release). World Rugby. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. ^ travelnewsasia. "Remaining Rounds of HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 Cancelled". asiatraveltips.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Hong Kong Sevens cancelled for a second straight year". Americas Rugby News. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. ^ Faure, Kevin (30 April 1996). "HK to host women's world sevens". Eastern Express.
  5. ^ Signes, Emil. "Boys and Girls Together: A Prehistory of International Women's Sevens and how it may have led to rugby in the Olympics my perspective". Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  6. ^ "New Zealand Rugby Museum – What is Sevens Rugby?". rugbymuseum.co.nz. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  7. ^ "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". World Rugby. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. ^ Burke, Burke (5 August 2021). "World Rugby Sevens Series legs in Hong Kong and Paris cancelled". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021.
  9. ^ "FIRA-AER – Rugby Europe".
  10. ^ a b c d Ngao, Judy (8 March 2006). "Hong Kong get a local makeover". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  11. ^ Young, Wendy (31 March 2006). "Women's National 7's". scrumhalfconnection.com. Retrieved 22 September 2023.