2021 World Rugby Sevens Series
22nd annual international series of tournaments in men's rugby sevens
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The 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 22nd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, only two tournaments were played in the 2021 series instead of the usual ten.[1] The number of teams participating was also reduced from sixteen to twelve at the tournaments, with many of the top teams from the previous series not taking part.[2]
| 2021 World Rugby Sevens | |
|---|---|
| Series XXII | |
| Hosts |
|
| Date | 18–26 September 2021 |
| Nations | 12 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  South Africa |
| Runners-up |  Great Britain |
| Third |  Kenya |
| Series details | |
| Top try scorer | Muller du Plessis (13) |
| Top point scorer | Ronald Brown (91) |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
The series was won by South Africa who won both tour events on their way to claiming their fourth World Series title.
Teams
The twelve national men's teams competing in the 2021 series were:
Core teams qualified from the previous season and not competing in 2021 were:
- Argentina, Australia, Fiji, France, Japan, New Zealand and Samoa, who did not travel due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[a]
- England, Scotland and Wales did not take part, being represented instead by Great Britain.[b]
As a result, five teams from the Challenger Series were invited to both events to complete a 12-team field. Hong Kong, Germany and Chile were in the top four of the 2020 Series, while Jamaica and Mexico were the only North American entrants.
Tour venues
The official schedule for the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was:[7][8]
| Leg | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | BC Place | Vancouver | 18–19 September 2021 | South Africa |
| Edmonton | Commonwealth Stadium | Edmonton | 25–26 September 2021 | South Africa |
On 4 August organisers announced the cancellation of the Hong Kong Sevens for the second year running because of the emerging Covid-19 Delta variant and global travel restrictions.[9]
On 3 September, World Rugby cancelled the Singapore and Cape Town tournaments due to ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and announced that the 2021 Dubai Sevens tournament would no longer be part of the 2021 series but incorporated into the 2021-22 series instead.[1] This reduced the 2021 series to just two events held in Canada.
Standings
The final standings after completion of the two tournaments of the series are shown in the table below.
The points awarded to teams at each tournament, as well as the overall season totals, are shown. Gold indicates the event champions. Silver indicates the event runner-ups. Bronze indicates the event third place finishers.
Official standings for the 2021 series were:
| Pos. | Event Team |
 Vancouver |
Edmonton |
Points total |
Points difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa |
20 | 20 | 40 | +422 |
| 2 | Great Britain[b] |
16 | 18 | 34 | +106 |
| 3 | Kenya |
18 | 16 | 34 | +78 |
| 4 | Canada |
10 | 14 | 24 | –37 |
| 5 |  United States |
12 | 10 | 22 | +142 |
| 6 |  Ireland |
14 | 6 | 20 | +20 |
| 7 |  Germany |
4 | 12 | 16 | +162 |
| 8 |  Hong Kong |
8 | 8 | 16 | –4 |
| 9 |  Spain |
6 | 4 | 10 | –3 |
| 10 |  Chile |
2 | 3 | 5 | –105 |
| 11 |  Jamaica |
3 | 2 | 5 | –325 |
| 12 |  Mexico |
1 | 1 | 2 | –456 |
Legend Event Medalists Gold Event Champions Silver Event Runner-ups Bronze Event Third place finishers Qualification for the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series No colour Originally qualified as a core team for the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series Yellow Invited team
Source: World Rugby[10]
Players
Scoring leaders
| Rank | Player | Tries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muller du Plessis | 13 |
| 2 | Malacchi Esdale | 12 |
| Max McFarland | 12 | |
| 4 | Alvin Otieno | 11 |
| Siviwe Soyizwapi | 11 |
Updated: 27 September 2021
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronald Brown | 91 |
| 2 | Muller du Plessis | 65 |
| 3 | Diego Warnken | 64 |
| 4 | Brennig Prevost | 62 |
| 5 | Malacchi Esdale | 60 |
| Max McFarland | 60 |
Updated: 27 September 2021
Tournaments
Vancouver
| Event | Winner | Score | Finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | South Africa |
38–5 | Kenya |
| Bronze | Great Britain |
24–14 | Ireland |
| 5th Place | United States |
26–7 | Canada |
| 7th Place | Hong Kong |
19–7 | Spain |
| 9th Place | Germany |
66–0 | Jamaica |
| 11th Place | Chile |
34–0 | Mexico |
Edmonton
| Event | Winner | Score | Finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | South Africa |
24–12 | Great Britain |
| Bronze | Kenya |
33–14 | Canada |
| 5th Place | Germany |
24–19 (a.e.t.) | United States |
| 7th Place | Hong Kong |
21–14 | Ireland |
| 9th Place | Spain |
29–12 | Chile |
| 11th Place | Jamaica |
28–10 | Mexico |
See also
Notes
- Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019–20 champion team New Zealand, Olympic gold medallist Fiji, as well as Australia, Argentina, and Samoa did not compete in the 2021 series,[3] and neither did Japan, the team promoted to core status from the 2020 Challenger Series,[4][5] or France, a late withdrawal due to travel issues.[2]
- Great Britain represented England, Scotland and Wales during the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, following their appearance as Team GB at the Olympic Sevens earlier in the year.[6]