The Dubai Women's Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Dubai, UAE. The tournament includes several competitions including, since 1994, an international women's invitational competition. Though most entrants are ad hoc sides composed of club and international players from a variety of (generally European) countries, some are official national selections - the results of matches between such sides appear below.
The first Dubai women's sevens competition was held in 1994, where it was won by Kuwait who defeated the Royal Hong Kong Police in the final. Until the 2007 edition was held at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground, in 2008 it moved to The Sevens, a new stadium built to host the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. The 2009 competition took place between 3–5 December.
In 2011, a new competition was launched by International Rugby Board (IRB) - the IRB Women's Challenge Cup - as a first step towards a full schedule of IRB-sponsored women's sevens events for 2012–13 season. It featured eight official national teams. The traditional international women's invitational competition also took place on neighbouring pitches.
On 4 October 2012, the IRB announced the launch of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series for the 2012–13 season. The Dubai competition will be the first of four events in the inaugural season.
Results Year VenueCup finalPlacings RefIRB Challenge Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield2011The Sevens26–7n/a World Series Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield2012The Sevens41–02013The Sevens35–272014The Sevens19–172015The Sevens31–12 Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth2016 The Sevens17–52017 The Sevens 34–0 2018 The Sevens 26–14 2019 The Sevens 17–14 2020 The Sevens Tournament cancelled 2021IThe Sevens 22–7 2021IIThe Sevens 15–5 2022 The Sevens 26–19 2023The Sevens26–192024The Sevens28–24
Earlier winners
2008: 2009: 2010: Samurai International RFC 1994:
Dubai Tournament 2006 No official national selections.
Dubai Tournament 2007 Played on 1 and 2 December 2007 at Dubai (Source Canada Union). Participants included Canada and USA, but there were no inter-national matches.
Dubai Tournament 2008 Date: 27–29 November 2008. England played as England Sporting Chance Foundation. USA did not have this tournament listed as part of their preparation. Netherlands and Canada are believed to have been near full strength as were the England team. A Kenyan team had entered, but withdrew (Source Netherlands rugby).
Group Games Sporting Chance Foundation (England) 34-7 USA Canada 33–5 WOP Netherlands Semi Final Sporting Chance Foundation (England) 12-5 Canada England went on to win the final. USA and Canada were joint third. Netherlands won the plate. At the same time a "Gulf" competition was played but the results are not included as none of the "nations" has its own union. Full results
Dubai Tournament 2009 Venue/Date: 4 December 2009, Dubai. As ever the status of some teams is debatable. Possible International match ups are: Group Games Georgia 0–54 Arabian Gulf France 21–12 USA Kenya 17–21 Arabian Gulf Georgia 0–41 Kenya Classification Stages Kenya 5–26 USA (Plate semi-final) France finished as champions Arabian Gulf and Kenya both lost in the Plate semi-finals USA lost in the Plate final
All results
Dubai Tournament 2010 Venue/Date: 2–3 December 2009, Dubai. As ever the status of some teams is debatable. Fixtures between what appear to be international teams are: Group Games France 35 Brazil 0 France 12 Almaty-KazakhstanThis would appear to be effectively the Kazakhstan national team 0 Almaty-Kazakhstan 12 Brazil 7 France finished as runners-up (winners Samurai Dubai included several England players). Kenya and Almaty-Kazakhstan lost in the cup quarter-finals Brazil finished as runner-up in the Plate (losing to Pink Ba-Baas, composed of English club players). (Full results)
Dubai Tournament 2011 2–3 December 2011
IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup The first fully sanctioned IRB women's tournament (apart from the 2009 World Cup). Held alongside that year's Dubai Sevens and the normal Women's Invitational, with the semi-finals, the final and all of the Pool A games held on the main pitch. Part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13. Selection criteria were not revealed by the IRB, though the teams selected and the seedings roughly reflected the 2009 World Cup rankings - but with China and Brazil invited instead of Spain and France in order to give worldwide representation. Spain were later included when New Zealand declined their invitation to attend.
POOL A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against Canada 3 0 0 64 21 Australia 2 0 1 59 19 Spain 1 0 2 36 31 Brazil 0 0 3 0 88 Australia 12–5 Spain Canada 31–0 Brazil Australia 40–0 Brazil Canada 19–14 Spain Australia 7–14 Canada Spain 17–0 Brazil 5th to 8th Place South Africa 19–5 Brazil Spain 22–14 China 7th Place Brazil 14–17 China 5th Place South Africa 0–28 Spain POOL B Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against England 3 0 0 79 34 USA 2 0 1 36 48 South Africa 1 0 2 57 58 China 0 0 3 36 68 USA 22–10 South Africa England 26–15 China USA 14–7 China England 22–19 South Africa South Africa 28–14 China England 31–0 USA Semi Finals England 12–10 Australia Canada 36–0 USA 3rd Place Australia 22–5 USA Final England 7–26 Canada
Women's International Invitational Tournament This tournament, as usual, featured a mixture of national selections and international invitational teams. The official national teams were France and Kenya in Pool A, and Netherlands and "Maple Leafs" (the Canadian development team) in Pool B. Unofficial teams were Moscow Region and Tuks (South African universities) in Pool A, and Iron Ladies (Ukraine) and Team Globaleye (international team) in Pool B.
Netherlands reach the final, where they beat the Maple Leafs France were knocked-out in the semi-finals by Maple Leafs Kenya lost all of their pool games, but finished as runner-up in the plate.
The following are the results of the games involving the official national selections (including the Maple Leafs, though their games are not internationals) - full results can be found here.
Pool games Netherlands 21–0 Maple Leafs France 35–0 Kenya Semi-finals France 0–12 Maple Leafs Final Netherlands 17–5 Maple Leafs
Dubai Tournament 2012
IRB Women's Sevens World Series
Group A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 2 0 1 39 15 2 0 1 44 27 2 0 1 31 17 0 0 3 5 60 5-20 19-0 22-0 0-5 5-19 17-7
Group B Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 2 1 0 54 24 1 2 0 55 24 1 1 1 58 27 0 0 3 0 83 12-15 31-0 32-0 12-12 0-27 12-12
Plate Semi Finals (5th-8th) Canada 24–0 England Netherlands 5–21 Russia
7th/8th Match England 26–5 Netherlands
Plate final: 5th/6th Match Canada 10–14 Russia
Group C Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 68 19 2 0 1 38 43 1 0 2 41 39 0 0 3 24 70 24-12 27-12 29-0 7-12 12-14 15-7
Bowl Semi Finals (9th-12th) France 22–0 Brazil USA 36–7 China
11th/12th Match Brazil 17–19 China
Bowl final:9th/10th Match France 12–26 USA
Quarter-finals (1st-8th) Australia 14–10 Canada New Zealand 31–0 England South Africa 12–7 Netherlands Russia 5–7 Spain
Cup Semi Finals (1st-4th) Australia 12–24 New Zealand South Africa 19–17 Spain
3rd/4th place Australia 5–17 Spain
Cup Final: 1st/2nd place New Zealand 41–0 South Africa
Women's Invitational Tournament
Maple Leafs 17–0 Kenya Lionesses UAE Women 0–7 Moscow Region Tuks Ladies Rugby 7s 5–10 Swedish Vikings 7s Maple Leafs 36–0 UAE Women Moscow Region 12–12 Swedish Vikings 7s Kenya Lionesses 21–0 Tuks Ladies Rugby 7s Maple Leafs 32–0 Moscow Region Kenya Lionesses 22–14 Swedish Vikings 7s UAE Women 0–22 Tuks Ladies Rugby 7s Maple Leafs 29–0 Tuks Ladies Rugby 7s Kenya Lionesses 7–5 Moscow Region UAE Women 0–15 Swedish Vikings 7s Kenya Lionesses 12–5 UAE Women Maple Leafs 22–7 Swedish Vikings 7s Moscow Region 0–12 Tuks Ladies Rugby 7s
Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 5 0 0 136 7 4 0 1 62 41 2 1 2 68 51 2 0 3 39 60 1 1 3 24 63 0 0 5 5 92 Semi-finals Maple Leafs 31–7 Tuks Kenya Lionesses 7–0 Swedish Vikings Final Maple Leafs 27–5 Kenya Lionesses
Dubai Tournament 2014
IRB Women's Sevens World Series
Group A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 96 31 2 0 1 97 36 1 0 2 71 51 0 0 3 5 151 New Zealand 43–0 China Russia 12–17 United States New Zealand 24–19 United States Russia 47–5 China United States 61–0 China New Zealand 29–12 Russia Group B Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 99 10 2 0 1 65 31 0 1 2 17 53 0 1 2 17 86 Australia 36–0 South Africa Spain 0–31 France Australia 24–10 France Spain 17–17 South Africa France 24–7 South Africa Australia 39–0 Spain
Plate Semi Finals (5th-8th) Fiji 24–21 United States England 21–19 Russia
7th/8th Match United States 22–20 Russia
Plate final: 5th/6th Match England 12–19 Fiji (AET)
Group C Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 72 19 2 0 1 85 32 1 0 2 28 67 0 0 3 22 47 Canada 26–10 Brazil England 26–0 Fiji Canada 47–5 Fiji England 29–7 Brazil Fiji 21–12 Brazil England 17–12 Canada
Bowl Semi Finals (9th-12th) South Africa 17–0 China Spain 14–19 Brazil
11th/12th Match China 5–28 Spain
Bowl final:9th/10th Match South Africa 7–17 Brazil
Quarter-finals (1st-8th) Australia 47–0 Fiji United States 0–36 Canada England 5–7 France New Zealand 19–17 Russia
Cup Semi Finals (1st-4th) Australia 29–7 Canada France 10–31 New Zealand
3rd/4th place Canada 10–5 France (AET)
Cup Final: 1st/2nd place Australia 17–19 New Zealand
International Invitational
Group A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against Tribe (AUS) 4 0 0 91 20 Almaty (KAZ) 3 0 1 73 40 WC Vikings (SWE) 2 0 2 60 48 Angels 1 0 3 46 77 Tuks (RSA) 0 0 4 24 80 Angels 12–19 Almaty WC Vikings 31–5 Tuks Almaty 17–7 WC Vikings Tribe 24–5 Angels WC Vikings 0–19 Tribe Tuks 7–27 Almaty Tribe 34–5 Tuks Angels 7–22 WC Vikings Almaty 10–14 Tribe Tuks 12–22 Angels
Bowl final (9th-10th) Tuks 24–5 Georgia
Plate Semi Finals (5th-8th) WC Vikings 5–12 Kenya Wales 41–0 Angels
Plate final: 5th/6th Match Wales 29–0 Kenya
Group C Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 1 0 126 24Moscow 3 1 0 102 26 2 0 2 79 76 1 0 3 51 100 0 0 4 12 116 Ireland 12–12 Moscow Wales 24–12 Kenya Moscow 24–7 Wales Georgia 0–48 Ireland Kenya 7–28 Moscow Wales 43–7 Georgia Ireland 33–5 Wales Georgia 5–25 Kenya Moscow 38–0 Georgia Kenya 7–43 Ireland
Cup Semi Finals (1st-4th) Ireland 24–19 Almaty Tribe 17–12 Moscow
Cup Final: 1st/2nd place Tribe 0–19 Ireland
Dubai Tournament 2015
IRB Women's Sevens World Series
Group A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 95 24 2 0 1 64 50 1 0 2 54 47 0 0 3 10 102 New Zealand 7–33 Russia France 25–5 Brazil New Zealand 36–5 Brazil France 17–21 Russia New Zealand 21–12 France Russia 41–0 Brazil
Group B Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 75 39 2 0 1 62 31 1 0 2 29 49 0 0 3 24 71 Canada 10–24 Fiji United States 5–12 Ireland Canada 17–7 Ireland United States 19–24 Fiji Canada 35–5 United States Fiji 27–10 Ireland
Plate Semi Finals (5th-8th) Spain 12–21 Canada Fiji 12–33 New Zealand
7th/8th Match Spain 14–31 Fiji
Plate final: 5th/6th Match Canada 19–24 New Zealand (AET)
Group C Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against 3 0 0 93 14 2 0 1 56 31 1 0 2 40 52 0 0 3 12 104 Australia 26–7 Spain England 35–0 Japan Australia 43–0 Japan England 14–7 Spain Australia 24–7 England Spain 26–12 Japan
Bowl Semi Finals (9th-12th) Ireland 7–29 Brazil Japan 15–14 United States
11th/12th Match Ireland 24–31 United States
Bowl final:9th/10th Match Brazil 0–13 Japan
Quarter-finals (1st-8th) Russia 24–0 Spain Fiji 12–19 France Australia 15–12 New Zealand Canada 12–17 England
Cup Semi Finals (1st-4th) Russia 19–12 England Australia 26–0 France
3rd/4th place England 10–5 France (AET)
Cup Final: 1st/2nd place Russia 12–31 Australia
International Invitational
Group A Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against Maple Leafs 3 0 0 108 7 South Africa 2 0 1 75 19 Belgium 1 0 2 27 93 Tabusoro Angels Inter 0 0 3 12 103 South Africa 7–19 Maple Leafs