The Japan Sevens, also known as the Tokyo Sevens, is an annual rugby sevens tournament held at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. It was a part of the Sevens World Series from 2000 to 2001 and from 2012 to 2015.
History
The first Tokyo Sevens was held in 1993, with a number of Japan's top university teams and company teams competing. Meiji University won the cup in the first year, and Suntory the following year, 1994.
In 1995, the international tournament was added. Initially sponsored as the Canterbury Japan International Sevens by sportswear manufacturer Canterbury of New Zealand, the national teams from and were the finalists on all five occasions, with Fiji winning the first three cups and New Zealand the next two.
The international tournament was incorporated into IRB Sevens World Series as the Tokyo International Sevens in 2000 and 2001. A further cup win each to Fiji and New Zealand, respectively, was recorded in those two years. The Tokyo Sevens was then effectively replaced by the Singapore Sevens on the world circuit for the 2002 season.
A decade passed before Tokyo was included in the World Sevens Series again, hosting four events from 2012 to 2015. A preparatory international sevens tournament had been planned for Tokyo in 2011 but this had to be cancelled due to the earthquake and tsunami aftermath that year.
Results Year VenueCup finalPlacingsRefs Tokyo 7s Winner Score Runner-up Cup semi-finalists Plate 1995 Chichibu Stadium47–261995-04 Japan Sevens results Emilito (in Japanese)1996Chichibu Stadium 61–5Tokyo Sevens: Tokyo, Japan. 4/13/1996 - 4/14/1996. Rugby 7.1997Chichibu Stadium 54–19 (3rd)President's VIITokyo Sevens: Tokyo, Japan. 4/12/1997 - 4/13/1997. Rugby 7.1998Chichibu Stadium 24–7 (3rd)President's VIIJapan 7s: Tokyo, Japan. 4/17/1998 - 4/19/1998. Rugby 7.1999Chichibu Stadium 12–7 (3rd)Japan 7s: Tokyo, Japan. 4/10/1999 - 4/11/1999. Rugby 7. Tokyo 7s Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield2000Chichibu Stadium 27–22n/a 2001Chichibu Stadium 26–22n/a No international Tokyo Sevens tournament for men's teams played from 2002 to 2011 2012Chichibu Stadium 28–26 2013Chichibu Stadium 24–19 2014Chichibu Stadium 33–26 2015Chichibu Stadium 21–14
Key:Blue border on the left indicates tournaments included in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
See also Japan Women's Sevens
References
External links