The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organized by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men's tournament had 24 teams and the women's tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format. New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.

Bidding The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows:USA Rugby announces "intent to tender" for IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 , USARugby.com, April 2, 2014. February 28, 2014 —Interested countries declare their "intent to tender" August 29, 2014 — World Rugby (then the IRB) distributes the tender documentation December 5, 2014 — Countries submit their bids to World Rugby May 13, 2015 — World Rugby Council chooses the host country

The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event:, IRB.com, March 3, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.

England Fiji France Hong Kong Netherlands New Zealand Portugal Scotland Singapore South Africa Spain United Arab Emirates United States

Venue USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, was announced as a second venue.San Francisco Tapped for RWC 7s Bid - Rugby Today, December 17, 2014USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, Worldrugby.com However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue.

San FranciscoAT&T ParkCapacity: 42,000

Popularity The three-day tournament was the most-watched live rugby cast in the U.S. on record. In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1. Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers. Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event, which was a record-breaking crowd for a rugby event in the United States.

Schedule Over the three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions.

All times in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00). Date Time Stage Matches July 20, 2018(Friday) 10:00–12:56 Women's Championship Cup Round of 16 8 13:01-15:57 Men's Championship Cup Pre-round of 16 8 16:02-18:58 Women's Challenge QuarterfinalsWomen's Championship Cup Quarterfinals 8 19:03-21:59 Men's Championship Cup Round of 16 8 July 21, 2018(Saturday) 09:30–13:57 Women's Challenge SemifinalsWomen's Championship Cup SemifinalsMen's Bowl Quarterfinals 12 14:04-17:00 Men's Challenge QuarterfinalsMen's Championship Cup Quarterfinals 8 17:10-20:29 Women's 11th-16th Place MatchesWomen's Challenge FinalWomen's 5th-8th Place MatchesWomen's Bronze Medal matchWomen's Championship Cup FinalWomen's Ceremony 8 July 22, 2018(Sunday) 09:00-14:52 Men's Bowl SemifinalsMen's Challenge SemifinalsMen's Championship Cup SemifinalsMen's 19th-24th Place MatchesMen's Bowl Final 16 15:02-16:30 Men's 11th-16th Place MatchesMen's Challenge Final 4 16:40-18:31 Men's 5th-8th Place MatchesMen's Bronze Medal MatchMen's Championship Cup FinalMen's Ceremony 4

Qualifying – Men

Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place.

QualifyingAfricaNorth AmericaSouth AmericaAsiaEuropeOceania Automatic Qualifiers (Hosts) — — (Holders) 2016–17 World Series — — Continental Qualifiers Total Places (24) 4 3 3 2 6 6

Qualifying – Women

Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 Women's World Sevens Series also qualified. The remaining eight places will be filled via continental qualifiers.

AfricaNorth AmericaSouth AmericaAsiaEuropeOceania Automatic Qualifiers — (Hosts) — — (Holders) 2016–17 World Series — — — — Continental Qualifiers Total Places (16) 1 3 1 2 5 4

Tournament – Men

EventWinnersScoreFinalistsSemifinalistsMelrose Cup33–12 5th Place33–7 (7)Challenge Trophy24–14 (11)13th Place22–17 (15)Bowl20–7 (19)21st Place (23)

Tournament – Women

EventWinners ScoreFinalists Semifinalists World Cup29–0 (3)5th Place12–7 (7)Challenge Trophy31–5 (11)13th Place22–0 (15)

See also

Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area Rugby union in the United States

References