The New Zealand Sevens was an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand. For the first eighteen years of its history the event was held in Wellington. The event was the third on the World Rugby Sevens Series circuit and is generally held in late January or early February.

History Wellington Wellington first hosted a tournament in 2000 as part of the inaugural Sevens World Series. The event was the first to be held in the newly-developed Westpac Stadium. The tournament built a reputation for a party atmosphere, with a large proportion of attendees choosing to wear fancy dress. Movie figures such as the Men in Black (MIB) and Austin Powers were crowd favorites and an impersonator of Austin Powers was a regular for many years performing for the crowd. Host team New Zealand dominated the sevens competition in Wellington, winning just over half of all the tournaments held.

Hamilton The location of the tournament was moved to Hamilton in 2018, after attendances in Wellington had declined. The tournament was hosted as part of an integrated men's and women's event from 2019. Discussion was also begun on alternating the host location of the tournament between Hamilton and Suva, in Fiji, following the 2020 edition.

Results YearVenueCup finalPlacings Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield2000Westpac Stadium24–14 n/a2001Westpac Stadium19–172002Westpac Stadium17–142003Westpac Stadium38–262004Westpac Stadium33–152005Westpac Stadium31–72006Westpac Stadium27–222007Westpac Stadium17–142008Westpac Stadium22–172009Westpac Stadium19–172010Westpac Stadium19–142011Westpac Stadium29–142012Westpac Stadium24–72013Westpac Stadium24–192014Westpac Stadium21–02015Westpac Stadium27–212016Westpac Stadium24–21 Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth2017Westpac Stadium26–52018Waikato Stadium24–172019Waikato Stadium38–02020Waikato Stadium27–5 World Series tournaments planned for Hamilton were cancelled in 2021 and 2022, due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.2023Waikato Stadium14–12

See also New Zealand Women's Sevens

References

External links New Zealand Sevens official site