HSBC SEVENS SERIES 2020

CAPE TOWN Notes

! This will be the 21st HSBC World Series event to be held in South Africa. Cape Town is the fifth different venue after Stellenbosch, Durban, George and Port Elizabeth all previously hosted tournaments.

! This will be the fifth time Cape Town has hosted the event. Only George between 2002-10 has hosted more events in South Africa from the five difference venues used.

! Since the event was relocated to Cape Town in 2015, no team has successfully defended their Cup title with four different champions across the past four seasons.

! Argentina and South Africa are the only two countries to have played multiple Cup finals in Cape Town.

! New Zealand hold the record for most Cup titles in South Africa with 10. They have played in 16 of the 20 Sevens Series Cup finals in South Africa. There are only four series where they have not reached the Cup final, in 2005-06 at George, and 2015- 16, 2016-17 and 2019 in Cape Town.

! This is the most Cup titles of any individual team in one country.

! Fiji are the defending champions will be looking to win their fifth Cup title in South Africa after Stellenbosch in 1999-2000, and George in 2002-03 and 2005-06, and claim back-to-back titles for the first time.

! Eight nations have contested the Cup final in South Africa (New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, England, France, USA and Argentina) but half of them have never lifted the trophy, with France, USA, Argentina and Samoa all finishing second.

! Three of the past four teams to win the Cup title in Cape Town have done so without topping their pool. South Africa in 2015, England in 2016, and New Zealand in 2017 have all won the Cup final despite finishing second in their respective pools.

! There were 293 tries scored in Cape Town last season, a tournament record for South Africa.

! Fiji’s Vilimoni Delasau holds the record for most individual tries in a single tournament in South Africa, scoring 13 tries in Stellenbosch in 1999.

! Only three other players have scored 10 or more tries at a Sevens Series event in South Africa since Delasau, with New Zealand’s Frank Halai (10) in Port Elizabeth in 2011, Australia’s Pama Fou (11) in Port Elizabeth in 2014, and France’s Terry Bouhraoua (10) in Cape Town in 2016.

! No player has scored 10 or more tries in a single event for the past two seasons. This streak of 29 consecutive tournaments in the longest in Series history.

! France’s Terry Bouhraoua is the last player to achieve this milestone, scoring 10 tries in Cape Town in 2016.

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! Cape Town will be the venue for the Sevens in 2022, the first time this tournament has been hosted in Africa, and only the second time the men’s event has been played in the Southern Hemisphere after Mar del Plata in Argentina in 2001.

Past champions in South Africa

SERIES LOCATION CUP WINNER DEFEATED IN CUP FINAL 2019 Cape Town Fiji USA (29-15) 2018 Cape Town New Zealand Argentina (38-14) 2016-17 Cape Town England South Africa (19-17) 2015-16 Cape Town South Africa Argentina (29-14) 2014-15 Port Elizabeth South Africa New Zealand (26-17) 2013-14 Port Elizabeth South Africa New Zealand (17-14) 2012-13 Port Elizabeth New Zealand France (47-12) 2011-12 Port Elizabeth New Zealand South Africa (31-26) 2010-11 George New Zealand England (22-19) 2009-10 George New Zealand Fiji (21-12) 2008-09 George South Africa New Zealand (12-7) 2007-08 George New Zealand Fiji (34-7) 2006-07 George New Zealand South Africa (24-19) 2005-06 George Fiji Argentina (21-19) 2004-05 George New Zealand Fiji (33-19) 2003-04 George England New Zealand (38-14) 2002-03 George Fiji New Zealand (24-14) 2001-02 Durban New Zealand Samoa (19-17) 2000-01 Durban New Zealand Fiji (34-5) 1999-00 Stellenbosch Fiji New Zealand (12-10)

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Key TEAM stats

! Argentina finished seventh in Dubai after losing their Cup quarter-final against eventual champions South Africa.

! They were the best team at retaining possession from their own kick-off, winning 58.3 per cent of their restarts, double their 2019 Series average of 27.4 per cent.

! They scored 25 tries in Cape Town last season, their most at a single event on the 2019 Series.

! They have reached the Cup final in two of the past four HSBC Cape Town Sevens events, and in three tournaments overall in South Africa. This is their second most in any country after playing four Cup finals in USA.

! They have won five of their past seven matches against Pool B opponents Canada since Cape Town in 2017, and have never lost against them in four previous meetings on South African soil.

! They only met Wales once last season, winning 36-7 in the pool stages in Hamilton, recording their third biggest win margin (29 points) in the history of this fixture. This will be the first time they have played them in Cape Town, and the first time in South Africa since Port Elizabeth in 2012.

! Argentina lost the Cup final against New Zealand in Cape Town two years ago, and meet them at this venue for the first time since that 38-14 defeat.

! Australia have never played a Cup final in South Africa, one of four active locations on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series alongside Hong Kong, Canada and France where they are still chasing their first appearance at this stage.

! They were one of five teams in Dubai alongside England (twice), Kenya, Scotland and France to concede a half-time lead, losing 19-14 against Samoa in the Cup quarter-final after leading 14-7 at the break.

! They enjoyed the second best conversion-rate from visits to the opposition- 22 into tries in Dubai, scoring in 20 of their 21 visits at 95 per cent. Despite only playing four games, they still made the fifth most visits of any team.

! Australia topped their pool in Cape Town last season for only the fifth time in 19 previous Sevens Series events on South African soil.

! They will attempt to win all four straight pool matches in South Africa for the first time in eight years in their opening match against Ireland.

! Australia have lost their past two matches against Samoa, and will looking to avoid losing three straight against them for the first time since 2012-13.

! Australia scored 45 points against Ireland in Dubai last weekend, their most in a pool match against any core team since defeating 47-0 Russia at the same venue two seasons earlier.

! Australia are undefeated in their past eight games against Kenya with a 19- 19 draw in their last meeting in Paris the closest they have come to defeat in this fixture across the past two seasons.

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! Canada have reached the Cup quarter-finals on three occasions in South Africa, in Stellenbosch in 1999-2000, Durban in 2000-01 and Cape Town in 2018.

! They averaged the most offloads of any team in Dubai with 6.5 per game across their four matches played.

! They will look to improve their discipline after conceding on average the joint- second most penalties per game (4.8).

! Canada enjoyed plenty of time with ball in hand in Dubai, averaging the second-most passes per game of any team with 43.5.

! Defence was of concern for Canada in Dubai, conceding on average the most missed tackles per game with 9.5, and lowest tackle completion rate of any team with 48.6 per cent.

! Canada won their last meeting against Argentina 14-12 in London, ending a three-match losing streak in this fixture. They have not gone back-to-back since 2013-14 when they won three straight between Wellington and London.

! They will be hoping to end a five game losing streak against New Zealand dating back to London in 2016-17. They have not beaten the All Black Sevens in a pool match at any event since Cape Town in 2015-16.

! Canada have won their past two and 10 of their past 11 matches against Wales since Wellington in 2016-17. Their only loss in this period came in Hong Kong last season, losing the 13th place semi-final 29-14.

! England won bronze in Dubai for the fourth straight time at this event. They have not medaled in the two consecutive events since 2016-17 when the finished third in Dubai and then won the Cup title in Cape Town.

! They will look to improve their discipline after conceding on average the joint- second most penalties in Dubai, with 4.8 per game.

! They were the only team in Dubai to concede two half-time leads. South Africa in the pool stages and New Zealand in the Cup semi-final both outscored England in the second-half to win.

! England have only topped their pool once in Cape Town (2017-18), and five times overall across the past 20 tournaments in South Africa.

! England have won their past two, and four of their past five matches against Pool C opponents Scotland, with their only loss in this period coming in Hong Kong on the 2018 Series.

! This has been a tightly contested fixture in recent times, with six of the past eight matches decided by five points or less.

! They are enjoying a 14-game winning streak against Spain dating back to Dubai in 2012-13. They have held Spain to one try or less in 12 of these 14 victories. Both previous meetings in South Africa have been won by England with exactly the same score-line (14-7).

! England have won the past eight, and 18 of the past 20 matches against France since Hong Kong in 2012-13. Their only two defeats in the past six years have come in Las Vegas and Singapore in 2016-17.

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! Fiji are the defending champions in Cape Town, and are chasing back-to-back Cup titles in South Africa for the first time.

! They have successfully defended their Cup title in five of the ten active countries on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, winning consecutive tournaments in Australia (Gold Coast), England (London), Hong Kong, New Zealand (Hamilton) and USA (Las Vegas).

! They have reached the Cup final in back-to-back years in South Africa on two previous occasions, in Stellenbosch in 1999-2000 and Durban in 2000- 01, and George in 2004-05 and 2005-06, but have never won both games.

! Fiji failed to reached the Cup quarter-finals in Dubai for the first time in the tournament’s history. They have never failed to reach this stage more than once in the same season, and only three other events in Sevens Series history (Wellington 2012-13, Las Vegas 2013-14 and London 2016-17).

! Dubai was the first tournament since Vancouver last season where Fiji did not play the Cup final. They have reached this stage at least once inside the opening two events of a season in 15 of the previous 20 Sevens Series.

! They conceded five penalties per game in Dubai, the highest of any team.

! They have been the top try-scoring team at three of the past four HSBC Cape Town Sevens.

! They will meet South Africa and USA in the same pool for the first time since Las Vegas in 2009-10.

! It will be the first time they have played the Blitzboks in a pool match since Singapore last season, and the 16th time in their 89th meeting overall. They have lost their past two pool games against the Blitzboks, and have not beaten them at this stage since Tokyo 2012-13.

! They are undefeated in their past 10 pool games against USA (1 draw).

! France finished sixth in Dubai, their best start to a season since 2012-13 when they also finished sixth on the Gold Coast.

! They were the only team in Dubai to score from every visit to the opposition- 22, with 13 tries from 13 visits.

! They enjoyed the second-highest success rate of any team at reclaiming possession from their own kick-off retaining 52.9 per cent.

! They were the most disciplined team in Dubai, conceding on average 2.5 penalties per game, the joint-fewest of any team.

! France are undefeated in their past five, and 14 of their past 15 matches against Spain with 13 wins and one draw in this period. They only met once last season, with France winning 26-10 in Vancouver. This will be the first time they have met in South Africa.

! France have won their past two matches against Scotland and will be chasing three straight wins in this fixture for the first time since 2013-14.

! They will be looking to end a eight-game losing streak against England, and record their first win in this fixture in South Africa after losing all five previous meetings.

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! Ireland returns to South Africa for the first time since 2004-05 in George where they played as the invitational team in their only appearance in this country.

! Their only victory from five matches played came against Portugal in the Bowl quarter-finals (29-17).

! They will face two of their three pool opponents from 2004-05 in this event, with narrow losses against Kenya (21-14) and Australia (26-22) 15 years ago.

! They meet Australia again in the pool stages for the second consecutive week. They conceded 26 first half points against them in Dubai, the most of any team in this period last week.

! They will play Kenya for the first time in any Sevens Series event since George in 2004-05.

! They will play Samoa for the first time since the inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in 1999-2000. Samoa won their only previous meeting 24-5 in Paris that season.

! They were the most accurate team in front of goal in Dubai, kicking a tournament-high 77 per cent of their conversion attempts.

! Japan are the invitational team in Cape Town, and will make their fifth appearance at a Sevens Series event in South Africa after playing here in 2016-17 and last year, in Port Elizabeth in 2014-15, and in Stellenbosch in 1999-2000.

! They have won just one of their 19 matches overall in South Africa, with their solitary victory coming against Samoa in the pool stages in Port Elizabeth in 2014-15. They will be hoping to end a 12-game losing streak South Africa.

! Japan have three wins from 64 Sevens Series matches against their combined Pool A opposition, with South Africa and USA the only two teams they have tasted victory against.

! They have lost their past 21 matches against South Africa, 10 matches against USA, and are still chasing their first series win against Fiji from 19 previous attempts.

! Their last victory in the pool stages came against France in Paris last season, five games ago.

! Kenya scored 20 tries in Cape Town last season, their highest total at any tournament on the 2019 Series.

! They averaged the joint-third most offloads per game of any team in Dubai (5.5), but it came at a cost, with the joint second-most handling errors per game (8.0).

! They are chasing their first win against Australia since the Challenge Trophy final in Wellington in 2016-17, eight games ago, with a 19-19 draw in their last meeting in Paris the closest they have come to ending this winless streak. This will be their first meeting in Cape Town, and their first in South Africa since Port Elizabeth in 2012-13.

! They have won four of their past seven matches against Samoa, but have never beaten them on South African soil, losing all four previous games.

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! New Zealand are the most successful team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in South Africa, with a 99 wins and 10 Cup titles.

! Their 16 Cup finals played and 10 Cup titles won in South Africa are the most by any team in a single country in Sevens Series history. Fiji’s 13 Cup finals played in Hong Kong and New Zealand’s nine Cup titles on home soil both rank second.

! They are one win away from becoming the first team to win 100 games in a single country.

! They finished second in Dubai, losing the Cup final 15-0 against South Africa. This was only the second time they have been held scoreless in 95 Cup finals played.

! They were the top scoring team in Dubai with 24 tries. They have not achieved this in two straight events since Glasgow and London in 2013-14, and not in South Africa since Port Elizabeth in 2012-13.

! New Zealand have reached the Cup final in the past two events, in Paris and Dubai, and will be chasing three straight appearances at this stage for the for the first time since 2014-15 when they played four in a row between Port Elizabeth and Hong Kong.

! They averaged the joint third-most line-breaks per game in Dubai with 3.5.

! They have won their past five, and are undefeated in nine of their past 10 matches against Canada with eight wins and one draw in this period.

! New Zealand have won 10 of the past 12 matches against Argentina. This has been a tight contest in recent times, with 11 of the past 14 matches decided by a converted try or less.

! New Zealand are on a 31-game winning streak against Wales dating back to Adelaide in 2008-09. They have restricted Wales to one try or less in 23 of these 31 victories.

! Samoa finished fourth in Dubai, their best start to a season since 2014-15 when they finished runner-up on the Gold Coast.

! Their one and only Cup final appearance in South Africa came in Durban in 2001-02. They have never played a Cup quarter-final in Cape Town, with their last match at this stage coming in Port Elizabeth in 2013-14.

! Samoa will looking to reach the Cup semi-finals in consecutive events for the first time since Port Elizabeth and Las Vegas in 2013-14.

! They will look to improve their defence after conceding on average the third- most missed tackles of any team with 7.7 per game and the third lowest tackle completion-rate of 57 per cent.

! They were one of five teams in Dubai to overturn a half-time deficit to win, coming back from 14-7 at the break to outscore Australia 12-0 in the second half. They meet in the pool stages for the first time since Las Vegas in 2018, and have lost their past two, and six of their past seven at this stage.

! Samoa have only topped their pool once in the past two series (Vancouver last season), and not in South Africa since Port Elizabeth in 2011-12.

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! Scotland reached the Cup quarter-finals in Cape Town last season, one of three events on the 2019 Series where they played a Cup knock-out game.

! Scotland lost both matches against England last season. They have not beaten them since the pool stages in Hong Kong in 2018, and will looking to avoid losing three straight games for the first time since 2014-15.

! They will play France for the first time in Cape Town, having not met on South African soil since Port Elizabeth in 2014-15.

! They have won their past four, and six of their past eight matches against Spain since Sydney in 2018. Their 33 point victory in their last meeting in Paris was their largest in the history of this fixture.

! They had the second-highest success rate of any team in front of goal in Dubai, kicking 75 per cent of their conversion attempts.

! South Africa will be hoping to win their first Cup title on home soil since 2015-16, the first year Cape Town hosted this event. Their four Cup titles in South Africa are the second most of any team at their home event after the All Blacks Sevens nine victories in New Zealand.

! They have failed to reach the Cup final at each of the past two HSBC Cape Town Sevens after finishing second in 2016-17.

! They have not won the opening two events of a season since 2008-09 in Dubai and George.

! Only three series in Sevens history have seen the same team win the first two events, with New Zealand achieving this in 2000-01 and 2007- 08, and South Africa the last to do so in 2008-09.

! They scored the second-most tries of any team in Dubai with 22. They have only been the top-try-scoring team at their home event once, in 2006-07 in George.

! They won both games in Dubai when trailing at halftime, coming back from seven-point deficits against Kenya and England.

! They averaged 4.3 offloads per game in Dubai, nearly three times their 2019 Series average of 1.5 per game.

! They are enjoying a three-game winning streak against Fiji after losing 10- straight between Hamilton in 2018 and Las Vegas in 2019. This will be their first meeting since the Cup final in Singapore.

! They have won the past two, and five of the past seven matches against the Eagles Sevens since Sydney in 2018. This will be only the second time in the past three seasons they have met in the pool stages, with South Africa winning four of the past five games.

! Spain scored 20 tries in Cape Town last season, setting a new team record for most tries in a single tournament.

! This will be their fifth HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in South Africa, and third straight in Cape Town after playing in Port Elizabeth in 2012- 13 and 2013-14.

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! They won two of their three pool games in Cape Town last season for the first time after winning only one of their first nine in South Africa.

! They will look to improve their goal kicking accuracy after converting just 44 per cent of their attempts in Dubai last week, the least of any team.

! USA finished eighth in Dubai, their lowest placing at an event since winning the Challenge Trophy final in Singapore in 2018.

! Last year’s finalists in Cape Town are arguably in the toughest pool draw of the event, facing the 2019 Series champions and defending HSBC Cape Town Sevens winners Fiji, and last week’s Cup winners and host nation South Africa.

! USA have won their past seven pool matches on South African soil, and face Fiji in their opening game. This will be the first time since Tokyo 2013-14 they have played them at this stage of a tournament, and will be looking to end a 10-game winless streak against them in the pool round (eight losses and one draw).

! They have not beaten Fiji in a pool match since Wellington in 2008-09, with a 19-19 draw in their last meeting at this stage in Tokyo the closest they have come.

! USA have never beaten the Blitzboks on their home soil, losing all four previous meetings by double-figure margins. They have won just one of their past six pool matches against South Africa, and are currently on a two-game losing streak against them across all stages.

! They conceded on average the joint-fewest penalties of any team in Dubai with 2.5 per game.

! USA will look to improve their restart retention rate after regaining possession on 8.3 per cent of their kick-offs in Dubai compared to their 2019 Series average of 24 per cent.

! They averaged the least offloads of any team in Dubai with just 1.8 per game, down on their 2019 Series average of 2.8.

! USA scored 30 tries in Cape Town last season, equalling their tournament record set in London in 2014-15.

! USA have topped their pool in the past two events in Cape Town.

! Wales’ victory against Japan in their last match in Dubai ended a six-game losing streak dating back to the pool stages in Paris. They will be looking to end a 31- game losing streak against New Zealand in the opening match, and win two consecutive games for only the fourth time in the past 12 months.

! They have lost their past four, and six of their past seven pool matches in South Africa.

! Wales will be chasing their first win against all three Pool B opponents in Cape Town. They have not beaten Argentina in South Africa since George in 2006-07, and Canada since Port Elizabeth in 2014-15.

! Wales enjoyed the third-best success-rate of any team in front of goal in Dubai, kicking 73 per cent of their attempts.

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Key Player Stats

! Argentina’s Franco Sabato was the leading try-scorer in Cape Town last season with seven tries, including scoring in all six games played.

! Sean McMahon returns to the Australian Sevens team for the first time since the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he won bronze.

! He made his Sevens Series debut on the Gold Coast in 2011-12, playing 18 tournaments until his final appearance in Port Elizabeth in 2013-14.

! He played 26 Tests for the Wallabies between 2014-17, including two in South Africa, and 18-10 loss at Loftus in 2016 and a 27-27 draw in Bloemfontein in 2017.

! His last Sevens Series try came against the Eagles Sevens in Dubai six years ago.

! Lewis Holland and Jesse Parahi are the only members of the Australian Sevens squad to have played alongside McMahon in his last appearance.

! England’s Dan Norton is the all-time Sevens Series try-scorer in South Africa with 35, but still requires one more try to equal Canada’s Justin Douglas for most tries at (16).

! He has scored the second-most doubles of any player in South Africa (7) behind New Zealand’s Karl Te Nana (8).

! will play his 50th series tournament, becoming the second Fijian to reach this milestone after Osea Kolinisau (62).

! He is four tries away from surpassing Nasoni Rokobiau’s all-time Fijian record of 125 tries.

! Ireland’s Jordan Conroy became the 10th player, and first in nine years to score five or more tries in a game when he scored all of his team’s tries against Scotland.

! Ireland’s Billy Dardis enjoyed the most success of any player in front of goal with more than 10 attempts, kicking 80 per cent of his conversions in Dubai.

! New Zealand’s Sam Dickson will play his 50th Sevens Series tournament, becoming the sixth All Blacks Sevens player to reach this milestone.

! He made the joint-most tackles of any player in Dubai with 14.

! New Zealand’s Tim Mikkelson has scored the joint-most tries of any All Blacks Sevens player in South Africa with 24 alongside Karl Te Nana.

! South Africa’s Rosko Specman became only the fourth player to be named DHL Impact Player and HSBC Player of the Final after claiming both awards in Dubai.

! Semi Kinatani in Hong Kong in 2015-16, Seabelo Senatla in Wellington and Dan Norton in Vancouver in 2016-17 are the only other players to have achieved this.

! USA’s Danny Barrett will play his 50th Sevens Series tournament, becoming the fourth Eagles Sevens player to reach this milestone.

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