Hsbc World Rugby Sevens Series 2020
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HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES 2020 CAPE TOWN Notes ! This will be the 21st HSBC World Rugby Sevens 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. 1 CAPE TOWN - 13-15 DECEMBER, 2019 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES 2020 ! Cape Town will be the venue for the Rugby World Cup 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) 2 CAPE TOWN - 13-15 DECEMBER, 2019 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES 2020 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. 3 CAPE TOWN - 13-15 DECEMBER, 2019 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES 2020 ! 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.