HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015-16 By common consent this was by far the biggest year for rugby sevens since the sport was created all those years ago in Melrose, Scotland. With the teams and unions, players, referees, organisers, broadcasters, partners and world rugby staff all anticipating the sport’s inclusion in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games no stone was left unturned in preparation, and an expanded series also visited new iconic global destinations. In the men’s series Cape Town, Sydney, Vancouver, Singapore and Paris all provided fascinating new venues joining Dubai, Wellington, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and London, while in the women’s Clermont-Ferrand became the final stop after rounds in Dubai, Sao Paulo, Atlanta and Langford. These exciting new venues joined the series at the beginning of a ground- breaking new hosting cycle which also heralded the bold re-branding of the series, in line with the earlier shift from IRB to World Rugby. This report covers all aspects of the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens series for both men and women with recaps of the 15 breath-taking tournaments. It provides insight into every facet of a sophisticated operation calling on a wide variety of expertise within World Rugby, its appointed operation third parties, its hosting partners, its commercial partners and sponsors and the participating Unions. The report will also provide information on game analysis trends, match official selection and player welfare measures to the worldwide coverage via broadcast, PR, digital and social media and appraisal and testimony from the series’ title sponsor and worldwide partners. HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 01 02 2015 – 16 Locations 04 Key Stats 06 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2015 – 16 08 Round 1 – The Se7ens Stadium, Dubai 10 Round 2 – Arena Barueri, Sao Paulo 12 Round 3 - Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Atlanta 14 Round 4 - Westhills Stadium, Langford 16 Round 5 - Stade Gabriel-Montpied, Clermont-Ferrand 18 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2015 – 16 20 Round 1 - The Se7ens Stadium, Dubai 22 Round 2 – Cape Town Stadium 24 Round 3 – Westpac Stadium, Wellington 26 Round 4 – Allianz Stadium, Sydney 28 Round 5 – Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas 30 Round 6 – BC Place, Vancouver 32 Round 7 – Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 34 Round 8 – National Stadium, Singapore 36 Round 9 – Stade Jean Bouin, Paris 38 Round 10 – Twickenham Stadium, London 42 Game analysis and match officials 44 Broadcast 46 Digital 47 Social media 48 Commercial 50 Player welfare 51 Anti-doping 52 Reporting and awards 53 Appendices WHAT’S INSIDE 02 2015 - 16 Locations VANCOUVER LANGFORD 6 12–13 MARCH, 2016 LONDON 16–17 APRIL, 2016 4 21–22 MAY, 2016 10 PARIS 13–15 MAY, 2016 9 5 ATLANTA 8–9 APRIL, 2016 CLERMONT-FERRAND 3 28–29 MAY, 2016 DUBAI 5 4–5 DECEMBER, 2015 LAS VEGAS 1 1 4–6 MARCH, 2016 7 HONG KONG 8–10 APRIL, 2016 SINGAPORE 8 16–17 APRIL, 2016 SÃO PAULO 20–21 FEBRUARY, 2016 2 2 WELLINGTON CAPE TOWN 30–31 JANUARY, 2016 12–13 DECEMBER, 2015 SYDNEY 3 6–7 FEBRUARY, 2016 4 MEN’S SEVENS SERIES WOMEN’S SEVENS SERIES HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 03 VANCOUVER LANGFORD 6 12–13 MARCH, 2016 LONDON 16–17 APRIL, 2016 4 21–22 MAY, 2016 10 PARIS 13–15 MAY, 2016 9 5 ATLANTA 8–9 APRIL, 2016 CLERMONT-FERRAND 3 28–29 MAY, 2016 DUBAI 5 4–5 DECEMBER, 2015 LAS VEGAS 1 1 4–6 MARCH, 2016 7 HONG KONG 8–10 APRIL, 2016 SINGAPORE 8 16–17 APRIL, 2016 SÃO PAULO 20–21 FEBRUARY, 2016 2 2 WELLINGTON CAPE TOWN 30–31 JANUARY, 2016 12–13 DECEMBER, 2015 SYDNEY 3 6–7 FEBRUARY, 2016 4 MEN’S SEVENS SERIES WOMEN’S SEVENS SERIES 04 KEY Women’s live streaming STATS 10 05 2 million unique men’s events women’s events up 30% users from 236 22 from 2014–15 series dierent countries Nations competing visited the sevens Fiji men website during the 7,495 2015-16 series, an hours of win back broadcast to back increase of 60% 18m+page views across both series with trac growing throughout series title the season on last season Both series winners go on to claim gold at 620 matches played 3,511 Rio tries scored and over 1.15m fans following sevens on social channels delivering more than 1 million interactions on Facebook and YouTube. 2016 20,000 points scored across the series Australia women First year of 61m YouTube views and 3m+ page views of the Rugby7Stars 2 million website live match centre make history winning video page views throughout the their first series title resulted in this season season 10,000+ registered gamers A try every 66 24 Website video views Seabelo Portia across 162 Senatla Woodman up 80% on last season leading leading 71seconds the men’s women’s countries ball is in play try scorer try scorer HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 05 10 05 Women’s live streaming 2 million unique men’s events women’s events up 30% users from 236 22 from 2014–15 series dierent countries Nations competing visited the sevens Fiji men website during the 7,495 2015-16 series, an hours of win back broadcast to back increase of 60% 18m+page views across both series with trac growing throughout series title the season on last season Both series winners go on to claim gold at 620 matches played 3,511 Rio tries scored and over 1.15m fans following sevens on social channels delivering more than 1 million interactions on Facebook and YouTube. 2016 20,000 points scored across the series Australia women First year of 61m YouTube views and 3m+ page views of the Rugby7Stars 2 million website live match centre make history winning video page views throughout the their first series title resulted in this season season 10,000+ registered gamers A try every 66 24 Website video views Seabelo Portia across 162 Senatla Woodman up 80% on last season leading leading 71seconds the men’s women’s countries ball is in play try scorer try scorer 06 HSBC WORLD Rugby WOMEN’S SEVENS SERIES 2015 - 16 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 07 SERIES tablE DUB SP ATL LAN CF TOT 1 AUSTRALIA 20 20 20 16 18 94 2 NEW ZEALAND 12 16 18 18 16 80 3 CANADA 10 18 14 12 20 74 4 ENGLAND 16 8 16 20 14 74 HSBC 5 FRANCE 14 12 8 14 12 60 6 USA 2 14 12 8 10 46 7 RUSSIA 18 4 10 6 4 42 8 FIJI 8 10 6 4 6 34 9 SPAIN 6 2 2 10 8 28 WORLD 10 BRAZIL 3 6 - 3 - 12 11 JAPAN 4 3 3 1 1 12 12 IRELAND 1 1 4 2 3 11 13 KENYA - - - - 2 2 Rugby 14 COLOMBIA - - 1 - - 1 WOMEN’S SEVENS SERIES 2015 - 16 08 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 09 ROUND 1 Australia 7he Sevens Stadium, Dubai storm 3–4 December, 2015 At the start of the fourth women’s series, Dubai kicked off with three massive upsets and built steadily towards a memorable climax. In the to Dubai first three matches Fiji and returning core team Ireland left onlookers amazed as they beat Canada and USA before Russia scored the biggest upset of the lot against reigning series champions New Zealand. Australia crown progressed serenely through and their quarter-final win over New Zealand was a sure sign of things to come as they would go on to take the first Cup of the season, beating surprise package Russia 31–12 in the final. RANKINGS MagIC MOMENT 1 Australia You could single out any one of 2 Russia 3 England Fijiana’s remarkable tries, but Ellia 4 France Green’s flying sprint down the line to 5 New Zealand 6 Canada score in the final set the scene for a 7 Fiji season of Australian dominance. 8 Spain 9 Japan 10 Brazil 11 USA 12 Ireland What THEY SAID “That was an epic final and to play in front of such a crowd in Dubai was absolutely sensational. We’ve put a lot of hard work into pre-season and I was really proud of our performance. I’m looking forward to the next round (in Brazil) and then onwards towards Rio.” Australia’s Shannon Parry 10 HSBC WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES REPORT 2015 – 16 11 ROUND 2 Australia Arena Barueri, Sao Paulo TWO from 20 – 21 February, 2016 By the end of the weekend Australia’s women would sit with a maximum TWO IN 40 points in the series, 12 clear of New Zealand and Canada tied for second, and in truth they looked a class apart in Sao Paulo. They also handled the soaking wet conditions in the final with aplomb to see off a very impressive Canada. While New Zealand laboured a little, USA and SAO Paulo France both impressed and Brazil too, making the Cup quarter-finals to the delight of the generous home support less than six months out from Rio 2016. RANKINGS MagIC MOMENT 1 Australia You might choose the regular 2 Canada 3 New Zealand sight of Ellia Green streaking away 4 USA for an imperious Australia, or the 5 France 6 Fiji champions diving into a soaking 7 England wet pitch after their 29-0 final win 8 Brazil 9 Russia against Canada, but before that 10 Japan Canada captain Jen Kish scored a 11 Spain wonderful solo effort to get them 12 Ireland over the line in the semi-final against New Zealand.