2007-08 IRB Sevens World Series
The 2007–08 IRB Sevens World Series was the ninth of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. The defending series champions, New Zealand, completely dominated this season's competition, winning the first five events, setting new records for consecutive tournament wins and consecutive match wins, and clinching the 2007–08 series with one tournament remaining after winning the Plate Final of the London leg. They ended with six wins out of the eight events.
Sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union, with seven players on each side rather than fifteen. Games are much shorter, seven or ten minutes each half, and tend to be very fast-paced. Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format; however, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days.
The series' tournaments, which were identical to those in 2006–2007, span the globe:
| 2007-08 Itinerary | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg | Venue | Date | Winner |
| Dubai | Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground | November 30–December 1, 2007 | New Zealand |
| South Africa | Outeniqua Park, George | December 7–8 2007 | New Zealand |
| New Zealand | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | February 1–2 2008 | New Zealand |
| United States | PETCO Park, San Diego, California | February 9–10 2008 | New Zealand |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | March 28–30 2008 | New Zealand |
| Australia | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | April 5–6 2008 | South Africa |
| London | Twickenham | May 24–25 2008 | Samoa |
| Scotland | Murrayfield, Edinburgh | May 31–June 1, 2008 | New Zealand |
Read more about 2007-08 IRB Sevens World Series: Tournament Structure, Points Schedule, Notes and References
Famous quotes containing the words sevens, world and/or series:
“See,
how they trace
across the very-marble
of this place,
bright sevens and printed fours,
elevens and careful eights....”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“The world is the best of all possible worlds, and everything in it is a necessary evil.”
—F.H. (Francis Herbert)
“The woman’s world ... is shown as a series of limited spaces, with the woman struggling to get free of them. The struggle is what the film is about; what is struggled against is the limited space itself. Consequently, to make its point, the film has to deny itself and suggest it was the struggle that was wrong, not the space.”
—Jeanine Basinger (b. 1936)