2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

World Rugby
Women's Sevens Series VI
Hosts United Arab Emirates
 Australia
 Japan
 Canada
 France
Date30 November 2017 – 10 June 2018
Nations16 teams
Final positions
Champions Australia
Runners-up New Zealand
Third France
Series details
Top try scorer Portia Woodman (215)
Top point scorer Portia Woodman (43)

The 2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the sixth edition of the global circuit for women's national rugby sevens teams, organised by World Rugby. Five tournament events were scheduled on the 2017–18 circuit and twelve teams competed in each tournament.

Format

Twelve teams compete at each event. The top-ranked teams at each tournament play off for a Cup, with gold, silver and bronze medals also awarded to the first three teams. Lower-ranked teams at each tournament play off for a Challenge Trophy.[1] The overall winner of the series was determined by points gained from the standings across all events in the season.[2]

Teams

The "core teams" qualified to participate in all series events for the 2017–18 series were:[3]

One additional core team qualified through winning the 2017 Hong Kong Women's Sevens:[4]

Events

There were five tournaments in 2017–18:[5]

2017–18 Itinerary
Leg Stadium City Dates Winner
Dubai The Sevens Dubai 30 November – 1 December 2017  Australia
Australia Sydney Football Stadium Sydney   26–28 January 2018 [6]  Australia
Japan Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu 21–22 April 2018  New Zealand
Canada Westhills Stadium Langford 12–13 May 2018  New Zealand
France Stade Jean-Bouin Paris 8–10 June 2018  New Zealand

Standings

Official standings for the 2017–18 series:

2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens
Series VI
Pos
Event 
Team

Dubai

Sydney

Kitakyushu

Langford

Paris
Points
total
1  Australia 20 20 16 18 18 92
2  New Zealand 12 18 20 20 20 90
3  France 10 12 18 14 14 68
4  Canada 14 16 2 12 16 60
5  United States 18 6 4 16 12 56
6  Russia 16 14 12 1 3 46
7  Spain 8 10 14 3 8 43
8  England 6 4 8 8 6 32
9  Fiji 2 3 10 6 10 31
10  Ireland 4 8 3 10 4 29
11  Japan 1 2 1 4 2 10
12  China 6 6
13  South Africa 3 3
14  Brazil 2 2
15  Wales 1 1
16  Papua New Guinea 1 1

Source: World Rugby

Legend
No colour Core team in 2017–18 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
Pink Relegated as the lowest placed core team at the end of the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series
Yellow Not a core team

Placings summary

Tallies of top four tournament placings during the 2017–18 series, by team:

Team 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Fourth Total
 Australia 2 2 1 5
 New Zealand 3 1 4
 United States 1 1 2
 France 1 2 3
 Canada 2 1 3
 Russia 1 1 2
 Spain 1 1
Totals 5 5 5 5 20

Tournaments

Dubai

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  Australia 34–0  United States  Russia (Bronze)
 Canada
5th Place  New Zealand 24–0  France  Spain (7th)
 England
Challenge Trophy  Ireland 24–7  South Africa  Fiji (11th)
 Japan

Sydney

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  Australia 31–0  New Zealand  Canada (Bronze)
 Russia
5th Place  France 19–5  Spain  Ireland (7th)
 United States
Challenge Trophy  England 29–10  Fiji  Japan (11th)
 Papua New Guinea

Kitakyushu

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 24–12  France  Australia (Bronze)
 Spain
5th Place  Russia 30–7  Fiji  England (7th)
 China
Challenge Trophy  United States 24–19
(a.e.t.)
 Ireland  Canada (11th)
 Japan

Langford

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 46–0  Australia  United States (Bronze)
 France
5th Place  Canada 29–12  Ireland  England (7th)
 Fiji
Challenge Trophy  Japan 26–21  Spain  Brazil (11th)
 Russia

Paris

Event Winners Score Finalists Semifinalists
Cup  New Zealand 33-7  Australia  Canada (Bronze)
 France
5th Place  United States 28-7  Fiji  Spain (7th)
 England
Challenge Trophy  Ireland 10-5  Russia  Japan (11th)
 Wales

Players

Scoring leaders

Tries scored
Rank Player Tries
1 New Zealand Portia Woodman 43
2 New Zealand Michaela Blyde 37
3 Australia Emma Tonegato 26
United States Naya Tapper
5 Russia Alena Mikhaltsova 24
Points scored
Rank Player Points
1 New Zealand Portia Woodman 215
2 New Zealand Michaela Blyde 185
3 Australia Emma Sykes (rugby union) 172
4 United States Alev Kelter 168
5 New Zealand Tyla Nathan-Wong 159

Updated: 10 June 2018

Awards

Player awards
Tour Leg Impact player Ref.
Player Points
Dubai Alena Mikhaltsova 61 [7]
Sydney Baizat Khamidova 52 [8]
Kitakyushu Alena Mikhaltsova 60 [9]
Langford Camille Grassineau 56
Paris Charlotte Caslick 72
Total impact player points
Pos Player T B O C Total
1 Michaela Blyde 58 44 20 107 229
2 Chiharu Nakamura 64 15 41 101 221
3 Camille Grassineau 115 20 14 71 220
Lucy Mulhall 95 11 17 97 220
5 Alena Mikhaltsova 58 36 25 94 213
6 Alev Kelter 79 26 10 97 212
Emma Tonegato 60 39 12 101 212
8 Stacey Flood 67 25 13 105 210
9 Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe 80 28 6 83 197
10 Patricia García 53 21 16 102 192

Updated: 10 June 2018

See also

  • Sports portal

References

  1. ^ "Men's and women's sevens winners to strike gold". World Rugby.org. 3 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Women's Sevens Series tournament rules". World Rugby. 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Series Qualifying". World Rugby. 2016. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Japan secure core place on women's series". World Rugby. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Sevens Series 2018 to finish in Paris as women's dates confirmed". World Rugby. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Sydney 7s 2018: Men's and women's tournaments set to come together on Australia Day". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Mikhaltsova wins DHL Impact Player in Dubai". World Rugby. 4 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Khamidova named DHL Impact Player in Sydney". World Rugby. 31 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Mikhaltsova named DHL Impact Player in Kitakyushu". World Rugby. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.