27 Facts About Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves.

Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide.

Rugby sevens originated in Melrose, Scotland in the 1880s; the Melrose Sevens tournament is still played annually.

In 2016, rugby sevens was contested in the Summer Olympics for the first time.

Rugby sevens is sanctioned by World Rugby, and is played under similar laws and on a field of the same dimensions as the 15 player game.

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Many Rugby sevens tournaments have a competition for a cup, a plate, a bowl, and a shield, allowing many teams of different standards to avoid leaving empty-handed.

Hong Kong Sevens tournament has been especially important in popularising the game in Asia, and rugby sevens has been important as a form of international rugby "evangelism"; hence it is perhaps the most widely played form of the game, with tournaments in places as far apart as Bogota and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Kenya, Singapore and Scandinavia, as well as the countries in which rugby union is well known.

Rugby sevens tends to be played at a faster pace than rugby fifteens.

Penalties in Rugby sevens are generally taken with a quick tap, instead of a kick for touch and a line out, resulting in the ball being put back in play more quickly.

Rugby sevens was initially conceived in 1883 by Ned Haig and David Sanderson, who were butchers from Melrose, Scotland as a fund-raising event for their local club, Melrose RFC.

The first-ever Rugby sevens match was played at The Greenyards, the Melrose ground, where it was well received.

Rugby sevens tournament was played by St Helens Cricket Club on 29 May 1886; and the final took place a week later.

The Rainford Athletics Club hosted a Sports Day on 7 August 1888 with a 3 team rugby sevens tournament, but this was a one-off and not repeated.

From Dunedin, sevens spread north to Christchurch where Canterbury Rugby Union held a Sevens tournament on 16 September 1893.

On 23 May 1894, Rugby sevens had almost reached the North Island with a tournament in Nelson.

Rugby sevens continues to be popular in the Scottish Borders, where the ten most prestigious tournaments make up a league competition known as the Kings of the Sevens.

Rugby sevens has become popular in places such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, which are not so successful in the fifteen-a-side code.

World Rugby sevens recognises the Irish Rugby sevens Football Union as the sport's governing body for the entire island of Ireland.

Rugby sevens has been played at each of the Commonwealth Games every four years since its first appearance at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was the first major international multisports event to include the sport.

Rugby sevens is a "Core" sport by the Commonwealth Games Federation, necessitating its appearance at all future games.

Women's Rugby sevens made its Commonwealth Games debut in the 2018 Games.

Rugby sevens is played at various regional multi-sport competitions, including the Asian Games and the Pacific Games.

Rugby sevens union was formerly played at the World Games, but this has ceased as rugby is an Olympic sport.

Women's rugby sevens was later added to the program for the 2015 Pan American Games.

Women's rugby sevens has been dominated by New Zealand, with either the New Zealand team or Aotearoa Maori Women's Rugby sevens team, winning the annual Hong Kong Sevens tournament from 1997 until 2007.

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WR, then known as the International Rugby Board, organised its first official women's sevens tournament outside of the World Cup as part of the 2011 Dubai Sevens.

Women's rugby sevens was included in the 2016 Olympic Games due to the IRB's successful bid to reintroduce rugby to the Summer games.