1999–2000 World Sevens Series

1999–2000 World Sevens Series
1999–2000 World Sevens Series
Series I
Hosts	Dubai; South Africa; Uruguay; Argentina; New Zealand; Fiji; Australia; Hong Kong; Japan; France
Date	2 December 1999 – 28 May 2000
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runners-up	Fiji
Third	Australia
	2000–01 →

The 1999–2000 IRB Sevens World Series was the first season of the IRB World Sevens Series which was run by the International Rugby Board. The season took place between the 2 December 1999 to the 28 May 2000 as the series consisted of ten tournaments spread over five continents.

New Zealand went on to become the series winner after they won five of the ten tournaments with Fiji finishing eight points behind despite winning the remaining five tournaments. The leading try-scorer on the inaugural series was Fiji's Vilimoni Delasau, who notched 83 tries over the series.^[1]

Schedule[]

The official schedule was announced on the 2 December 1999 with ten tournaments being revealed with the New Zealand and South Africa tournaments being played for the first time.^[2]^[3] An eleventh tournament held in England was considered by the International Rugby Board but wouldn't come to fruition with the tournament being left off the calendar.^[4]

One of the bigger tournaments to fluctuate in the cycle was the Hong Kong Sevens which was organized by the Hong Kong Rugby Union. After the union, initially suggested the tournament to be the final stop of the tour.^[5] This proposal was rejected by the IRB and was later acknowledged with the Hong Kong Sevens receiving special status with the winner getting 30 points instead of 20 for the other tournaments.^[6]^[7]

Leg	Venue	Dates	Winner
Dubai		2–3 December 1999	New Zealand
South Africa	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch	10–11 December 1999	Fiji
Punta del Este	Campus de Maldonado, Punta del Este	7–8 January 2000	New Zealand
Mar del Plata	Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata	12–13 January 2000	Fiji
Wellington	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	4–5 February 2000	Fiji
Fiji	National Stadium, Suva	11–12 February 2000	New Zealand
Brisbane	Lang Park, Brisbane	18–19 February 2000	Fiji
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	24–26 March 2000	New Zealand
Japan	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo	1–2 April 2000	Fiji
Paris	Stade Sébastien Charléty, Paris	27–28 May 2000	New Zealand

Final standings[]

Pos.	Event Team	Dubai	Stellenbosch	Punta del Este	Mar del Plata	Wellington	Suva	Brisbane	Hong Kong	Tokyo	Paris	Points total
1	New Zealand	20	16	20	16	16	20	12	30	16	20	186
2	Fiji	16	20	16	20	20	16	20	24	20	8	180
3	Australia	8	8	8	12	12	12	16	18	12	12	118
4	Samoa	12	6	12	12	12	12	4	8	2	2	82
5	South Africa	12	12	12	4	6	6	0 ^a	8	4	16	80
6	Canada	4	4	6	6	8	4	4	8	12	4	60
7	Argentina	—	0	4	8	4	8	8	8	—	12	52
8	France	6	0	2	4	2	0	6	4	4	6	34
9	England	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	18	—	4	22
10	Georgia	0	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	12
11	Tonga	4	2	—	—	4	0	2	—	—	—	12
12	Japan	0	0	—	—	0	0	0	0	8	0	8
13	Papua New Guinea	—	—	—	—	0	2	0	—	6	—	8
14	Uruguay	—	0	4	0	0	4	0	—	—	—	8
15	Morocco	0	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	4
16	Scotland	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	0	2
16	Spain	—	—	0	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
18	United States	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	Hong Kong	0	—	—	—	0	—	0	0	0	—	0
20	Cook Islands	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—	—	—	0
20	Croatia	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0	—	—	0
22	Brazil	—	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Chile	—	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	China	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	—	0
	Chinese Taipei	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0
	Germany	—	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Ireland	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	0	0
	Kenya	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Malaysia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0
	Paraguay	—	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Peru	—	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Singapore	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0
	South Korea	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0
	Sri Lanka	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—	0
	Zimbabwe	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
36	Arabian Gulf	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	0
	French Barbarians	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
	Italy	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	0
	Namibia	—	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Thailand	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	0
	Vanuatu	—	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	0

Source: Rugby7.com

^a South Africa reached the semifinal stage of the Brisbane Sevens but was stripped of all points for the tournament due to fielding ineligible players.^[8]

Tournaments[]

Dubai[]

The opening tournament of the brand new series saw the teams head over to Dubai with the three day event starting on the Wednesday with the international tournament being played on the Thursday and Friday.^[9] In the cup final, it was New Zealand that took out the cup final defeating Fiji by 24 points with Australia and Scotland taking out the plate and bowl respectively.^[10]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	38–14	Fiji	South Africa Samoa
Plate	Australia	33–20	France	Tonga Canada
Bowl	Scotland	31–24	Zimbabwe	Kenya United States

South Africa[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	12–10	New Zealand	Georgia South Africa
Plate	Australia	22–19	Samoa	Canada Morocco
Bowl	Tonga	31–26	Argentina	Uruguay Namibia

Punta del Este[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	42–19	Fiji	South Africa Samoa
Plate	Australia	27–12	Canada	Uruguay Argentina
Bowl	France	31–12	Germany	Chile Spain

Mar del Plata[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	26–14	New Zealand	Samoa Australia
Plate	Argentina	41–7	Canada	France South Africa
Bowl	Spain	40–7	Chile	United States Germany

Wellington[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	24–14	New Zealand	Samoa Australia
Plate	Canada	24–21	South Africa	Argentina Tonga
Bowl	France	47–12	Croatia	Japan Papua New Guinea

Fiji[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	31–5	Fiji	Samoa Australia
Plate	Argentina	17–14	South Africa	Canada Uruguay
Bowl	Papua New Guinea	21–17	Tonga	Japan France

Australia[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	24–21	Australia	South Africa New Zealand
Plate	Argentina	33–14	France	Samoa Canada
Bowl	Tonga	43–0	Papua New Guinea	Hong Kong Uruguay

Hong Kong[]

Event	Winners	Score^[11]	Finalists	Semi-finalists	Quarter-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	31–5	Fiji	Australia England	Argentina Canada Samoa South Africa
Plate	France	19–14	Croatia	Italy Hong Kong	Scotland South Korea United States Japan
Bowl	Ireland	59–7	China	Thailand Arabian Gulf	Chinese Taipei Malaysia Sri Lanka Singapore

Japan[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	Fiji	27–22	New Zealand	Canada Australia
Plate	Japan	26–14	Papua New Guinea	France South Africa
Bowl	Samoa	19–12	South Korea	Hong Kong United States

France[]

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi-finalists
Cup	New Zealand	69–10	South Africa	Australia Argentina
Plate	Fiji	45–7	France	Canada England
Bowl	Samoa	37–5	Morocco	Ireland French Barbarians

References[]

^ Sevens Briefs Archived 7 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 14 December 2014.
^ "Series schedule complete". International Rugby Board. 2 December 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.
^ "Welcome to the IRB World Sevens Series Website". International Rugby Board. 1 December 1999. Archived from the original on 17 October 2000.
^ Sallay, Alvin (28 March 2000). "England in line to host sevens final". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^ Sallay, Alvin (25 March 1999). "HK hopes to host sevens circuit finale". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^ Sallay, Alvin (28 March 1999). "IRB acknowledges HK Sevens' special status". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^ Sallay, Alvin (15 November 1999). "World Sevens Series recognises HK as premier event". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^ "New Zealand leaves Fijian nationality issue to IRB". espnscrum.com. 14 November 2000. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
^ "World Sevens Series set for spectacular launch". International Rugby Board. 30 October 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.
^ "New Zealand lead series table". International Rugby Board. 3 December 1999. Archived from the original on 7 July 2002.
^ "Kiwis claim Hong Kong crown", BBC, 26 March 2000.

Burgess, Michael (17 January 2008). "History of the IRB Sevens". TVNZ. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.

External links[]

Official tournament site
"1999–2000 Season Overview". irb.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2013.

[1] Sevens Briefs Archived 7 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji Times, 14 December 2014.

[2] "Series schedule complete". International Rugby Board. 2 December 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.

[3] "Welcome to the IRB World Sevens Series Website". International Rugby Board. 1 December 1999. Archived from the original on 17 October 2000.

[4] Sallay, Alvin (28 March 2000). "England in line to host sevens final". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

[5] Sallay, Alvin (25 March 1999). "HK hopes to host sevens circuit finale". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

[6] Sallay, Alvin (28 March 1999). "IRB acknowledges HK Sevens' special status". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

[7] Sallay, Alvin (15 November 1999). "World Sevens Series recognises HK as premier event". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.

[espn-14-11-2000-8] "New Zealand leaves Fijian nationality issue to IRB". espnscrum.com. 14 November 2000. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.

[9] "World Sevens Series set for spectacular launch". International Rugby Board. 30 October 1999. Archived from the original on 15 July 2001.

[10] "New Zealand lead series table". International Rugby Board. 3 December 1999. Archived from the original on 7 July 2002.

[11] "Kiwis claim Hong Kong crown", BBC, 26 March 2000.

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show v t IRB Sevens I
1999–2000 events	Dubai South Africa Punta del Este Mar del Plata Wellington Fiji Brisbane Hong Kong Tokyo Paris
Core teams	Australia Canada Fiji France New Zealand Samoa South Africa
Other teams	Arabian Gulf Argentina Brazil Chile China Chinese Taipei Cook Islands Croatia England Georgia Germany French Barbarians Hong Kong Ireland Italy Japan Kenya Malaysia Morocco Namibia Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Scotland Singapore South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Thailand Tonga United States Uruguay Vanuatu Zimbabwe
IRB World Sevens Series

show v t World Rugby Sevens Series
Seasons	1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2021
2021 events	Vancouver · Edmonton
Former events	Argentina Australia China Dubai Fiji France Hong Kong Japan London Malaysia New Zealand Scotland Singapore South Africa Uruguay Wales United States
Current stadiums	BC Place Commonwealth Stadium
Related articles	Sevens Challenger Series Olympic Sevens

1999–2000 World Sevens Series
Series I
Hosts	Dubai South Africa Uruguay Argentina New Zealand Fiji Australia Hong Kong Japan France
Date	2 December 1999 – 28 May 2000
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runners-up	Fiji
Third	Australia
2000–01 →