Rules
All matches shall be played according to the International Rugby Board (IRB) Bye Laws, Regulations and Laws of the Game with Seven-a-side variations as framed by IRB. The overall winner of the Series will be determined by the team with the most Series points as set out below.
IRB Women's Sevens World Series Ranking Points
Cup Winner - 20
Cup Runner Up - 18
3rd Place - 16
Cup Semi Finalist - 14
Plate Winner - 12
Plate Runner Up - 10
Winner 7th/8th play-off - 8
Loser 7th/8th play-off - 6
Bowl Winner - 4
Bowl Runner Up - 3
Winner 11th/12th play-off - 2
Loser 11th/12th play-off - 1
(i) In the event of two or more Teams being equal on Series points for any position on the the Series table, such position shall be determined on the margin of points scored for and against the Team (in all Matches in the Series) with the Team with the highest margin of points scored for and against being considered the leading Team in the respective position.
(ii) In the event of (i) above not providing a decision, the position on the Series table will be determined on the basis of the Team scoring the most tries in the Series.
(iii) In the event of (ii) above not providing a decision, the position on the I Series table will be considered equal (i.e. a tie)
(iv) In the event of a Tournament being abandoned, there will be no Series points allocated.
Tournament Squads
(i) All Teams will be entitled to have the following squad personnel in attendance at each Series Tournament:
- no more than 12 Players;
- up to 3 management;
(ii) Teams may request to include additional management in their squads, (either medical or coaching personnel). However all costs associated with any additional management will be the sole responsibility of the Participating Union.
(iii) The name and responsibility of any additional management must be notified in advance to the Series Director prior to the Team’s departure for the Tournament.
Best Players
The Participating Union shall use its best endeavours to ensure that the Players representing their Union in the Series shall be the best Players available to the Participating Union to take part in the Tournament.
Declaration of Squads
(i) Completion of the Team Announcement Form (Form B) set out at the end of this Section 4 (also included in Section 15) prior to the commencement of the Tournament will assist in ensuring that the correct names are entered into the Series database. This should be sent to the Series Director prior to the Team’s departure for the tournament. This will then be used to provide Teams with their Squad Declaration Forms which will have spaces for Team numbers to be inserted and will be used for each match in the tournament.
(ii) The Squad List will be created from Form B and provided to the Team Manager to ensure the players names for the Tournament are correct. Teams are encouraged to insert the Shirt Number of the player as soon as possible to assist Broadcast Commentators in their preparations. The final list of 12 Players with shirt numbers should be signed by the Team Manager as soon as possible but no later than 24 hours prior to the commencement of the Tournament.
(iii) If a Team sends a Player home (for any reason) prior to final squad declaration the Team can bring another eligible Player into its squad at the expense of the Team.
(iv) Should a Player become injured 24 hours prior to the start of the Tournament then the Player may be replaced at the Participating Union’s cost provided she is certified as injured by the Tournament Medical Officer that he/she cannot compete in the Tournament. The Medical Replacement Certificate provided in Section 15 should be completed for such an injured Player.
(v) All information and details of any replacement must be submitted to the Series Director immediately the replacement is made. Any replacement player who has not previously participated in this year's Series, must sign Form C prior to playing.
(vi) No later than 30 minutes prior to each Match, the Team Manager must submit her Team of the starting 7 players and the 5 replacement players on the Squad Declaration Forms provided to him/her following the submission of the Squad List in (i) above.
(vii) Team Managers must ensure that all Players representing their Union are eligible to do so in accordance with International Rugby Board (IRB) Bye Laws and IRB Regulations Relating to the Game.
(viii) Players must retain the same shirt number throughout the Tournament.
Tournament Replacements
Host Unions are not required to provide a Reserve Pool of players and any replacement to a team is at the cost of the Participating Union subject to the replacement being made in accordance with the Tournament Rules.
Eligibility
A Player may only play for a Participating Union in the Tournament if she she is eligible to play for that Union in accordance with IRB Regulation 8 (as specified below). It is the responsibility of each Participating Union to ensure its Players are eligible in accordance with IRB Regulation 8.
Tournament Rules
Laws
All Matches shall be played according to the International Rugby Board Bye Laws, IRB Regulations Relating to the Game and IRB Laws of the Game with Seven-a-side variations as framed by IRB. These IRB Laws of the Game and IRB Regulations Relating to the Game can be found on the IRB website: www.irb.com
On-Field Presentation
(i) Teams and Players must participate in their national sevens Team strip, which must be registered with the Series Director prior to the commencement of the Tournament. All Players in a Team must wear the same jersey, shorts and socks that are of a standard commensurate with the prestige of an international rugby Match.
(ii) Teams must have an alternate set of jerseys to wear for games where there is a colour clash. The alternate set of jerseys must be submitted and approved pursuant to Section 5.3 (ii) and must also be registered with the Series Director as per the requirements for kit in this Section 5.
(iii) For any Match where there is a colour clash, the Team wearing the alternate kit will be determined by a coin toss or at the direction of the Series Director.
(iv) Squad numbers (1-12) will be assigned to all Players who participate in any Match in a Tournament in the Series. Once assigned a number, a Player will retain such number for the duration of the Tournament. Numbers must be of a sufficient size and suitable design, preferably white if on coloured shirts and black if on white shirts, so as to be clearly identifiable from commentary and Match tracking positions in the stands. Please note that in the case where the jersey has either a hoop or patterned design, the numbers must have a white background and border in order to ensure that Players can be clearly identified. The alternate set of jerseys must also be clearly numbered 1-12.
(v) Teams are encouraged to have player's surnames clearly stitched or printed on jerseys. This is not compulsory and a visual sample should be sent to the IRB for sign off at least three weeks prior to the start of the Tournament.
Balls
There will be an official ball provided at each Tournament. Each Team shall be provided with a maximum of 5 balls which shall remain in the possession of the Team throughout the Tournament. This supply of balls shall be used for each Team’s training and warm-up requirements. Only official Tournament balls may be used at the Match Venues.
Tournament Format
Each Tournament in the Series will be a twelve team competition with a format consisting of 3 pools of 4.
The pools for each Tournament in the Series will be confirmed no later than one month prior to the start of the respective Tournament. Teams will be allocated by the IRB to the three pools based on the following principles:
- The six core teams will be seeded based on their position in the overall Series rankings.
- All other Teams will be allocated to pools based on their rankings achieved in regional tournaments and other international Sevens competitions.
Play on the first day of the Tournament will consist of Matches between Teams in the same pool on a round robin basis. No extra time will be played in pool matches. Points will be awarded for these Matches on the following basis:
Win = 3 points
Draw = 2 points
Loss = 1 point
No show = 0 points
(i) If a Team wilfully refuses to play, or wilfully abandons a Match in progress, without the prior consent of the referee, then, subject to confirmation by the Disputes Committees, that Team will be expelled from the Tournament.
(ii) If a Team has been expelled from the Tournament, for whatever reason, then
- that Team shall be deemed to have been awarded no pool competition table points and to have scored no tries or points in the pool Matches; and
- for the purposes of determining standings in the pool competition table, all Match results against such Team shall be deemed null and void. This means that all pool competition table points awarded in Matches against the expelled Team and tries and points scored or conceded in Matches against such Team will not be taken into account in determining standings in the pool competition table.
Determining the ranking of Teams at the end of the pool stage
At the end of pool play, all teams will be ranked one to twelve and placed into a ranking table. The Teams will be ranked on the position in which they finish in their respective pools based on competition points.
1. Pool winner with most competition points
2. Pool winner with 2nd most competition points
3. Pool winner with 3rd most competition points
4. Pool second place with most competition points
5. Pool second place with 2nd most competition points
6. Pool second place with 3rd most competition points
7. Pool third place with most competition points
8. Pool third place with 2nd most competition points
9. Pool third place with 3rd most competition points
10. Pool fourth place with most competition points
11. Pool fourth place with 2nd most competition points
12. Pool fourth place with 3rd most competition points
The process for determining the ranking of two or more Teams who are equal on competition points, (outlined in Section 5.6 of the Terms of Participation) remains unchanged.
If, at the conclusion of the pool stage, two Teams are equal on competition points for any position in the ranking table, such position in the ranking table will be determined on the result of the Match between the two equal Teams. The Team that won that Match shall be deemed to have finished higher in the rankings.
If the Match between the two Teams equal on competition points at the end of the pool stage was a draw, then the following process shall be used to determine the placings.
(i) The margin of points scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of points shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(ii) The margin of tries scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of tries shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(iii) The Team that has scored the highest number of points in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie still remains unresolved then;
(iv) The Team that has scored the highest number of tries in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie still remains unresolved then:
(v) The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Mangers concerned
If at the end of the pool stage more than two Teams are tied on points then the following process shall be used to determine the placings:
(i) The margin of points scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches will be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of points shall be ranked highest in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(ii) The margin of tries scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches will be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of tries shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(iii) The Teams concerned shall be ranked by reference to the number of points scored in all pool Matches. The Team with the highest number of points scored in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher i in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(iv) The Teams concerned shall be ranked by reference to the number of tries scored in all pool Matches. The Team with the highest number of tries scored in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the ranking table. If the tie remains unresolved then:
(v) The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Managers concerned.
Knock Out Competition for 12-Team Competition
The top 8 teams will play in a knock-out format as follows with the Winners proceeding to the Cup Semi-Finals and the losers proceeding to the Plate semi- Finals :
Seed 1 V Seed 8
Seed 4 V Seed 5
Seed 3 V Seed 6
Seed 2 V Seed 7
The Teams ranked 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th will proceed to the semi-finals of the Bowl Competition.
The losers of the semi finals of the Plate Competition and the Bowl competition will continue to play for 7th place and 11th place respectively, in the final ranking table.
Duration of Matches
The duration of Matches, other than the Cup final, will be seven minutes each half with a two-minute half time interval. The duration of the Cup final will be ten minutes each half with a two-minute half time interval.
Drawn Matches
During the knock-out competitions, in the event of a Match being drawn at the end of normal time, extra time will be played until a winner is determined. A one minute water break will be held at the end of normal time and before re-commencing the Match. The extra time is played in periods of five minutes. After each period the Teams will change ends without interval. In extra time the Team which scores first will immediately be declared the winner without further play.
Abandonment of Matches
Apart from the willful abandonment of a Match and subsequent expulsion under Section 5.5.3 in the event of a Match having to be stopped after its commencement under the provisions of the Laws of the Game, then subject to confirmation by the Disputes Committee, the following procedure shall apply:
(a) Pool Matches
(i) Where a pool Match has been abandoned either at half-time or at any time in the second half the result and any points and tries scored by each Team in the Match shall stand.
(ii) Where a pool Match has been abandoned during the first half the result shall be declared a draw.
(ii) Where a pool Match has been declared a draw then for that Match each Team will be awarded two Match points and any points and tries scored will count towards the total points and tries scored by each Team in all their pool Matches
(b) Knock Out Matches
(i) Where a Match has been abandoned either at half time or at any time in the second half the result shall stand. If both Teams are tied then the provision within Section 5.6 shall be used to ascertain a winner with points scored in all Matches in the Tournament taken into consideration. However, if one of the Teams participated in a Pool where a Team was expelled, for whatever reason, then the matter will be referred to the Disputes Committee which shall decide the most appropriate method for determining the winner of the tied knock out Match.
(ii) If a Match has been abandoned during the first half the result shall be declared a draw and the provisions within Section 5.6 shall be used to ascertain the winner with points scored in all Matches in the Tournament taken into consideration. However, if one of the Teams participated in a Pool where a Team was expelled, for whatever reason, then the matter will be referred to the Disputes Committee which shall decide the most appropriate method for determining the winner of the tied knock out Match.
Substitutions
A Match shall be played by no more than seven Players in each Team on the playing area. A Player may be replaced on account of injury or substituted. A Team may nominate no more than five replacements/substitutes. A Team can substitute or replace up to 5 Players. Temporary replacement for a blood injury to a Player is permitted. A Player who has been replaced through injury may not resume play in the same Match except if temporarily replaced for a blood injury. A Player who has been substituted may not resume play in the same Match except as a temporary replacement for a Player with a blood injury. No replacement or substitution may be made except with the permission of the referee, and only during a stoppage in play.
