Know who are the former champions and most successful countries at the prestigious World Rugby Sevens Series along with the history of the competition, results, winners list, & upcoming edition details
Since its inception in 1999, World Rugby Sevens Series has been one of the much-coveted tournaments in rugby sevens sports. With the sports getting it’s place in Olympics and this tournament serving as Olympic qualifier, millions of fans around the world keep an eye to how it pans out each year.
World Rugby Sevens Series All Time Past Winners Full List, Score, Results
They may have had to stay indoors today, but the Captains are ready to go!
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023 will start this weekend in Hong Kong! 🏉#HK7s #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/j3px8SPoyg
— World Rugby 7s (@WorldRugby7s) November 2, 2022
World Rugby Sevens Series History, Format, Teams, All-Time Winners, & Top Teams of Each Season
World Rugby Men’s Sevens Series is an annual tournament, which is organized by World Rugby and features national sevens teams. In order to create an elite level of international rugby sevens, the competition was originally organized during the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series. In upcoming 2022-23 season, 11 tournaments will make up the season’s circuit. There are 16 teams total in each event, including 15 core teams and 1 regional qualifier. By accruing points depending on their finishes in each tournament, teams compete for the World Rugby Series championship. The season’s lowest-finishing core team is eliminated, and the Hong Kong Sevens champion takes its place.
From 1999–2000 to 2004–2005, New Zealand won the first six seasons in a row, spearheaded by players like Karl Te Nana and Amasio Valence. Fiji won the season trophy in the 2005–06 season after finishing ahead of England in the last competition of the year. In the 2009–10 season, Samoa, which had placed seventh the year before, stunned the world by winning four of the final five tournaments to pass New Zealand and claim the series, driven by 2010’s best try-scorer and World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Mikaele Pesamino. Australia are the reigning champion of World Rugby Sevens Series after winning 2021-22 season ahead of South Africa.
In the table below we take a look at top-6 finishers from each season’s tournament:
| Season | Rounds | Champion | Runner-up | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
| 1999–00 | 10 | New Zealand
(186 pts) |
Fiji | Australia | Samoa | South Africa | Canada |
| 2000–01 | 9 | New Zealand
(162 pts) |
Australia | Fiji | Samoa | South Africa | Argentina |
| 2001–02 | 11 | New Zealand
(198 pts) |
South Africa | England | Fiji | Australia | Samoa |
| 2002–03 | 7 | New Zealand
(112 pts) |
England | Fiji | South Africa | Australia | Samoa |
| 2003–04 | 8 | New Zealand
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(128 pts) |
England | Argentina | Fiji | South Africa | Samoa |
| 2004–05 | 7 | New Zealand
(116 pts) |
Fiji | England | South Africa | Argentina | Australia |
| 2005–06 | 8 | Fiji
(144 pts) |
England | South Africa | New Zealand | Samoa | Argentina |
| 2006–07 | 8 | New Zealand
(130 pts) |
Fiji | Samoa | South Africa | England | Wales |
| 2007–08 | 8 | New Zealand
(154 pts) |
South Africa | Samoa | Fiji | England | Argentina |
| 2008–09 | 8 | South Africa
(132 pts) |
Fiji | England | New Zealand | Argentina | Kenya |
| 2009–10 | 8 | Samoa
(164 pts) |
New Zealand | Australia | Fiji | England | South Africa |
| 2010–11 | 8 | New Zealand
(166 pts) |
South Africa | England | Fiji | Samoa | Australia |
| 2011–12 | 9 | New Zealand
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(167 pts) |
Fiji | England | Samoa | South Africa | Australia |
| 2012–13 | 9 | New Zealand
(173 pts) |
South Africa | Fiji | Samoa | Kenya | England |
| 2013–14 | 9 | New Zealand
(180 pts) |
South Africa | Fiji | England | Australia | Canada |
| 2014–15 | 9 | Fiji
(164 pts) |
South Africa | New Zealand | England | Australia | United States |
| 2015–16 | 10 | Fiji
(181 pts) |
South Africa | New Zealand | Australia | Argentina | United States |
| 2016–17 | 10 | South Africa
(192 pts) |
England | Fiji | New Zealand | United States | Australia |
| 2017–18 | 10 | South Africa
(182 pts) |
Fiji | New Zealand | Australia | England | United States |
| 2018–19 | 10 | Fiji
(186 pts) |
United States | New Zealand | South Africa | England | Samoa |
| 2019–20 | 6 | New Zealand
(115 pts) |
South Africa | Fiji | Australia | England | France |
| 2021 | 2 | South Africa
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(40 pts) |
Great Britain | Kenya | Canada | United States | Ireland |
| 2021–22 | 9 | Australia
(126 pts) |
South Africa | Fiji | Argentina | Ireland | United States |
Most Successful Countries of World Rugby Sevens Series
For the first six seasons, from 1999–2000 to 2004–2005, New Zealand dominated the Series. However, after that time, Fiji, South Africa, Samoa, and Australia have all won season championships. Despite often finishing in the top three, neither England nor the United States have ever taken home the series crown. New Zealand still remain one of the greatest teams of tournament with total of 18 podium finishes including 13 titles.
| Team | Titles | Runner-up | Third | Podium Finish | Top-6 Finish |
| New Zealand | 13 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 21 |
| South Africa | 4 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 23 |
| Fiji | 4 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 22 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Samoa | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| England | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 | |
| United States | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Argentina | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Kenya | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Canada | 3 | ||||
| Ireland | 2 | ||||
| France | 1 | ||||
| Wales | 1 | ||||