# 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organized by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men's tournament had 24 teams and the women's tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format. New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.

## Bidding

The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows:
* February 28, 2014 —Interested countries declare their "intent to tender"
* August 29, 2014 — World Rugby (then the IRB) distributes the tender documentation
* December 5, 2014 — Countries submit their bids to World Rugby
* May 13, 2015 — World Rugby Council chooses the host country
The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event:
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Hong Kong
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Portugal
* Scotland
* Singapore
* South Africa
* Spain
* United Arab Emirates
* United States

## Venue

USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. The venue was AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.
When the event was awarded to the Bay Area in May 2015, Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, was announced as a second venue. However, the following year, Avaya Stadium was dropped as a venue.
| San Francisco | San Franciscoclass=notpageimage| Location of 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens |
| AT&T Park | San Franciscoclass=notpageimage| Location of 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens |
| Capacity: 42,000 | San Franciscoclass=notpageimage| Location of 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens |

## Popularity

The three-day tournament was the most-watched live rugby cast in the U.S. on record. In the U.S. Day 2 coverage achieved a rating of 1.0, while Day 3 coverage attained a 1.1. Coverage reached nine million viewers across NBC five telecasts, with finals day coverage averaging 1.365 million viewers. Over 100,000 fans attended the three day event, which was a record-breaking crowd for a rugby event in the United States.

## Schedule

Over the three days of competition there was a total of 84 matches played across both the men's and women's competitions.
All times in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00).
| Date | Time | Stage | Matches |
| July 20, 2018 (Friday) | 10:00–12:56 | Women's Championship Cup Round of 16 | 8 |
| July 20, 2018 (Friday) | 13:01-15:57 | Men's Championship Cup Pre-round of 16 | 8 |
| July 20, 2018 (Friday) | 16:02-18:58 | Women's Challenge Quarterfinals Women's Championship Cup Quarterfinals | 8 |
| July 20, 2018 (Friday) | 19:03-21:59 | Men's Championship Cup Round of 16 | 8 |
| July 21, 2018 (Saturday) | 09:30–13:57 | Women's Challenge Semifinals Women's Championship Cup Semifinals Men's Bowl Quarterfinals | 12 |
| July 21, 2018 (Saturday) | 14:04-17:00 | Men's Challenge Quarterfinals Men's Championship Cup Quarterfinals | 8 |
| July 21, 2018 (Saturday) | 17:10-20:29 | Women's 11th-16th Place Matches Women's Challenge Final Women's 5th-8th Place Matches Women's Bronze Medal match Women's Championship Cup Final Women's Ceremony | 8 |
| July 22, 2018 (Sunday) | 09:00-14:52 | Men's Bowl Semifinals Men's Challenge Semifinals Men's Championship Cup Semifinals Men's 19th-24th Place Matches Men's Bowl Final | 16 |
| July 22, 2018 (Sunday) | 15:02-16:30 | Men's 11th-16th Place Matches Men's Challenge Final | 4 |
| July 22, 2018 (Sunday) | 16:40-18:31 | Men's 5th-8th Place Matches Men's Bronze Medal Match Men's Championship Cup Final Men's Ceremony | 4 |

## Qualifying – Men

Twenty four teams participate in the men's World Cup Sevens. Nine teams automatically qualify — eight by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and one host nation. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 World Sevens Series also qualify. The remaining 11 teams qualify through continental qualifiers — two from each of the six regions, except North America which gets only one additional place.
| Qualifying | Africa | North America | South America | Asia | Europe | Oceania |
| Automatic Qualifiers | Kenya South Africa | United States (Hosts) | — | — | England France Wales | Australia Fiji New Zealand (Holders) |
| 2016–17 World Series | — | Canada | Argentina | — | Scotland | Samoa |
| Continental Qualifiers | Uganda Zimbabwe | Jamaica | Uruguay Chile | Hong Kong Japan | Ireland Russia | Papua New Guinea Tonga |
| Total Places (24) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 |

## Qualifying – Women

Sixteen teams play at the women's World Cup Sevens. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Additionally, the top four teams not already qualified from the 2016–17 Women's World Sevens Series also qualified. The remaining eight places will be filled via continental qualifiers.
| | Africa | North America | South America | Asia | Europe | Oceania |
| Automatic Qualifiers | — | United States (Hosts) Canada | — | — | Spain | New Zealand (Holders) |
| 2016–17 World Series | — | — | — | — | France Russia | Australia Fiji |
| Continental Qualifiers | South Africa | Mexico | Brazil | China Japan | England Ireland | Papua New Guinea |
| Total Places (16) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 |

## Tournament – Men

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Melrose Cup | New Zealand | 33–12 | England | South Africa (3) Fiji |
| 5th Place | Argentina | 33–7 | United States | Scotland (7) France |
| Challenge Trophy | Ireland | 24–14 | Australia | Wales (11) Canada |
| 13th Place | Samoa | 22–17 | Russia | Japan (15) Kenya |
| Bowl | Chile | 20–7 | Hong Kong | Uganda (19) Uruguay |
| 21st Place | Papua New Guinea | 31–14 | Tonga | Zimbabwe (23) Jamaica |

## Tournament – Women

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| World Cup | New Zealand | 29–0 | France | Australia (3) United States |
| 5th Place | Spain | 12–7 | Ireland | Canada (7) Russia |
| Challenge Trophy | England | 31–5 | Japan | Fiji (11) China |
| 13th Place | Brazil | 22–0 | South Africa | Papua New Guinea (15) Mexico |