# 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series

The 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 23rd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999.
The series was won by Australia 7s, claiming their first World Series title. Second-placed South Africa opened the competition by winning the first four tournaments, with a 36-match winning streak that lasted until the 2022 Singapore Sevens where they were beaten by the United States in pool play, but they did not make the semifinals in any of the remaining events.
There was no relegation required at the end of the season as the number of core teams was reduced when England, Scotland and Wales were combined to play as Great Britain for the 2022–23 series.

## Core teams

The core teams remained unchanged from the previous series due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which curtailed the last two seasons. The sixteen core teams qualified to participate in all 2021–22 tournaments were:
* Argentina
* Australia
* Canada
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Ireland
* Japan
* Kenya
* New Zealand
* Samoa
* Scotland
* South Africa
* Spain
* United States
* Wales

### Notes

* ↑ Japan did not compete in the 2021 series but had core team status for it after winning the Challenger Series in 2020  and kept that status for 2021–22.
* ↑ As there was no relegation in the previous two seasons, Wales retained core status despite being the lowest-placed core team in 2019–20.

## Tour venues

The schedule for the series was:
2021–22 Itinerary :
| Leg | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner |
| Dubai (2 events) | The Sevens | Dubai | 26–27 November 2021 | South Africa |
| Dubai (2 events) | The Sevens | Dubai | 3–4 December 2021 | South Africa |
| Spain (2 events) | Estadio Ciudad de Málaga | Málaga | 21–23 January 2022 | South Africa |
| Spain (2 events) | Estadio de La Cartuja | Seville | 28–30 January 2022 | South Africa |
| Singapore | National Stadium | Singapore | 9–10 April 2022 | Fiji |
| Canada | BC Place | Vancouver | 16–17 April 2022 | Argentina |
| France | Stade Ernest-Wallon | Toulouse | 20–22 May 2022 | Fiji |
| England | Twickenham Stadium | London | 28–29 May 2022 | Australia |
| United States | Dignity Health Sports Park | Los Angeles | 27–28 August 2022 | New Zealand |

### Notes

* ↑ The Canada Sevens event was moved from 26–27 February to 16–17 April due to COVID-19 logistical challenges.
* ↑ The LA Sevens event was moved from 5–6 March to 27–28 August due to ongoing COVID-19 logistical challenges.

## Standings

Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby revised the method used for the series standings in the interest of fairness to teams not able to participate in all rounds of the 2021–22 season. This system excluded the two lowest-scored rounds from each team in the final standings. So, with nine tournaments in the series, only the best seven tournament results for each team contributed to the ranking points.
The points awarded to teams at each event, as well as the overall season totals, are shown in the table below. Points for the event winners are indicated in bold. An asterisk (*) indicates a tied placing. An obelisk ($^†$) is recorded in the event column where a low-scoring round is excluded from a core team's ranking points. A dash (—) is recorded where a team did not compete.
2021–22 World Rugby Sevens – Series XXIII :
| Pos | Event Team | Dubai I | Dubai II | Má­laga | Se­ville | Sing­apore | Van­cou­ver | Tou­louse | Lon­don | Los Ang­eles | Total points | Rank­ing points |
| 1 | Australia | 13$^†$ | 19 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 10$^†$ | 22 | 17 | 149 | 126 |
| 2 | South Africa | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 10 | 13 | 5$^†$ | 13 | 3$^†$ | 132 | 124 |
| 3 | Fiji | 15 | 8 | —$^{1†}$ | —$^†$ | 22 | 19 | 22 | 17 | 19 | 123 | 122 |
| 4 | Argentina | 17 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 13† | 22 | 13 | 8$^†$ | 13 | 139 | 118 |
| 5 | Ireland | 11 | 10$^†$ | 10 | 15 | 15 | 8$^†$ | 19 | 12 | 10 | 110 | 92 |
| 6 | United States | 19 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 3$^†$ | 10 | 7$^†$ | 10 | 97 | 87 |
| 7 | France | 8$^†$ | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 5$^†$ | 8 | 94 | 81 |
| 8 | New Zealand | —$^†$ | —$^†$ | — | — | 19 | 12 | 8 | 19 | 22 | 80 | 80 |
| 9 | Samoa | —$^†$ | —$^†$ | — | —$^1$ | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 71 | 71 |
| 10 | England | —$^{4†}$ | —$^5$ | 17 | 12 | 3$^†$ | 10 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 78 | 71 |
| 11 | Spain | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2$^†$ | 5 | 10 | 1$^†$ | 54 | 51 |
| 12 | Kenya | 10 | 12 | 1$^†$ | 8 | 5 | 1$^†$ | 1 | 1 | 12 | 51 | 49 |
| 13 | Scotland | —$^{4†}$ | —$^5$ | 5 | 10 | 1$^†$ | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 49 | 44 |
| 14 | Canada | 6 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 1$^†$ | 7 | 1$^†$ | 3 | 1$^†$ | 36 | 34 |
| 15 | Wales | —$^4$ | —$^5$ | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2$^†$ | 1$^†$ | 5 | 37 | 34 |
| 16 | Japan | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2$^†$ | 1$^†$ | 3 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 26 |
| 17 | Great Britain | 12 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | 25 |
| 18 | Germany | — | — | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 10 |
| 19 | Jamaica | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 3 |
Source: World Rugby
    Legend No colour Core team Yellow Invited team

### Notes

* 1 2 Fiji and Samoa did not play in the two tournaments in Spain following positive COVID-19 tests in their squads. As Fiji was not replaced in the schedule for Málaga  and Samoa not replaced for Seville, their opponents advanced by walkover in those tournaments. As such, Fiji finished equal-last in Málaga and received one point in the season standings. Similarly, Samoa finished equal-last in Seville and received one point in the season standings.
* ↑ New Zealand missed the first four tournaments due to travel logistics and travel-related restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
* 1 2 Tie-breaker margin of points scored for and against (from all matches in only the best seven tournaments for each team, respectively): Samoa +125, England –115.
* 1 2 3 4 England, Scotland and Wales were represented by Great Britain in the first two events held in Dubai. For the remaining events, they competed as separate national unions. Each team received one-third of the points earned by Great Britain in the first two rounds: four points each for Dubai I, five points each for Dubai II.
* 1 2 Tie-breaker margin of points scored for and against (from all matches in only the best seven tournaments for each team, respectively): Canada –289, Wales –322.

## Placings summary

Tallies of top-four placings in tournaments during the 2021–22 series, by team:
| Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Fourth | Total |
| South Africa | 4 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Fiji | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Australia | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 2 | — | — | 3 |
| Argentina | 1 | 1 | 3 | — | 5 |
| Ireland | — | 1 | — | 2 | 3 |
| United States | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| France | — | — | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| England | — | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Samoa | — | — | — | 4 | 4 |

## Player statistics
### Dream Team

* Nick Malouf Luciano González Rizzoni Zain Davids Marcos Moneta Waisea Nacuqu Terry Kennedy Corey Toole
Reference:

### Scoring

Updated: 29 August 2022

### Performance

Updated: 29 August 2022

## Tournaments
### Dubai I

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 42–7 | United States | Argentina (Bronze)  Fiji |
| 5th Place | Australia | 35–21 | Great Britain | Ireland (7th)  Kenya |
| 9th Place | France | 28–26 | Spain | Canada (11th)  Japan |

### Dubai II

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 10–7 | Australia | Argentina (Bronze)  France |
| 5th Place | Great Britain | 10–5 | Kenya | United States (7th)  Ireland |
| 9th Place | Fiji | 31–7 | Spain | Japan (11th)  Canada |

### Malaga

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 24–17 | Argentina | England (Bronze)  Australia |
| 5th Place | France | 28–12 | United States | Ireland  Canada |
| 9th Place | Spain | 34–5 | Wales | Scotland  Germany |
| 13th Place | Japan | 29–24 | Jamaica | Kenya  Fiji |

### Seville

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 33–7 | Australia | Argentina (Bronze)  Ireland |
| 5th Place | United States | 22–17 | England | France  Scotland |
| 9th Place | Kenya | 24–19 | Spain | Germany  Japan |
| 13th Place | Wales | 19–14 | Canada | Jamaica  Samoa |

### Singapore

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 28–17 | New Zealand | Australia (Bronze)  Ireland |
| 5th Place | Argentina | 42–24 | United States | Samoa  South Africa |
| 9th Place | France | 24–19 | Spain | Kenya  Wales |
| 13th Place | England | 28–14 | Japan | Canada  Scotland |

### Vancouver

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Argentina | 29–10 | Fiji | Australia (Bronze)  Samoa |
| 5th Place | South Africa | 17–15 | New Zealand | England  France |
| 9th Place | Ireland | 17–7 | Canada | Scotland  Wales |
| 13th Place | United States | 33–24 | Spain | Japan  Kenya |

### Toulouse

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 29–17 | Ireland | France (Bronze)  Samoa |
| 5th Place | Argentina | 21–12 | England | Australia  United States |
| 9th Place | New Zealand | 42–7 | Scotland | South Africa  Spain |
| 13th Place | Japan | 28–14 | Wales | Canada  Kenya |

### London

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Australia | 19–14 | New Zealand | Fiji (Bronze)  Samoa |
| 5th Place | South Africa | 14–5 | Ireland | England  Spain |
| 9th Place | Argentina | 31–5 | United States | France  Scotland |
| 13th Place | Canada | 26–19 | Japan | Kenya  Wales |

### Los Angeles

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | New Zealand | 28–21 | Fiji | Australia (Bronze)  Samoa |
| 5th Place | Argentina | 29–7 | Kenya | Ireland  United States |
| 9th Place | France | 33–0 | Scotland | England  Wales |
| 13th Place | South Africa | 26–0 | Japan | Spain  Canada |