# 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series

The 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was the 20th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000. This series also, for the second time, doubled as a qualifier for the 2020 Summer Olympics, with the top four countries qualifying automatically.
Fiji finished first in the Series, winning five of the ten tournaments. The United States finished in a best-ever second place, reaching the semifinals in all ten tournaments. The relegation battle was a three-way competition going into the final rounds involving Japan, Kenya, and Wales, with Japan finishing last to be relegated from the Series next season. The World Series Qualifier tournament saw Ireland promoted to core status for the first time for the 2019–20 season.

## Core teams

* Argentina
* Australia
* Canada
* England
* Fiji
* France
* Japan
* Kenya
* New Zealand
* Samoa
* Scotland
* South Africa
* Spain
* United States
* Wales
Japan was promoted to core team status for the season after winning the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier. They replaced Russia, which was relegated after finishing as the last place core team on the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series.

## Tour venues

The official schedule for the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series was:
2018–19 Venues :
| Leg | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner |
| United Arab Emirates | The Sevens Stadium | Dubai | 30 November – 1 December 2018 | New Zealand |
| South Africa | Cape Town Stadium | Cape Town | 8–9 December 2018 | Fiji |
| New Zealand | FMG Stadium Waikato | Hamilton | 26–27 January 2019 | Fiji |
| Australia | Spotless Stadium | Sydney | 2–3 February 2019 | New Zealand |
| United States | Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas | 1–3 March 2019 | United States |
| Canada | BC Place | Vancouver | 9–10 March 2019 | South Africa |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | Hong Kong | 5–7 April 2019 | Fiji |
| Singapore | National Stadium | Singapore | 13–14 April 2019 | South Africa |
| England | Twickenham Stadium | London | 25–26 May 2019 | Fiji |
| France | Stade Jean-Bouin | Paris | 1–2 June 2019 | Fiji |

## Standings

Official standings for the 2018–19 series were:
2018–19 World Rugby Sevens – Series XX :
| Pos. | Event Team | Dubai | Cape Town | Hamil­ton | Sydney | Las Vegas | Van­couver | Hong Kong | Singa­pore | London | Paris | Points total |
| 1 | Fiji | 13 | 22 | 22 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 186 |
| 2 | United States | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 177 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 22 | 15 | 17 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 162 |
| 4 | South Africa | 12 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 22 | 10 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 148 |
| 5 | England | 17 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 114 |
| 6 | Samoa | 8 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 107 |
| 7 | Australia | 15 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 5 | 104 |
| 8 | France | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 99 |
| 9 | Argentina | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 94 |
| 10 | Scotland | 10 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 72 |
| 11 | Canada | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 59 |
| 12 | Spain | 5 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 49 |
| 13 | Kenya | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 37 |
| 14 | Wales | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 31 |
| 15 | Japan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 27 |
| 16 | Ireland | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 7 | 19 |
| 17 | Chile | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 6 |
| 18 | Tonga | — | — | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 |
| 19 | Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| 20 | Portugal | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 21 | Hong Kong | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
Source: World Rugby
    Legend No colour Core team in 2018–19 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series Pink Relegated as the lowest placed core team at the end of the 2018–19 series Yellow Not a core team Qualified to the 2020 Olympic Sevens as one of the four highest placed eligible teams from the 2018–19 series.
* ↑ By agreement between the three unions on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), England, as highest finisher among those nations in the 2017–18 series, represented Great Britain in qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Sevens. The final make-up of the Great Britain men's team was determined by the British Olympic Association.
* "Sevens Olympic pathway confirmed for 2020". England Rugby. 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018.

## Placings summary

Tallies of top four tournament placings during the 2018–19 series, by team:
| Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Fourth | Total |
| Fiji | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| South Africa | 2 | – | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| United States | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| France | – | 2 | – | 1 | 3 |
| Australia | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
| Samoa | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
| England | – | – | 3 | – | 3 |
| Argentina | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 |

## Players
### Scoring leaders

Updated: 2 June 2019

### Dream Team

| Forwards | Backs |
| Stephen Tomasin Ben Pinkelman Meli Derenalagi | Folau Niua Jerry Tuwai Vilimoni Botitu Aminiasi Tuimaba |

### Impact award

Updated: 26 May 2019
Coach of the Series: Mike Friday, U.S. head coach

## Tournaments
### Dubai

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | New Zealand | 21–5 | United States | England (Bronze) Australia |
| 5th Place | Fiji | 24–19 | South Africa | Argentina Scotland |
| Challenge Trophy | Samoa | 33–24 | France | Canada Spain |
| 13th Place | Wales | 31–7 | Japan | Kenya Zimbabwe |

### Cape Town

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 29–15 | United States | South Africa (Bronze) New Zealand |
| 5th Place | England | 14–7 | Spain | Australia Scotland |
| Challenge Trophy | Argentina | 38–14 | Samoa | Canada France |
| 13th Place | Kenya | 33–26 | Wales | Japan Zimbabwe |

### Hamilton

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 38–0 | United States | New Zealand (Bronze) South Africa |
| 5th Place | Scotland | 24–19 | Samoa | Australia Canada |
| Challenge Trophy | England | 36–7 | Kenya | Argentina Spain |
| 13th Place | Tonga | 33–10 | France | Japan Wales |

### Sydney

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | New Zealand | 21–5 | United States | England (Bronze) Fiji |
| 5th Place | South Africa | 12–10 | Australia | France Spain |
| Challenge Trophy | Argentina | 10–7 | Japan | Wales Canada |
| 13th Place | Samoa | 25–5 | Tonga | Kenya Scotland |

### Las Vegas

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | United States | 27–0 | Samoa | New Zealand (Bronze) Argentina |
| 5th Place | England | 19–14 | Fiji | South Africa Australia |
| Challenge Trophy | Scotland | 15–14 | Spain | Kenya Chile |
| 13th Place | Canada | 21–12 | Wales | Japan France |

### Vancouver

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 21–12 | France | Fiji (Bronze) United States |
| 5th Place | New Zealand | 26–19 | England | Argentina Samoa |
| Challenge Trophy | Australia | 35–21 | Canada | Wales Scotland |
| 13th Place | Spain | 15–10 | Japan | Kenya Chile |

### Hong Kong

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 21–7 | France | United States (Bronze) Samoa |
| 5th Place | Argentina | 21–14 | New Zealand | South Africa England |
| Challenge Trophy | Scotland | 26–24 | Japan | Australia Kenya |
| 13th Place | Spain | 19–14 (a.e.t) | Wales | Canada Portugal |
| World Series Qualifier | Ireland | 28–7 | Hong Kong | Germany Chile |

### Singapore

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | South Africa | 20–19 | Fiji | England (Bronze) United States |
| 5th Place | Samoa | 19–17 | New Zealand | Australia Argentina |
| Challenge Trophy | France | 22-19 | Scotland | Canada Wales |
| 13th Place | Kenya | 21-5 | Spain | Japan Hong Kong |

### London

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 43–7 | Australia | United States (Bronze) France |
| 5th Place | New Zealand | 35–14 | Ireland | Canada South Africa |
| Challenge Trophy | Samoa | 26–17 | Scotland | Argentina Wales |
| 13th Place | Japan | 29–14 | England | Spain Kenya |

### Paris

| Event | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semifinalists |
| Cup | Fiji | 35–24 | New Zealand | South Africa (Bronze) United States |
| 5th Place | France | 40–5 | Samoa | Argentina Kenya |
| Challenge Trophy | Canada | 28–12 | Ireland | Australia England |
| 13th Place | Scotland | 31–26 | Japan | Spain Wales |