July 18, 2017

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 San Francisco Schedule

Logo: Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018

Doug Coil

Yesterday, July 17, the schedule for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 tournament in San Francisco appeared on the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 web page. Photos were posted of the schedule, but have since been removed.

San Francisco 2018 will be the seventh edition of the global tournament and the third to feature both men’s and women’s competitions. The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 will feature 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams across four days of competition at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

RWC Sevens Qualification Process

MEN’S COMPETITION

Teams qualify for the RWC Sevens based on their finish at RWC Sevens 2013 in Moscow, via the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2016-17 or through regional competitions.

“All eight quarter-finalists from RWC Sevens 2013 in Moscow (New Zealand, England, Fiji, Kenya, South Africa, Wales, Australia and France) qualified automatically for the 2018 edition of the tournament, as did host team USA. Under the agreed qualification process, the top four teams outside of those nine at the 2016-17 series would book their place in San Francisco, meaning that Scotland, Canada, Argentina and Samoa are now confirmed.

The remaining 11 places will be filled by teams through regional competitions from June 2017 to April 2018 as follows:

Europe (2 teams) – Qualifiers: Russia and Ireland

Asia (2 teams)

Africa (2 teams)

North America (1 team)

South America (2 teams)

Oceania (2 teams)

WOMEN’S COMPETITION

“The four semi-finalists from Moscow 2013 are pre-qualified in New Zealand, Canada, Spain and USA.

Under the agreed qualification process, the top four nations from the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2016-17 – excluding these pre-qualified teams – would confirm their places at RWC Sevens 2018, meaning that Australia, Fiji, Russia and France are now qualified.

The remaining eight places will be filled by teams through regional competitions from June 2017 to April 2018 as follows:

Europe (2 teams) – Qualifiers: England and Ireland

Asia (2 teams)

Africa (1 team)

North America (1 team)

South America (1 team)

Oceania (1 team)

Schedule

The following schedule was posted on the RWC Sevens Web page yesterday, but has since been removed. Please note that the top eight seeds in the men’s bracket are the quarter-finalists from the RWC Sevens 2013. Seeds 9-16 are based on the 2016-17 HSBC World Sevens Series, while seeds 17-24 are based on the regional qualifiers. Seeds 9-24 will play an additional match with the winner playing the top 8 seeds.

For the Women’s bracket, the top 4 seeds are the top 4 finishers from the RWC 2013, seeds 5-8 are based on the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, while seeds 9-12 are based on the qualifiers. The tournament appears to have eliminated pool play and has moved directly to knockout competition.