The France Sevens, also called the Paris Sevens, is an annual international rugby sevens tournament that is one of ten competitions on the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. The France Sevens is generally held in May or June on the weekend following the London Sevens and is the last competition in the Sevens Series. France has also hosted tournaments within the European Sevens Grand Prix Series, often at Lyon.

France Sevens
Most recent season or competition:
2023 France Sevens
SportRugby sevens
First season1996
No. of teams16
Most recent
champion(s)
 New Zealand
Most titles South Africa  (3 titles)  New Zealand  (3 titles)
Paris Sevens venue Stade Jean-Bouin.

History

edit

From 1996 to 1999 the tournament was known as the Air France Sevens, and in the year 2000 it was part of the inaugural IRB Sevens World Series.

The IRB hosted the tournament at Bordeaux in 2004, before returning to Paris for 2005 and 2006. The event was effectively replaced in the World Sevens Series by the Scotland Sevens at Edinburgh for the 2006-07 season.

Between 2011 and 2015, Lyon hosted a leg of the European circuit, the Sevens Grand Prix Series.

The Sevens World Series returned to France for the 2015-16 season, with the revival of the Paris Sevens tournament in 2016.

International sevens

edit

Invitational tournament

edit
Year  Venue  Cup final Placings Refs
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
1996 Sébastien Charléty Paris  
Fiji
38–19  
France
 
Romania
 
Russia
n/a [1][2]
1997 Sébastien Charléty Paris  
Fiji
13–7  
New Zealand
 
French Barbarians
 
Germany
n/a

[3][4]
[5][2]

1998 Sébastien Charléty Paris  
Australia
33–26  
New Zealand
South
American​ Barbarians
 
Japan
n/a [2][6]
1999 Sébastien Charléty Paris  
New Zealand
36–26  
France
 
French Barbarians
 
Australia
n/a [7]

World Rugby Sevens Series

edit
Year Venue Cup final Placings Refs
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
2000 Sébastien Charléty Paris  
New Zealand
69–10  
South Africa
 
Fiji
 
Samoa
n/a [8]
No tournament in the World Series for men's teams played in France from 2001 to 2003
2004 Chaban-Delmas
Bordeaux
 
New Zealand
28–19  
England
 
Argentina
 
France
 
Spain
[9]
2005 Stade Jean-Bouin
Paris
 
France
28–19  
Fiji
 
South Africa
 
Argentina
 
Canada
[10]
2006 Sébastien Charléty
Paris
 
South Africa
33–12  
Samoa
 
Fiji
 
Kenya
 
Scotland
[11]
No tournament in the World Series for men's teams played in France from 2007 to 2015
2016 Stade Jean-Bouin
Paris
 
Samoa
29–26  
Fiji
 
South Africa
 
Scotland
 
Portugal
[12]
Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth
2017 Stade Jean-Bouin
Paris
 
South Africa
15–5  
Scotland
 
New Zealand
 
England
 
United States
[13]
2018 Stade Jean-Bouin
Paris
 
South Africa
24–14  
England
 
New Zealand
 
Canada
 
Fiji
[14]
2019 Stade Jean-Bouin
Paris
 
Fiji
35–24  
New Zealand
 
South Africa
 
United States
 
France
[15]
World Series tournaments planned for Paris were cancelled in 2020 [16] and 2021,[17] due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 Stade Ernest-Wallon
Toulouse
 
Fiji
29–17  
Ireland
 
France
 
Samoa
 
Argentina
[18]
2023 Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse  
New Zealand
24–19  
Argentina
 
France
 
Canada
 
Australia

European Grand Prix

edit

In most years since 2011, France has hosted a leg of the Sevens Grand Prix Series, a multi-leg competition sponsored by Rugby Europe every summer involving teams from Europe.

Year  Venue  Cup final Placings Refs
Lyon Sevens Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth
2011 Matmut Stadium
Lyon
 
England
28–14  
Spain
 
France
 
Portugal
 
Russia
[19]
2012 Matmut Stadium
Lyon
 
England
26–14  
Portugal
 
Spain
 
Wales
 
Russia
[20]
2013 Matmut Stadium
Lyon
 
England
33–5  
Russia
 
France
 
Wales
 
Portugal
[21]
2014 Matmut Stadium
Lyon
 
France
40–10  
Belgium
 
Spain
 
Russia
n/a [22]
2015 Matmut Stadium
Lyon
 
France
20–7  
Spain
 
Belgium
 
Germany
 
England
[23]
2016 No Grand Prix Series event hosted in France for 2016
2017 Gabriel Montpied
Clermont
 
Ireland
17–14  
Russia
 
Spain
 
Germany
 
Wales
[24]
2018 Marcoussis  
Ireland
49–7  
Germany
 
England
 
Russia
 
Portugal
[25]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "In brief: Fiji wins Paris Sevens". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. 13 October 1996. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Results in the 90s". Air France Rugby Sevens. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Les Fidjiens sortent vainqueurs de la mêlée". Concorde (in French) (5): 3. 10 June 1997. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Deuxième édition de l'Air France Rugby Sevens". Concorde (in French) (5): 1. 10 June 1997. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Sports Monday Paris: Results on the first day of the Paris Sevens event". The Age. Melbourne. p. 22, col. 1. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Campese sets up win over NZ". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax. 18 May 1998. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Programme des Finales". Air France Rugby Sevens (in French). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  8. ^ IRB Sevens I – Paris, Rugby7.com.
  9. ^ IRB Sevens V – Bordeaux, Rugby7.com.
  10. ^ IRB Sevens VI – Paris, Rugby7.com.
  11. ^ IRB Sevens VII – Paris, Rugby7.com.
  12. ^ Sevens World Series - Leg 9 (Paris) 2015/16 Rugby Archive
  13. ^ Sevens World Series - Leg 9 (Paris) 2016/17 Rugby Archive
  14. ^ IRB Sevens XIX – Paris, Rugby7.com.
  15. ^ IRB Sevens XX – Paris, Rugby7.com.
  16. ^ "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". World Rugby. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  17. ^ "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 schedule update". World Rugby. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  18. ^ IRB Sevens XXXIII – Toulouse, Rugby7.com.
  19. ^ 2011 Euro Sevens X – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com.
  20. ^ 2012 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com.
  21. ^ 2013 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com.
  22. ^ 2014 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com.
  23. ^ 2015 Euro Grand Prix – Lyon, France, Rugby7.com.
  24. ^ 2017 Euro Grand Prix – Clermont, France, Rugby7.com.
  25. ^ 2018 Euro Grand Prix – Marcoussis, France, Rugby7.com.