2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

Tournament details
Host nation	USA
Venue	AT&T Park Avaya Stadium
Dates	TBD –
← 2013 2022 →

The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens will be the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organised by World Rugby, it was announced on 13 May 2015 that the tournament will be played at two stadiums in the San Francisco Bay Area: AT&T Park in San Francisco and Avaya Stadium in San Jose.<ref = "venue announcement">USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, Worldrugby.com</ref>

Bidding

The bidding timeline for hosting the tournament was as follows:^[1]

1. 28 February 2014 —Interested countries declare their "intent to tender"
2. 29 August 2014 — World Rugby (then the IRB) distributes the tender documentation
3. 5 December 2014 — Countries submit their bids to World Rugby
4. 13 May 2015 — World Rugby Council chooses the host country

The following 14 countries declared their interest in bidding to host the event:^[2][3]

• England
• Fiji
• France
• Hong Kong
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• Scotland
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• United Arab Emirates
• United States

Venues

USA Rugby selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the host candidate. Venues are the AT&T Park and Avaya Stadium, respectively home of the San Francisco Giants and San Jose Earthquakes.^[4]

Venue	Capacity	Location	Primary tenant
AT&T Park	42,000	San Francisco	San Francisco Giants (Major League Baseball)
Avaya Stadium	18,000	San Jose	San Jose Earthquakes (Major League Soccer)

Qualifying process

Region Automatic Qualifiers Places Remaining Africa  Kenya  South Africa 2 Americas North  United States (Hosts) 1 South America No Automatic Qualifiers 2 Asia No Automatic Qualifiers 2 Europe  England  France  Wales 2 Oceania  New Zealand (Holders)  Fiji  Australia 2 + Top 4 teams (not already qualified) from the 2016-17 World Sevens Series.[5]

Women's Region Automatic Qualifiers Places Remaining Africa No Automatic Qualifiers 1 Americas North  United States (Hosts)  Canada 1 South America No Automatic Qualifiers 1 Asia No Automatic Qualifiers 2 Europe  Spain 2 Oceania  New Zealand (Holders) 1 + Top 4 teams (not already qualified) from the 2016-17 World Sevens Series.[5]

Qualified Teams

Men

Africa	Americas North	South America	Europe	Asia	Oceania
Kenya (AQ)  South Africa (AQ)	United States (AQ) (Hosts)		England (AQ)  France (AQ)  Wales (AQ)		Australia (AQ)  Fiji (AQ)  New Zealand (AQ) (Holders)

Women

Africa	Americas North	South America	Europe	Asia	Oceania
	United States (AQ) (Hosts)  Canada (AQ)		Spain (AQ)		New Zealand (AQ) (Holders)

(AQ) represents teams that automatically qualified for the Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournament.

See also

• Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Rugby union in the United States

References

1. USA Rugby announces "intent to tender" for IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, USARugby.com, 2 April 2014.
2. 25 Unions vie to host Sevens World Series, IRB.com, 3 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
3. "Wales bid for 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens". www.espn.co.uk. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
4. San Francisco Tapped for RWC 7s Bid - Rugby Today, 17 December 2014
5. "Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 qualification process". World Rugby. Retrieved September 15, 2016.