2004–05 World Sevens Series
# 2004–05 World Sevens Series

The 2004–05 Sevens World Series was the sixth edition of the global circuit for men's national rugby sevens teams, organised by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. The defending series champions New Zealand retained their title by winning the 2004–05 series.

## Competition format

All tournaments in the 2004–05 series were played as a standard 16-team event, beginning with the pool stage before progressing to a knockout stage to decide the tournament winners.

### Pool stage

For the pool stage, teams were divided into 4 pools of 4 teams and a round-robin was played within each pool. The points awarded for the pool matches were 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. Where tie-breakers were required, the head-to-head result between the tied teams was used, followed by the difference in points scored during tournament play.

### Knockout stage

Four trophies were contested during the knockout stage – in descending order of prestige: the Cup (whose winner became the tournament champion), Plate, Bowl and Shield. The format of the playoffs is described below

* The top 8 sides (i.e. top two from each pool) advanced to the Cup quarterfinals
* The 4 winners of the quarterfinals meet in the Cup semifinal bracket to play off for first, second and shared third place in the tournament.

Plate

* The 4 losers of the Cup quarterfinals drop down to the Plate semifinal bracket to play off for fifth, sixth and shared seventh place in the tournament.

Bowl

* The 4 third-placed sides from each pool meet in the Bowl bracket to decide 9th, 10th and shared 11th place in the tournament.

Shield

* The 4 fourth-placed sides from each pool met in the Shield bracket to decide 13th, 14th and shared 15th place in the tournament.

### Points schedule

The season championship was determined by the total points earned in all tournaments. The points schedule used for 2004–05 World Sevens Series was:

Points schedule: 16-team event :

| Points | Place | Status |
| - | - | - |
| 20 | 1st | Cup winner |
| 16 | 2nd | Cup runner-up |
| 12 | 3rd $^{(2-wayshare)}$ | Losing Cup semifinalists |
| 8 | 5th | Plate winner |
| 6 | 6th | Plate runner-up |
| 4 | 7th $^{(2-wayshare)}$ | Losing Plate semifinalists |
| 2 | 9th | Bowl winner |

## Final standings

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. A zero (0) is recorded in the event column where a team played in a tournament but did not gain any points. A dash (–) is recorded in the event column if a team did not compete at a tournament.

2004–05 IRB Sevens – Series VI :

| Pos. | Event Team | Dubai | George | Well­ing­ton | Los ​Ang­eles | Singa­pore | Lon­don | Paris | Points total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | New Zealand | 12 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 116 |
| 2 | Fiji | 16 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 88 |
| 3 | England | 20 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 86 |
| 4 | South Africa | 12 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 76 |
| 5 | Argentina | 6 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 70 |
| 6 | Samoa | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
| 7 | Australia | 4 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 42 |
| 8 | France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 30 |
| 9 | Scotland | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| 10 | Kenya | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Tunisia | 0 | 4 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Portugal | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 2 |

Source: rugby7.com (archived)

Notes:  Light blue line on the left indicates a core team eligible to participate in all events of the series.

## Tournaments

### Dubai

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | Fiji | 21–26 | England | South Africa New Zealand |
| Plate | Samoa | 21–19 | Argentina | Australia Scotland |
| Bowl | France | 5–10 | Portugal | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Ireland | 5–17 | Tunisia | TBC TBC |

### South Africa

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | New Zealand | 33–19 | Fiji | England Argentina |
| Plate | South Africa | 12–7 | Samoa | Tunisia Kenya |
| Bowl | Canada | 12–38 | Australia | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Portugal | 17–12 | France | TBC TBC |

### New Zealand

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | Argentina | 7–31 | New Zealand | South Africa Fiji |
| Plate | Scotland | 0–32 | Australia | Samoa England |
| Bowl | Tonga | 12–17 | Kenya | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Japan | 19–29 | Niue | TBC TBC |

### United States

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | Argentina | 5–34 | New Zealand | Australia England |
| Plate | Samoa | 21–24 | Fiji | France South Africa |
| Bowl | Kenya | 0–15 | Canada | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Tonga | 40–0 | Mexico | TBC TBC |

### Singapore

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | New Zealand | 26–5 | England | Fiji South Africa |
| Plate | Samoa | 14–15 | Australia | Scotland Argentina |
| Bowl | Canada | 12–19 | France | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Chinese Taipei | 17–10 | China | TBC TBC |

### France

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | France | 28–19 | Fiji | Samoa New Zealand |
| Plate | South Africa | 26–19 | England | Australia Scotland |
| Bowl | Argentina | 26–10 | Georgia | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Canada | 33–21 | Russia | TBC TBC |

### London

| Trophy | Winners | Score | Finalists | Semi-finalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Cup | South Africa | 21–12 | England | Argentina New Zealand |
| Plate | Australia | 12–29 | Fiji | Scotland France |
| Bowl | Tunisia | 0–27 | Samoa | TBC TBC |
| Shield | Kenya | 12–18 | Canada | TBC TBC |
