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ualism was the style almond stated that he urged on his boys in the sixties that if only they would pass constantly and systematically to each other they would baffle any side unaccustomed to such tactics almond a pioneer in collectivism in rugby union struggled to get his schoolboys to get used to the system the schoolboys stated this was funking but by 1872 he was organising eleven a side matches with edinburgh academicals 20 in 2007 almond was nominated for the irb hall of fame but was not inducted 21 collectivism did eventually take hold with new clubs and scotland exported it through sevens around the world and sides like new zealand and south africa quickly realised the benefits of collectivism the bigger clubs in scotland were reluctant to change their ways they were winning and could attract the best individualists from other clubs to maintain their position in 1895 the scottish referee newspaper was still criticising west of scotland for not using the collective method 20 in england the push for smaller sides eventually resulted in the formation of rugby league and there was experimentation with numbers in the north of england prior to the split there was a six a side tournament in huddersfield in september 1879 played under regular rules but with 10 minute halves other tournaments were played over the next few years across the north before being replaced by a nine a side game matches attracted large crowds and raised thousands to support the clubs or local hospital charities in august 1890 yorkshire suspended 8 teams and in september lancashire banned games with less than 15 a side over allegations of professionalism short sided games effectively ended in england 22 scotland edit the greenyards in melrose scotland was the site of the first rugby sevens game in 1883 rugby sevens was initially conceived in 1883 by ned haig and david sanderson 23 who were butchers from melrose scotland as a fund raising event for their local club melrose rfc the first ever sevens match was played at the greenyards the melrose ground where it was well received two years later tynedale was the first non scottish club to win one of the borders sevens titles at gala in 1885 24 rugby union sevens popularity in the borders spread north throughout scotland 25 aberdeen hosting sevens in 1889 26 edinburgh hosting sevens in 1896 27 glasgow hosting sevens in 1898 28 dundee hosting sevens in 1901 29 the popularity of sevens exploded in the 1920s and 1930s 30 from the 19th century to today over 150 sevens tournaments in scotland are known and though some tournaments have folded new tournaments continue to be born 31 sevens remain popular in scotland and the melrose sevens annually attracts around 12 000 spectators to the small borders town 32 the melrose sevens centenary tournament in 1983 attracted 17 500 fans 33 international spread edit england edit a rugby sevens tournament was played by st helens cricket club on 29 may 1886 and the final took place a week later a rugby sevens tournament was organised by warrington f c a rugby club on their athletics day on 14 august 1886 but it was not repeated a rugby sevens match was played in chorley lancashire as part of the chorley rugby and athletic club s sports day on 22 july 1888 another match looks to have taken place the following year on 24 august 1889 the rainford athletics club hosted a sports day on 7 august 1888 with a 3 team rugby sevens tournament but this was a one off and not repeated sevens then ended in england and it would be a long wait for any future english sevens tournaments to arrive with the exception of a whitsuntide event which included sevens at hexham in 1894 which seemed to go ahead without official backing the hexham whitsuntide sports committee tried to invite hawick rfc as their star guests but without backing this did not come off 34 for a long time the english rugby union held against rugby sevens being played in england english clubs particularly those close to the scottish border and aware of the game s success in scotland wanted to play their own tournaments their pleas went in vain 34 england finally hosted its first sevens tournament in 1921 as the scottish game crept south over the border this was on 23 april 1921 by carlisle rugby club they beat a hawick b side in the final 35 next was on 3 september 1921 36 in north east england at the percy park sevens now known as the 1872 sevens in north shields widely understood as the first international sevens tournament 37 38 24 it was close to the scottish borders and scottish sides were invited to play in the tournament with local english sides the final was contested between selkirk and melrose with selkirk winning the event 24 first played in 1926 the middlesex sevens were set up by dr j a russell cargill a london based scot 24 the tournament was intended as a fundraiser for king edward vii hospital it raised 1 600 at a time when standard admission was a shilling and stand seats cost five shillings 30 this became england s premier sevens tournament it had some formidable figures on its sub committee such as wavell wakefield and bill ramsay 30 it was close to london and 10 000 spectators attended the second middlesex tournament and it helped rugby in london develop featuring the aforementioned wavell wakefield carl aarvold later recorder of the city of london of blackheath fc wick powell of london welsh rfc and john tallent who would later become chairman of the four home unions tours committee 30 invitation sides graced the sevens tournament such as sale rfc in 1936 which included such players as wilf wooller and claude davey of wales and ken fyfe 39 of scotland amongst their backs and in 1939 cardiff rfc which included players such as wilf wooller again and les spence and wendy davis 40 30 india edit the earl of dalhousie became governor general of india in the middle of the nineteenth century he took his summers in the indian western himalayas his base there also called dalhousie and the neighbouring khajjiar region remains known as a little scotland of india teams from dalhousie and chamba played various sports against one another at the khajjiar gymkhana the chamba side was a mixed civilian and native side the dalhousie side was a military side on 29 june 1886 at 1am they played a rugby sevens match as the dalhousie players favoured rugby union and the chamba players that had already beaten dalhousie in cricket and association football confidently obliged the dalhousie side unsurprisingly won the match with the report from the civil military gazette seeming to blame chamba s native players for the loss 41 new zealand edit sevens then spread from scotland to dunedin a scottish expatriate city in new zealand 42 the first dunedin sevens tournament was the charity tournament in aid of dunedin hospital on 28 september 1889 25 from dunedin sevens spread north to christchurch where canterbury rugby union held a sevens tournament on 16 september 1893 25 on 23 may 1894 sevens had almost reached the north island with a tournament in nelson 25 australia edit the first notice of a sevens tournament in australia is that of central queensland rugby union s tournament in rockhampton on 4 july 1891 the wanderers won the tournament beating the waratahs and the berserkers 43 ireland edit in ireland douglas rfc of cork in the south of ireland attempted to host a sevens tournament on 8 december 1900 however due to inclement weather this did not come off the first sevens tournament in ireland was then the belfast tournament of 30 april 1921 in aid of the warriors day fund this was run by the northern branch of the irfu 44 argentina edit the next country to host a sevens tournament was argentina arriving again via scottish expatriates 45 the buenos aires cricket rugby club hosted their own sevens event on 9 july 1921 the buenos aires club defeated belgrano athletic club in the final the buenos aires club went on to host sevens tournaments on 9 july every year however a pitch invasion tradition at the final meant that no further winners were recorded until 1937 46 47 the 9 july is argentina s independence day holiday and a feast is often prepared in celebration it is said that the pitch invasion tradition started when a bell announcing that food was ready rang out during the final 45 national side tournaments edit first international tournament edit the first ever officially sanctioned tournament for national teams was the 1973 international seven a side tournament held at murrayfield as part of the scottish rugby union s celebration of rugby centenary celebrations hong kong sevens edit main article hong kong sevens the hong kong sevens was one of the most influential tournaments in the development and spread of rugby sevens internationally in the 20th century due to the success of the format the scottish connection continued in the establishment of the hong kong sevens in the 1970s founded largely by expats such as tokkie smith the hong kong sevens were ahead of their time and an influential force in the modernisation of rugby union for example the hong kong sevens was one of the first rugby union tournaments to attract major sponsorship when the airline cathay pacific sponsored the inaugural tournament in 1976 48 they also provided a level of cosmopolitan international competition which tended not to exist in rugby before the first rugby world cup in 1987 49 especially since hong kong was not seen as one of the big eight by 1986 the hong kong sevens were held up as a positive example to others although many of the smaller nations teams were largely made up of expatriates 49 50 world cup edit the rugby world cup sevens in which the melrose cup is contested was launched in 1993 international development edit rugby sevens continues to be popular in the scottish borders where the ten most prestigious tournaments make up a league competition known as the kings of the sevens 51 in honour of the role of melrose rfc in the creation of rugby sevens the club was inducted along with haig to the irb hall of fame in 2008 52 top club sides and international sides frequently enter the sevens tournaments in scotland the melrose sevens as the founding event of the sport being the most prestigious 53 sevens has also taken strong root in the pacific island nations of fiji tonga and samoa as well as in kenya in many minor rugby nations such as in poland development has tended to concentrate on rugby sevens as a means of introducing the sport to people 54 rugby sevens has become popular in places such as hong kong singapore and dubai which are not so successful in the fifteen a side code in addition seven of the 15 current core teams that compete in all legs of the world series represent nations that are not within the recognised top tier of the 15 man game fiji samoa kenya the united states canada portugal and japan recently there has been the introduction of many new teams to the sevens circuit such as russia and germany rugby league sevens edit rugby league also has a long heritage in the seven a side game the world record rugby league crowd for sevens was 80 000 in roundhay park leeds 1932 before a royal audience in the modern era however small sided rugby league has concentrated on the nines format which boasts similar adaptations to the league code as sevens does with the union code both bradford and wigan rugby league sides have defeated rugby union teams in major rugby union sevens tournaments demonstrating the adaptability of rugby league players generally major tournaments edit this section needs more citations please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources unsourced material may be challenged and removed april 2015 learn how and when to remove this message world rugby sevens series edit main article world rugby sevens series new zealand have won thirteen world rugby sevens series titles the most of any nation that has competed in the annual series of tournaments the world series was a series held every season since the 1999 2000 inaugural season each season the sevens series held from seven to eleven tournaments from around october and concluding around june most tournaments see 16 teams competing mostly core teams that participate in each event but also some teams that win the right to participate in select events the last tournament was held in the 2022 2023 season new zealand has been the dominant force in the sevens series winning 13 out of the 23 seasons including the first six seasons from 1999 2000 to 2004 05 in recent years however several other teams have challenged new zealand s dominance fiji won the series in 2005 06 and again in 2014 15 and 2015 16 south africa won in 2008 09 and 2016 17 and samoa claimed the 2009 10 crown other strong contenders include england and australia each of whom have had several top four finishes in recent seasons 55 the 2015 london sevens saw the united states win their first ever tournament in the world series 56 notable world series players include england s dan norton who has scored more tries 230 than any other player and england s ben gollings who has scored more points 2 652 than any other player world rugby women s sevens series edit main article world rugby women s sevens series the rugby women s sevens series was held every season since the 2012 13 inaugural season each season the sevens series held from five to six tournaments usually starting around november and concluding around june most tournaments see 12 teams competing mostly core teams that participate in each event but also some teams that win the right to participate in select events the last series was held in the 2022 2023 season new zealand have been the most dominant team in the series since its establishment by winning four of the six competitions held up to and including 2018 svns edit in 2023 world rugby re branded the sevens series to a new world rugby svns series known for sponsorship reasons as the hsbc svns world rugby announced it will fully combine the men s and women s tours aligning with the olympic competition model with both taking place on the same weekends in the same cities and venues starting in december 2023 in dubai and will conclude in madrid in june 2024 the idea is to bring about a festival type atmosphere in each city across the world both men and women s teams will earn the same with equal participation fees the new format will showcase the twelve best men s and women s teams which will conclude in a grand final weekend where the top eight teams will compete to be crowned series champions the teams ranked ninth to twelfth will compete against the top four teams from a new challenger series in a relegation play off to see who secures their place in the 2024 2025 season 57 58 summer olympics edit main article rugby sevens at the summer olympics new zealand captain sarah hirini is chased down during a match against china at the 2024 summer olympics the international olympi...