View source for 2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

{{for|the men's competition|2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox Rugby World Sevens
| name = World Rugby<br /><small>Women's Sevens Series V</small>
| countries = {{UAE}}<br>{{AUS}}<br>{{USA}}<br>{{JPN}}<br>{{CAN}}<br>{{FRA}}
| date = 1 Dec 2016 – 25 June 2017
| nations =
| champions = {{ru7w|NZL}}
| runnersup = {{ru7w|AUS}}
| third = {{ru7w|CAN}}
| top point scorer = 
| top try scorer = 
| prevseason = [[2015–16 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series|2015–16]]
| nextseason = [[2017–18 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series|2017–18]]
}}

The '''2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series''' was the fifth edition of the [[World Rugby Women's Sevens Series]] (formerly the IRB Women's Sevens World Series), an annual series of tournaments organised by [[World Rugby]] for women's national teams in [[rugby sevens]]. 
<!--
The series was won by {{ru7w|xxx|noflag=1}} who won yyyyy tour events on their way to claiming their first World Series title.
-->
{{toc level|3}}

==The competition==
Six tournament events were held in the 2016–17 edition.<ref name = schedule/><ref name=vegas/> Twelve teams competed at each event; eleven being "core" teams, with a twelfth team invited to participate in particular events (similar to previous women's series as well as the men's counterpart). At each event teams compete for gold, silver and bronze medals with the third place match now renamed as the Bronze match while lower ranked teams will contest a new Challenge Trophy competition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/news/195249 |title=Men's and women's sevens winners to strike gold |publisher=World Rugby.org |date=3 October 2016}}</ref> The overall winner of the series was determined by points gained from the standings across all events in the season.<ref name = wr-rules/>

===Teams===
Eleven "core teams" qualified to participate in all series events for the 2016–17 series, the same number as the previous season. The top nine finishers in the previous series were granted core team status:<ref name=wr-quali/>

{{col-float|firstcol=15em}}
* {{ru7w|AUS}}
* {{ru7w|CAN}}
* {{ru7w|ENG}}
* {{ru7w|FJI}}
* {{ru7w|FRA}}
{{col-float-break|nextcol=15em}}
* {{ru7w|NZL}}
* {{ru7w|RUS}}
* {{ru7w|ESP}}
* {{ru7w|USA}}
{{col-float-end}}

Two additional core teams qualified for the 2016–17 series:<ref name=wr-quali/>
* {{ru7w|BRA}} – ninth place (highest finisher not already qualified) at the [[Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2016 Olympic Games]]
* {{ru7w|IRE}} – third place (highest finisher not already qualified) at the [[2016 Women's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament|2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament]]

The twelfth team at each tournament in the 2016–17 series was invited at the discretion of [[World Rugby]].<ref name=wr-quali/>

===Events===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"
|+ 2016–17 Itinerary
! width=6%|Leg
! width=15%|Venue (Area)
! width=7%|Dates
! width=7%|Winner
|-
| [[2016 Dubai Women's Sevens|Dubai]] || [[The Sevens (stadium)|The Sevens]], [[Dubai]] || 1–2 December 2016 || {{ru7w|NZL}}
|-
| [[2017 Sydney Women's Sevens|Australia]] || [[Sydney Football Stadium (1988)|Sydney Football Stadium]], [[Sydney]] || 3–4 February 2017 || {{ru7w|CAN}}
|-
| [[2017 USA Women's Sevens|United States]] || [[Sam Boyd Stadium]], [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] || 3–5 March 2017  || {{ru7w|NZL}}
|-
| [[2017 Japan Women's Sevens|Japan]] || [[Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu]], [[Kitakyushu]] || 22–23 April 2017 ||
{{ru7w|NZL}}
|-
| [[2017 Canada Women's Sevens|Canada]] || [[Westhills Stadium]], [[Langford, British Columbia]] || 27–28 May 2017 ||{{ru7w|NZL}}
|-
| [[2017 France Women's Sevens|France]] || [[Stade Gabriel Montpied]], [[Clermont-Ferrand]] || 24–25 June 2017 ||{{ru7w|NZL}}
|}

==Standings==
Final standings for the 2016–17 series:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens<br /><small>Series V</small>
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! style="width:2em; | Pos
! {{diagonal split header|Team|Event&nbsp;}}
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|UAE}}<br />[[2016 Dubai Women's Sevens|Dubai]]
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|AUS}}<br />[[2017 Sydney Women's Sevens|Sydney]]
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|USA}}<br />[[2017 USA Women's Sevens|Las&nbsp;Vegas]]
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|JPN}}<br />[[2017 Japan Women's Sevens|Kitakyushu]]
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|CAN}}<br />[[2017 Canada Women's Sevens|Langford]]
! style="width:5.2em; font-size:85%;" | {{flagdeco|FRA}}<br />[[2017 France Women's Sevens|Clermont]]
! Points<br />total
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #06F;"
|1
|align=left|{{ru7w|NZL}}
| '''20''' || 16 || '''20''' || '''20''' || '''20''' || '''20''' || '''116'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #7CF"
|2
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}}
| 18 || 14 || 18 || 16 || 16 || 18 || '''100'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #06F;"
|3
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}}
| 10 || '''20''' || 16 || 18 || 18 || 16 || '''98'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #7CF"
|4
|align=left|{{ru7w|FIJ}}
| 12 || 12 || 12 || 14 || 4 || 12 || '''66'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #7CF"
|5
|align=left|{{ru7w|RUS}}
| 16 || 8 || 10 ||12 || 12 || 8 || '''66'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #06F;"
|6
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}}
| 2 || 18 || 14 || 8 || 10 || 10 || '''62'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #7CF"
|7
|align=left|{{ru7w|FRA}}
| 8 || 10 || 8 || 6 || 14 || 14 || '''60'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc
|8
|align=left|{{ru7w|ENG}}
| 14 || 3 || 3 || 10 || 6 || 1 || '''37'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc
|9
|align=left|{{ru7w|IRE}}
| 4 || 6 || 6 || 4 || 8 || 6 || '''34'''
|-bgcolor=ccffcc style="border-left:3px solid #06F;"
|10
|align=left|{{ru7w|ESP}}
| 3 || 2 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || '''19'''
|-
|11
|align=left|{{ru7w|BRA}}
| 1 || 4 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || '''13'''
|-
|12
|align=left|{{ru7w|RSA}}
| 6 || – || – || – || – || – || '''6'''
|-
|13
|align=left|{{ru7w|JPN}}
| – || – || – || 1 || – || 3 || '''4'''
|-
|14
|align=left|{{ru7w|PNG}}
| – || 1 || – || – || – || – || '''1'''
|-
|15
|align=left|{{ru7w|ARG}}
| – || – || 1 || – || – || – || '''1'''
|-
|16
|align=left|{{ru7w|NED}}
| – || – || – || – || 1 || – || '''1'''
|-
|}
<small>Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170927152101/https://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/standingss World Rugby] (archived)</small>

:{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%;"
|-
!colspan=2| Legend
|- style="line-height:18px; font-size:90%;"
|colspan=2 align=center |<span style="color:#555;>'''Qualification for 2017–18 World Sevens Series'''</span>
|-
|bgcolor=ccffcc|Green
|Qualified as a core team for Series VI
|-
|No colour
|The remainder do not directly qualify for Series VI
|- style="line-height:18px; font-size:90%;"
|colspan=2 align=center |<span style="color:#555;>'''Qualification for [[2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens]]'''</span>
|-
|colspan=2 style="border-left:3px solid #06F;"| Already confirmed for [[2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens|2018]] (host country United States and [[2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens|2013]] semifinalists)
|-
|colspan=2 style="border-left:3px solid #7CF;"| Qualified as one of the four highest placed teams from  Series V that have not already qualified.<ref>[http://www.worldrugby.org/text/189809 Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 qualification process] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220104244/http://www.worldrugby.org/text/189809 |date=20 December 2016 }}. World Rugby.</ref> 
|}

==Tournaments==
===Dubai===
{{main|2016 Dubai Women's Sevens}}
In the first event of the series, [[New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team|New Zealand]] took revenge for their Olympic final loss by defeating [[Australia women's national rugby sevens team|Australia]] in the Cup final. The three medalists from the Olympic Games were unbeaten in the pool stage of the competition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/209130|title=Olympic medallists unbeaten after day one in Dubai|date=1 December 2016|accessdate=3 December 2016}}</ref> In the quarter-finals stage, [[Russia women's national rugby sevens team|Russia]] put behind their failure to qualify for the Olympics earlier in the year by eliminating Rio bronze medalists [[Canada women's national rugby sevens team|Canada]]. The final was a repeat of the Olympic final with Australia battling throughout the final but tries to [[Portia Woodman]] and [[Rebekah Cordero-Tufuga]] gave New Zealand the gold medal. The 5th place final was won by [[Fiji women's national rugby sevens team|Fiji]], while [[Ireland women's national rugby sevens team|Ireland]] won the first Challenge Trophy which replaced the Bowl competition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/209352|title=New Zealand claim top prize in Dubai|date=2 December 2016|accessdate=3 December 2016}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|NZL}}'''
|'''17–5'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|RUS}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|ENG}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|FIJ}}'''
|'''17–14'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|FRA}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|RSA}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|IRE}}'''
|'''14–12'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ESP}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|BRA}}
|}

===Sydney===
{{main|2017 Sydney Women's Sevens}}
Australia was included on the women's world circuit for the first time at the 2017 Sydney Women's Sevens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2017/01/10/03/27/walsh-calls-on-sevens-to-keep-breaking-new-ground|title=Walsh calls on Sevens to keep breaking new ground|date=10 January 2017|accessdate=4 February 2017}}</ref> On the opening day of competition, [[England women's national rugby sevens team|England]] was the only core team not to make the Cup quarterfinals with only a win against [[Spain women's national rugby sevens team|Spain]] from their three pool matches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/218818|title=Hosts unbeaten on day one in Sydney|date=3 February 2017|accessdate=4 February 2017}}</ref> The upset of the tournament came from the United States as they defeated New Zealand in the semifinal stage. [[Canada women's national rugby sevens team|Canada]] won the Cup final over their North American neighbours, however, by 21–17. Fiji won the 5th place final for the second time in a row and [[Brazil women's national rugby sevens team|Brazil]] won the Challenge Trophy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/219509|title=Canada lift trophy on day of shocks in Sydney|date=4 February 2017|accessdate=5 February 2017}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|CAN}}'''
|'''21–17'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|NZL}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|AUS}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|FIJ}}'''
|'''31–12'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|FRA}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|RUS}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|IRE}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|BRA}}'''
|'''17–12'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ENG}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|ESP}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|PNG}}
|}

===Las Vegas===
{{main|2017 USA Women's Sevens}}
After a month break, the tour headed to the United States for the first [[USA Women's Sevens]] tournament to be held in Las Vegas. On the opening day of competition, [[Canada women's national rugby sevens team|Canada]] and [[New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team|New Zealand]] each recorded a three from three in the pool stage. Also during the day [[Ghislaine Landry]] converting Moleschi's try got her level with [[Portia Woodman]] as the all-time leading point scorer in the series with 665.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/224759|title=Landry equals all-time record as Canada cruise into last eight|date=4 March 2017|accessdate=5 March 2017}}</ref> New Zealand took the Cup on the second day, defeating [[Australia women's national rugby sevens team|Australia]] 28-5 and didn't look troubled throughout the final match. In the bronze medal match, Canada maintained their edge over the [[United States women's national rugby sevens team|hosts]] winning by 31–7.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/224781|title=New Zealand take gold in USA Sevens|date=5 March 2017|accessdate=5 March 2017}}</ref> in the minor play-offs, [[Fiji women's national rugby sevens team|Fiji]] won the 5th place final again while [[Spain women's national rugby sevens team|Spain]] took the Challenge Trophy.

{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|NZL}}'''
|'''28–5'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|USA}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|FIJ}}'''
|'''19–17'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|RUS}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|FRA}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|IRE}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|ESP}}'''
|'''10–0'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ENG}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|BRA}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|ARG}}
|}

===Kitakyushu===
{{main|2017 Japan Women's Sevens}}
The series headed off to Japan for the first ever [[Japan Women's Sevens]]. The opening day would see the top three at the time in [[New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team|New Zealand]], [[Australia women's national rugby sevens team|Australia]] and [[Canada women's national rugby sevens team|Canada]] winning all three of their matches in the group stage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/238426|title=Top three in series finish day unbeaten|date=22 April 2017|accessdate=24 June 2017}}</ref> The second day would see the top three qualify through to the cup semi-finals with [[Fiji women's national rugby sevens team|Fiji]] being the fourth team as they made it through to the Cup Semi-finals for the first time since 2014. But New Zealand would take the Cup title for the third tournament of the season as they defeated Canada in the final in a cup final meeting for the first time since Atlanta 2014. [[Russia women's national rugby sevens team|Russia]] would finish in fifth place while [[Ireland women's national rugby sevens team|Ireland]] took out the Challenge after defeating Spain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/238427|title=New Zealand leave it late to claim gold in Japan|date=23 April 2017|accessdate=24 June 2017}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|NZL}}'''
|'''17–14'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|FIJ}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|RUS}}'''
|'''31–0'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ENG}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|FRA}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|IRE}}'''
|'''26–7'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ESP}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|BRA}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|JPN}}
|}

===Langford===
{{main|2017 Canada Women's Sevens}}

{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|NZL}}'''
|'''17–7'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|FRA}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|RUS}}'''
|'''26–21'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|IRE}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|ENG}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|FIJ}}'''
|'''31–7'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|ESP}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|BRA}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|NED}}
|}

===Clermont-Ferrand===
{{main|2017 France Women's Sevens}}

{| class="wikitable" width=600 style="text-align: center"
|-
!Event
!Winners
!Score
!Finalists
!Semi-finalists
|-
|Cup
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|NZL}}'''
|'''22–7'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|AUS}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|CAN}} (Bronze)<br>{{ru7w|FRA}}
|-
|5th place
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|FIJ}}'''
|'''24–19'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|USA}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|RUS}} (7th)<br>{{ru7w|IRE}}
|-
|Challenge Trophy
|align=left|'''{{ru7w|ESP}}'''
|'''15–14'''
|align=left|{{ru7w|JPN}}
|align=left|{{ru7w|BRA}} (11th)<br>{{ru7w|ENG}}
|}

==Placings summary==
Tallies of top four tournament placings during the 2016–17 series, by team (updated to Canada):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|- border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
!style="width:10em;"|Team
!style="width:5em;"|{{gold1}} Gold
!style="width:5em;"|{{silver2}} Silver
!style="width:5.75em; padding:0; cell-spacing:0;"|{{bronze3}} Bronze
!style="width:5em;"|Fourth
!style="width:5em;"|Total <!--
| 1st || 2nd || 3rd || 4th || Total --> 
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|NZL}}
|  5  ||  -  ||  1  ||  -  ||'''6''' 
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|CAN}}
|  1  ||  2  ||  2  ||  -  ||'''5'''  
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|AUS}}
|  -  ||  3  ||  2  ||  1  ||'''6'''
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|USA}}
|  -  ||  1  ||  -  ||  1  ||'''2'''  
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|RUS}}
|  -  ||  -  ||  1  ||  -  ||'''1'''  
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|FRA}}
|  -  ||  -  ||  -  ||  2  ||'''2'''  
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|ENG}}
|  -  ||  -  ||  -  ||  1  ||'''1'''  
|-
|align=left| {{Ruw7|FIJ}}
|  -  ||  -  ||  -  ||  1  ||'''1'''  
|-
!Totals
!  6  !!  6  !!  6  !!  6  !!'''24'''
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Sports}}
* [[2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series]] (for men)
* [[2017 Hong Kong Women's Sevens]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name=schedule>{{cite news
 |date        = 28 August 2016
 |title       = HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series to kick-off in Dubai
 |work        = Seven Days
 |accessdate  = 30 August 2016
 |url         = http://7days.ae/hsbc-world-rugby-womens-sevens-series-kick-off-dubai/91602?
 |url-status     = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160828065839/http://7days.ae/hsbc-world-rugby-womens-sevens-series-kick-off-dubai/91602
 |archivedate = 28 August 2016
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

<ref name=vegas>{{cite news
 |date=29 November 2016
 |title=Las Vegas to host Women's Sevens Series round in 2017
 |work=World Rugby
 |url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/208531
 |url-status=live
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129201818/http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/news/208531
 |archivedate=29 November 2016}}
</ref>

<ref name=wr-rules>{{cite web
 |date=2016 
 |title=Women's Sevens Series tournament rules 
 |website=World Rugby 
 |accessdate=30 May 2016 
 |url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/series-info/tournament-rules 
 |url-status=live
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613175247/http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/series-info/tournament-rules
 |archivedate=13 June 2016
 |df=dmy 
}}
</ref>

<ref name=wr-quali>{{cite web
 |date=2016 
 |title=Series Qualifying
 |website=World Rugby 
 |url=http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/series-info/qualifying
 |url-status=live
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124122705/http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/series-info/qualifying
 |archivedate=24 November 2016
 |df=dmy 
}}
</ref><!-- https://archive.today/20161125211531/http://www.worldrugby.org/womens-sevens-series/series-info/qualifying -->
}}

{{2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens World Series}}
{{World Rugby Women's Sevens Series}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Rugby}}
[[Category:2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series| ]]
[[Category:World Rugby Women's Sevens Series|2016]]
[[Category:2016 rugby sevens competitions]]
[[Category:2017 rugby sevens competitions]]
[[Category:2016 in women's rugby union]]
[[Category:2017 in women's rugby union]]