Rugby sevens at the World Games 2009

World Games 2009 Rugby Sevens
Host	Kaohsiung
Dates	July 24–25, 2009
Teams	8
Podium
Champions	Fiji
Runners-up	Portugal
Third place	South Africa
Fourth place	Argentina

Rugby union, specifically in the sevens format, was introduced as a World Games sport for men at the 2001 World Games in Akita. Fiji entered the 2009 games as the two time defending Gold Medalists. Held on July 24 and 25 of 2009 in Taiwan, Fiji clinched gold for the 3rd time in front of a crowd of 39,000. The Fijian win preserves Fiji as the only nation to ever capture gold at the games.^[1] Represented were South Africa (the reigning IRB Sevens World Series Champions), Portugal (the reigning European Sevens Champions), Argentina (the reigning USA Sevens Champions), Fiji (the reigning World Games Gold Medalists), and Chinese Taipei (the host nation). The USA was the biggest disappointment of Day 1 going 0–3 having been expected to compete for a medal. The biggest surprise of the event was Portugal finding their way into the Gold Medal Match and coming away with the Silver Medal.

Teams

8 Teams took part in this tournament

•  Argentina
•  Fiji
•  Hong Kong
•  Japan
•  Portugal
•  South Africa
• Chinese Taipei
•  United States

Pools^[2]

Pool A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/-
South Africa	3	3	0	0	62	12	50
Portugal	3	2	0	1	46	19	27
Chinese Taipei	3	1	0	2	27	65	−38
United States	3	0	0	3	31	70	−39

Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/-
Argentina	3	3	0	0	63	12	51
Fiji	3	2	0	1	52	37	15
Japan	3	1	0	2	35	39	−4
Hong Kong	3	0	0	3	15	77	−62

Fixtures^[3]

Day 1

Pool A South Africa 29–0 Chinese Taipei Portugal 22–7 USA South Africa 7–5 Portugal Chinese Taipei 22–17 USA South Africa 26–7 USA Portugal 19–5 Chinese Taipei

Pool B Fiji 26–10 Hong Kong Argentina 15–5 Japan Fiji 19–10 Japan Argentina 31–0 Hong Kong Argentina 17–7 Fiji Japan 20–5 Hong Kong

Day 2

Quarter Finals

• Argentina 19–12 USA
• Portugal 17–0 Japan
• Fiji 28–5 Chinese Taipei
• South Africa 39–0 Hong Kong

Semifinals

Losers Bracket

• Chinese Taipei 17–12 Hong Kong
• USA 29–24 Japan

Medals Bracket

• Portugal 19–12 Argentina
• Fiji 21–7 South Africa

Finals

7th Place Match

• Japan 20–5 Hong Kong

5th Place Match

• USA 21–19 Chinese Taipei

Bronze Medal Match

• South Africa 17–0 Argentina

Gold Medal Match

• Fiji 43–10 Portugal

References

1. World Games Day 2: Fiji cruise to Gold Medal | Ultimate Rugby Sevens – The Online Home for Everything Rugby 7s. Ur7s.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-24.
2. Winless at World Games. Americanrugbynews.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-24.
3. Fixtures Day Two World Games » Rugby World Cup News. Therugbyworldcup.co.uk (2007-09-09). Retrieved on 2010-12-24.