2012–13 IRB Women's Sevens World Series

The IRB Women's Sevens World Series (2012/2013) was the inaugural edition of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series, organized by the IRB annual series of tournaments for women's national teams in the Rugby Sevens.

World Rugby Women's Sevens Series I
Hosts	United Arab Emirates  United States  China  Netherlands
Date	30 Nov 2012 – 18 May 2013
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runners-up	England
Series details
Top try scorer	Portia Woodman (21 tries)
Top point scorer	Portia Woodman (105 points)
2013–14 →

In October 2012 the IRB announced that the season would consist of four tournaments - in Dubai, Houston, Guangzhou and Amsterdam - played from November 2012 to May 2013. The Dubai tournament was held in conjunction with the 2012 Dubai Sevens for men, while the others were separate competitions. The number of teams in each of the events was set at twelve, with six core teams participating in all tournaments of the series and the other teams identified by elimination or rankings within the IRB's six regions.^[1]

Itinerary

2012–13 Itinerary
Leg	Venue	Date	Winner
Dubai	The Sevens, Dubai	30 Nov–1 Dec 2012	New Zealand
United States	BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston	1–2 February 2013	England
China	Guangzhou University Town Stadium, Guangzhou	30–31 March 2013	New Zealand
Netherlands	NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam	17–18 May 2013	New Zealand

The competition

As with the male competition, series winner was the team that scored the most points awarded for winning various places in each event throughout the season. Each of the twelve team competition accumulate, six of which (Australia, Canada, England, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States) is a series of regular participants (core teams), while others might be identified through regional qualifying.

Points schedule

The season championship will be determined by points earned in each tournament. The scoring system, similar to that used in the men's IRB Sevens, was announced shortly before the season kicked off.

• Cup Winner - 20
• Cup Runner Up - 18
• 3rd Place - 16
• Cup Semi Finalist - 14
• Plate Winner - 12
• Plate Runner Up - 10
• Winner 7th/8th play-off - 8
• Loser 7th/8th play-off - 6
• Bowl Winner - 4
• Bowl Runner Up - 3
• Winner 11th/12th play-off - 2
• Loser 11th/12th play-off - 1

Rankings

Final standings for the 2012–13 series:

Women's Rugby Sevens World Series I
Pos.	Event  Team	Dubai	Houston	Guang­zhou	Amster­dam	Points total
	New Zealand	20	14	20	20	74
	England	8	20	18	14	60
	Canada	10	8	16	18	52
4	United States	4	18	14	12	48
5	Australia	14	16	8	8	46
6	Russia	12	12	–	16	40
7	Netherlands	6	10	10	4	30
8	South Africa	18	6	–	3	27
9	Spain	16	–	–	10	26
10	Brazil	1	4	6	1	12
11	Ireland	–	–	12	–	12
12	France	3	–	–	6	9
13	China	2	–	3	2	7
14	Japan	–	3	4	–	7
15	Argentina	–	2	–	–	2
16	Fiji	–	–	2	–	2
17	Trinidad and Tobago	–	1	–	–	1
18	Tunisia	–	–	1	–	1

Notes:

• These standings did not qualify teams for women's rugby sevens World Series II. Quarterfinalists from 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens gained core team status for 2013–14.^[2]

Season

Round 1: Dubai

Main article: 2012 Dubai Women's Sevens

	Semi-finals				Final
	1 December – Dubai
	Australia	14
					1 December – Dubai
	New Zealand	28
					New Zealand	41
	1 December – Dubai
					South Africa	0
	South Africa	19
	Spain	17
					Third place
					1 December – Dubai
					Australia	15
					Spain	17

Round 2: United States

Main article: 2013 USA Women's Sevens

	Semi-finals				Final
	2 February – Houston
	England	19
					2 February – Houston
	New Zealand	12
					England	29
	2 February – Houston
					United States	12
	United States	17
	Australia	5
					Third place
					2 February – Houston
					New Zealand	12
					Australia	17

Round 3: China

Main article: 2013 China Women's Sevens

	Semi-finals				Final
	31 March – Guangzhou
	England	19
					31 March – Guangzhou
	Canada	0
					New Zealand	19
	31 March – Guangzhou
					England	5
	New Zealand	24
	United States	12
					Third place
					31 March – Guangzhou
					United States	5
					Canada	17

Round 4: Netherlands

Main article: 2013 Netherlands Women's Sevens

	Semi-finals				Final
	17 May – Amsterdam
	New Zealand	24
					18 May – Amsterdam
	Russia	10
					New Zealand	33
	17 May – Amsterdam
					Canada	24
	England	7
	Canada	12
					Third place
					18 May – Amsterdam
					Russia	26
					England	5