Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The Rugby World Cup Sevens, held in the U.S. for the first time, airs live on NBC, NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from San Francisco’s AT&T Park. NBC Sports’ TV coverage totals more than 30 live hours. NBC Sports Gold will also stream live, commercial-free coverage of every match with its “Rugby Pass.” NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app will stream all NBC Sports and Olympic Channel TV coverage. The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the biggest standalone competition outside of the Olympics for an event that debuted at the Rio Games. Traditional 15-a-side rugby was played at the Olympics in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. Like the Olympics, the World Cup takes place every four years, now in the middle of every Olympic cycle, with men’s and women’s competitions at the same site. New Zealand is the defending World Cup champion for men and women, though Fiji took the men’s Olympic title and Australia the women’s gold in Rio. The U.S. finished fifth (women) and sixth (men) in this season’s World Series standings, though the U.S. men won the only World Series leg played in the U.S. in Las Vegas in March. The U.S. men are led by Perry Baker, the 2017 World Player of the Year, and Carlin Isles, the 2018 World Series leader in tries. The U.S. women feature Naya Tapper and Rio Olympian Alev Kelter, two of the top scorers from the World Series. The NBC Sports broadcast team includes U.S. Olympian and Super Bowl champion Nate Ebner as a studio analyst. Leigh Diffey and Bill Seward are on play-by-play, and Ahmed Fareed hosts on-site studio coverage. Former USA Sevens captain Brian Hightower, U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame member Dan Lyle, former Premiership Rugby and English international prop Alex Corbisiero and World Rugby Hall of Famer Phaidra Knight will provide game and studio commentary. OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us! MORE: Fiji puts Olympic champion rugby team on dollars, coins<doc-sep>England reached the sevens World Cup final but the game faces an uncertain future. Players and the XVs effect The financial lure of XVs can dilute the talent pool of sevens, which despite the opportunities to become an international athlete and the Olympic promise can put off many players. Australia, a traditional rugby powerhouse finished only 10th at the sevens World Cup and have struggled compared with their women’s side. Australia sevens captain Lewis Holland confirms there is difficulty in attracting boys to the game, whereas due to fewer professional opportunities for women, it is easier to attract their top athletes. “The girls’ team I believe have the best of the best. Whereas ours is a young side, a lot of boys just coming out of school, they are getting up to speed but then they have the pressure of if they want to play XVs. It is a bit of a juggling act,” he said. “We are slowly getting there, because we have XVs and league to compete with, so our playing pool isn’t necessarily the best of the best.” Ben Ryan, who coached Fiji to Olympic gold, believes that the XVs philosophy among British clubs can make the switch to sevens more difficult than it might be in the southern hemisphere.<doc-sep>Story highlights NZ beats England 33-12 in World Cup final Record third title for All Blacks Sevens (CNN) New Zealand became the first side to win back-to-back Rugby World Cup Sevens titles after defeating England 33-12 in San Francisco Sunday. It capped a brilliant weekend for New Zealand rugby as the Black Ferns had the previous day taken the women's title with victory over France. Both teams celebrated in Kiwi style by performing the haka after the trophy lifts. Haka: @AllBlacks7s perform incredible haka after winning a historic third #RWC7s pic.twitter.com/NAKAmiYeA3 — Rugby World Cup Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) July 23, 2018 The All Blacks Sevens entered the competition seeded third behind Fiji and South Africa -- both of whom suffered semifinal defeats -- but came through with victories over Russia (29-5), France (12-7) and Fiji (17-22) en route to Sunday's showpiece. Two tries from Sione Molia gave his side an early lead in the final before a score from Mike Ellery kept England in touch. But three further tries in the second period handed New Zealand the title, the first side to win the World Cup on three occasions. "It's massive," said co-captain Tim Mikkelson. "We knew coming in it was going to be tough. We nearly got knocked out by France but raised it against Fiji. Credit to the coaching staff and the coach who brought the boys together.<doc-sep>Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union Ireland won the Women's Trophy final against Russia during the Paris Sevens in June England women have been knocked out of the main competition at the Rugby World Cup Sevens, beaten 19-14 by Ireland. Defeat saw England go into the Challenge competition, where they beat Mexico 59-0 in the quarter-finals, with the winners of that tournament placing ninth overall in San Francisco. Ireland lost 45-0 to New Zealand in the Championships quarter-finals and will now play Russia in the 5/8 place match. England and Scotland's men are both into the Championship quarter-finals. Scotland's Jamie Farndale scored a match-winning try in the final play of the game as his side defeated Kenya 31-26, while England ran out 19-15 winners over Samoa at AT&T Park. Scotland will play South Africa in the last eight while England will face the USA. Women's round-up Since the end of the Women's Rugby World Cup last August, England Rugby has ensured the best female players in the game have been involved with the sevens series. But such a sacrifice was dealt the biggest blow on Friday as England lost their opener in San Francisco to neighbours Ireland. "We're gutted. We didn't come here to lose in our first game," said England vice-captain Emily Scarratt. Ireland took a narrow 7-5 half-time lead before Amee Murphy Crowe scored twice in two minutes after the break to extend their advantage. James Bailey's England side pulled a try back through Alex Matthews but left it too late to complete the comeback. BBC 5 live rugby reporter Chris Jones said the result will be a "major disappointment for England and the Rugby Football Union, who channel resources into the sevens programme in between 15-a-side World Cups". Analysis Former England men's sevens captain Rob Vickerman This is a huge shock on paper as part-time Ireland have swept aside a fully professional England outfit. In reality, Ireland's progression in the series meant that this wasn't a shock to those in the know. It was immense from Ireland, compounded by poor execution from England, and there will now be big questions over their sevens programme. Men's round-up While both England and Scotland are guaranteed a top-eight finish in San Francisco, Wales and Ireland will now do battle for a ninth-place finish at best. Both enjoyed a promising start to play on Friday as Wales defeated Zimbabwe 33-12 and Ireland beat Chile 17-12 to progress from the qualifiers that determined the last 16. But their tilts at the Championship title ended there with heavy defeats, with Wales failing to get a score on the board in a 35-0 defeat by the USA while Ireland lost 45-7 to South Africa. Wales will play Samoa in Saturday's Challenge quarter-finals as Ireland come up against Kenya.<doc-sep>
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union New Zealand made it back-to-back titles, having beaten England in the 2013 final in Moscow New Zealand became the first men's side to win consecutive Rugby World Cup Sevens titles as they beat England 33-12 in the final on Sunday. The All Blacks took a 14-0 lead in San Francisco as Sione Molia scored two tries, both converted by Kurt Baker. A Michael Ellery converted try halved the deficit at half-time, before a Joseva Ravouvou score took it to 19-7. Ruaridh McConnochie hit back for England before Akuila Rokolisoa and Trael Joass secured victory. Scotland claimed seventh place overall after Jamie Farndale scored two late tries in a 29-24 win over against France, while Ireland secured a 24-14 win over Australia in the Challenge Cup final to finish ninth. Wales had to settle for their lowest place finish since 2001, coming 11th following a 35-12 win over Canada. Did the knockout format work? This year's tournament saw the traditional round-robin stage scrapped in favour of a single-elimination knockout from the opening round of matches. Australia were a notable first-round casualty in the men's draw while England's women fell at the first hurdle in a surprise defeat by Ireland. "We're getting a lot of positive feedback from fans about the drama of knockout," said World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper, as 102,000 fans attended the event over the three days of competition. "It makes each game exciting. It can be brutal for teams, but sport's brutal." England head coach Simon Amor said he was "pleased" with how his players adapted to the new structure, but captain Tom Mitchell claims he is "not totally sold on the new format". "There are pros and cons to it but it's up to World Rugby to keep mixing things up and keep improving the game," said Mitchell. Despite retaining the title in the men's and women's tournament, New Zealand coach Clark Laidlaw also remains unconvinced. "As a spectacle I'm sure everyone enjoyed it, but when you've got coaches and players' livelihoods at stake, and the format isn't quite what we're paid to do, it's an interesting question," said Laidlaw.