The World Rugby Sevens Series will be restructured for the 2016-17 season, with the men's and women's events set to feature gold, silver and bronze medals.

World Rugby has announced a format change of the final day, in order to align the series with the Olympic format. The number of matches the teams play across each event remain the same, as does the points distribution.
 


The traditional Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield winners format for the men's series will be replaced by two competitions. The top two teams in each pool will progress to the Cup competition and the chance to win a gold medal, while lower-ranked teams will contest a new Challenge Trophy competition.

Each series event will culminate in the 13th-place positional playoff, followed by the Challenge Trophy (ninth place), the fifth place playoff, bronze-medal match and the gold-medal match (Cup winners).


In the 12-team women's series, the top two teams along with the two best third-place finishers will progress to the Cup competition, while the other four teams will play off for the Challenge Trophy, replacing the Bowl competition. 


'This is the first season within the Tokyo 2020 cycle and therefore the timing of these adjustments makes sense,' said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.  'They are designed to enhance fan understanding of the schedule and format, while providing teams with the opportunity to win a medal, as is fitting with an Olympic sport.'

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