2023 NERFU Summer Sevens
Championship Series
NERFU’s Summer Sevens Championship Series returns 2023! This year’s championship will be held July 22 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, home of the New England Free Jacks and will feature the finals of the top four men’s and women’s teams.
Tournament Registration Information
This information is subject to change. For the latest, please reach out to the individual tournament contacts.
Contact: mr.tim.morin@gmail .com
Fee: $350 First Side, $300 additional
Location: Union Point Sports Complex, Weymouth, MA.
Contact:
https://www.newportrugby.com/newportsevens
Fee: $350-$400
Location: Fort Adams State Park, Newport RI 02840
Contact: sevens@nerfu.rugby
Fee: $375 1st Side / $325 each additional
Location: Springfield College, MA
Contact: burlingtonmensrfc@gmail.com
Fee: $400
Location: St. Albans Vt
*Register by emailing Burlington Mens RFC and submitting payment online
Contact: sevens@nerfu.rugby
Fee: $400
Location: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy, MA
This event will feature a second, non-championship men’s bracket.
About the NERFU SUmmer SEvens CHampionship Series
The 2023 NERFU Summer Seven’s Championship Series will consist of five tournaments. The overall winner of the series will be determined at the 6th Tournament, The NERFU Seven’s Championship Finals, hosted in Quincy, MA at Veterans Stadium by NERFU. The top 4 men’s teams and top 4 women’s teams, determined by total series points from the previous five series events as set out below, will play in the championship brackets with the winner being crowned the NERFU Champion.
The Series will be open to all teams registered in NERFU. All matches will be held in accordance with the laws of the game – as specified by World Rugby and/or all applicable guidelines set forth by USA Rugby and the Northeast Sevens Championship Series.
Tournament Structure
- At the pool stage, a match win is worth three points; a draw two points and a loss is one point.
- Scoring points:
- Try: 5 points
- Penalty Try: 7 points (no option to place kick)
- Conversion Goal: 2 points
- Penalty Goal: 3 points
- Drop Goal: 3 points
- Tiebreakers: If teams are tied in ranking points, the first tiebreaker is the result of the head-to-head matchup between the tied teams. If the teams did not meet in a match, or if the match ended in a tie, aggregate points margin is considered to determine the higher ranked team.
- For pool play there is no extra time.
- For final games matches drawn after regulation are continued into golden point extra time, in multiple 5-minute periods. All conversion attempts must be drop-kicked (instead of having the option to place-kick). Conversions must be taken within 30 seconds of scoring a try (instead of 90 seconds).Extra time begins one minute after the end of full-time.
Series Structure
- Series Points will be awarded at the five tournaments as follows:
- 1st place: 20 points.
- 2nd Place: 15 points.
- 3rd place: 10 pts.
- 4th place: 5 pts.
- The cumulative results of the series will determine seeding for the upcoming tournament, while the initial tournament seeding will be determined based on a random draw.
- Additional points will be awarded for attendance. For each tournament, two (2) points will be awarded automatically when a team checks in on-site (Teams must check in 60 minutes prior to their first match). Teams that appear at all of the tournaments will receive an additional ten (10) points.
- When the first five tournaments of the series are complete, the top teams with the highest series points will be invited to the Championship Finals Bracket and the winner of that bracket will be crowned the NERFU 7’s Champion.
- Foreign teams from outside the territory may be allowed to compete in the Series ONLY if the tournament format is such that the non NERFU teams do not impede a NERFU from advancement (i.e. Round Robin format) . Any games against such teams would not count toward the determining of the Series points from that tournament.
- A team that forfeits any game on the day will not receive their attendance points. Teams that are more than 2 minutes late for their scheduled match will forfeit.
Law Variations (Subject to Referee Interpretation)
- Players have 30 seconds to kick conversions or penalty goals (both are drop kicks only).
- Yellow Cards are 2 minutes (playing time).
- The scoring team kicks-off following a score.
- The sanctions for kick-off infringements (in front of the kicker, not 10m, directly into touch, etc.) are Free Kicks and not scrums. FK
- Teams must form lineouts and scrums within 15 seconds. FK
- A front-row player must not intentionally kick the ball out of the scrum in the direction of the opponents’ goal line. PK
Breakdown
- In sevens, there is an emphasis on quick ball and promoting fair contest.
- Tacklers must roll immediately and must not interfere with the ball. PK
- Tackled players must not roll, crawl or re-position their body to prevent legal poaching. PK • Arriving players must enter correctly and stay on their feet. PK
- Legal dominance should be rewarded by the referee.
Lineout
- The non-throwing team must have a player in the 5m channel (2m x 2m). Some teams forget this player or prefer to have them stand in the backline, but this is not allowed. The referee should manage first before escalating to a sanction. FK
Throwing the Ball Away
- Players must not throw the ball away:
- Following the awarding of a Penalty Kick, to prevent a quick tap. PK & YC
- Following the ball going into touch, to prevent a quick throw-in. PK & YC INTENTIONAL KNOCK ON • In sevens, every scenario is considered a ‘potential line break’. Therefore, any intentional knock-on is sanctioned with a Yellow Card. PK & YC ADVANTAGE
- Good ball with time and space, or a clear tactical opportunity usually means advantage has accrued. This often means a short advantage for both scrum and penalty kick advantages.
- In many cases, awarding a Penalty Kick is of greater benefit to the non-off ending team than playing advantage.
Want to host a Sevens tournament next year?
It’s never too early to start planning. Submit your application to include your summer sevens rugby tournament in the NERFU Series next year.
