Sevens Rugby

https://www.bostonrugby.org/unionpoint7s-registrationThe 2024 NERFU Seven’s Championship Season will consist of 4 tournaments. The overall winner of the Season will be determined at the 5th Tournament, The NERFU Seven’s Championship Finals, hosted in Quincy, MA at Veterans Stadium by NERFU.  The top 3 men’s teams & women’s teams from the championship season and social brackets will be determined by total Season points from the previous four Season events (as set out below) who will play in the championship brackets with the winners being crowned the NERFU Champion. 

The Season 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

All players must be CIPP’ed. 

Roster Size — Teams must limit their individual game rosters to 13 players, 12 who may play and one who is set aside in case of a large number of injuries. Note that the roster size does not affect the total substitutions in any one match (see below).

In a rugby sevens game, each team is allowed to make a maximum of five substitutions during the match. These substitutions can be made at any time during the game, but once a player has been substituted, they cannot return to the field of play unless they are replacing a player who has been permanently removed due to injury or a red card. 

There is no limit to the number of players a team may have available to them for any given tournament. Just the above referenced rules on match rosters and substitutions. 

Note: If a club enters two or more teams in a tournament. Players may not cross-over between competitions / teams in the same tournament.

Note: If a particular tournament is hosting a Northeast Qualifier event, they may hold teams to different roster rules. 

Tournament Structure:

1. At the pool stage, a match win is worth three points; a draw two points and a loss is one point.
2. Scoring points:
   1. Try: 5 points
   2. Penalty Try: 7 points (no option to place kick)
   3. Conversion Goal: 2 points
   4. Penalty Goal: 3 points
   5. Drop Goal: 3 points
3. 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. 
4. For pool play, there is no extra time.
5. 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.

Season Structure:

1. Season Points will be awarded at the five tournaments as follows:
   1. 1st place: 20 points.
   2. 2nd Place: 15 points.
   3. 3rd place: 10 pts.
   4. 4th place: 5 pts.
2. The cumulative results of the Season will determine seeding for the upcoming tournament, while the initial tournament seeding will be determined based on a random draw. 
3. 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.
4. When the first five tournaments of the Season are complete, the top teams with the highest Season points will be invited to the Championship Finals Bracket and the winner of that bracket will be crowned the  NERFU 7’s Champion.
5. Foreign teams from outside the territory may be allowed to compete in the Season 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 Season points from that tournament.
6. 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). If  a player is sent off with a red card, he/she may not participate any further in that tournament. The Referee will forward the report to the player’s governing union disciplinary committee for action. 3 yellow cards in the tournament constitute as 1 red card and will result in player expulsion.
• 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.

June 15 – Boston – https://www.bostonrugby.org/unionpoint7s-registration

June 22 – Newport – https://www.newportrugby.com/newportsevens-teams

June 29 – Burlington – Registration – https://www.vermontrugby.org/payments/p/switchback-7s-tournament-team-fees

July 6 – (Off for 4th of July)

July 13 – Worcester – https://forms.gle/G34sY3AejyKLCBXU7

July 20 – NERFU Championship – By qualification only top 3 men’s championship, women’s championship, men’s social, women’s social (There will be no registration fee for the teams that qualify for this event)

Early Registration for all tournaments(prior to april 15 via NERFU) – $1300

Individual Tournament Registrations – $400 except for Burlington Which is $275