In this guide
- What makes a rugby sevens tournament different
- Step 1 — choose the pool shape
- Step 2 — build the Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield path
- Step 3 — protect recovery time
- Step 4 — turn the format into a schedule
- Worked example — eight teams, two pools and a Plate
- Checklist before you publish
- How Play 2 Earn Sports supports a rugby sevens tournament
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
Watch the video guide
Read the video transcript
A sevens day that fits every team
0:00 By the end of this video, you will have a clear plan for a rugby sevens tournament. You will know how pools, plates and recovery time fit together, and how to build a schedule that adds up. This video is about rugby sevens, the seven-a-side game on a full pitch. We will cover pools, the plate and bowl process, recovery, a worked example, and how Play 2 Earn Sports helps.
What makes sevens different
0:25 Sevens is fast. Games are short, squads are small, and teams often play several times in one day. That makes recovery time part of the format, not an afterthought. Most community sevens games use two short halves, often seven minutes each, with a short half-time. Check your competition rules, because finals are sometimes longer.
How many teams and pools?
0:46 Pools are small round robins. Pools of four are the common choice. Each team plays three pool games, and each pool plays six games in total. Keep pool sizes equal where you can.
0:57 If the numbers do not divide evenly, give every team the same minimum number of games. Write the pool shape down before entries close.
What are plate and bowl?
1:05 The Cup is the top knockout. The Plate is next, then the Bowl and Shield. They are tiers of one knockout, so more teams keep playing after the pools. In a small event with two pools of four, the top two teams from each pool go to the Cup semifinals.
1:22 The bottom two go to the Plate semifinals. Every team has a game after the pools.
Build in recovery time
1:28 Recovery time is the gap between a team's games. Build at least one full slot into the draw, and include warm-up and pitch changeover. In the worked example, the shortest gap is forty-five minutes. Then check the draw team by team, not just pitch by pitch. Count each team's games, rest gaps and last game of the day.
A worked example
1:49 Here is a typical example. It is illustrative, not a specific league. Eight teams enter, split into two pools of four. Two pitches are available, with thirty-minute slots: fifteen minutes of play and fifteen minutes of changeover.
2:04 Each pool plays six games, so pool play has twelve games. On two pitches, that is six slots of games. We use eight slots, with a gap in each pool, so every team gets at least forty-five minutes between games. Pool play runs from nine until one.
2:21 After a thirty-minute break, the Cup and Plate semifinals run at half past one and two. The two finals follow at three, leaving each finalist at least forty-five minutes to recover. Count it all: twelve pool games, four semifinals and two finals, eighteen games in one day. Each team plays at least four games, and the finalists play five.
2:43 Before you publish, check three things. Team by team: rest and total games. Pitch by pitch: one game at a time, with changeover. Time by time: warm-up, kickoff and the last final.
2:57 Post the format early: pool shape, knockout tiers, game length and rest rule. Send the draft to coaches and officials for a short review, then publish once.
How Play 2 Earn Sports helps
3:08 Now, how Play 2 Earn Sports helps. The tournament maker supports rugby, one of eighteen sports, with round robin, pools and knockout. You can set up the tournament and schedule the games in one place. The free bracket generator builds single-elimination brackets for four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two teams.
3:28 Today, double elimination, Swiss, plate and consolation brackets are planned by hand. The pools and knockout above show you how. For league play, team preferences such as minimum rest and spacing are soft scoring, so review the draft. For a tournament day, the draw is short enough to check every team's rest by eye.
Try it with your own tournament
3:50 Gather your entries, choose equal pools, build the Cup and Plate path, and protect recovery time. The full guide is on the page linked in the description. Try it with your own tournament: Starter is free for clubs with up to 10 teams. Thanks for watching.
What makes a rugby sevens tournament different
- Short games, several in a day. Sevens games are short, so a team can play more than once in a day. That makes the gap between games as important as the games themselves.
- Small squads. A sevens squad is small, so the same players often cover the whole day. Recovery, water and shade belong in the plan.
- One pitch hosts many games. A single pitch can hold a full day of sevens. Two pitches let a small event run pool play and finals in one afternoon.
- The knockout has tiers. The Cup is the top tier. The Plate, Bowl and Shield are lower tiers of the same knockout, so more teams keep playing after the pools.
- Rules vary. Community competitions set their own halves, final length, squad size and rest rules. Check your competition rules before you publish.
Step 1 — choose the pool shape
Pools are small round robins. Pools of four are the common choice: each team plays three games, and each pool plays six games in total. Pools of three or five also work.
Illustrative example, not a specific league.
| Pool size | Games per team | Games in the pool | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 teams | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 teams | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 teams | 4 | 10 | 5 |
Keep pool sizes equal where you can. If the entries do not divide evenly, give every team the same minimum number of games, and write the pool shape down before entries close. A team that travels for two games and watches others play four will remember it.
Step 2 — build the Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield path
The tier names are a promise to teams: after the pools, every team has a knockout game. Build the path before the draw, so coaches can see where a pool finish leads.
- Cup: the top tier, for the pool winners and runners-up.
- Plate: the second tier. In a small event, it is the knockout for the teams that finish below the Cup places. In a larger event, it can also be the next step for teams that lose in the Cup quarter-finals.
- Bowl: the third tier, for the next group of teams.
- Shield: the fourth tier, so the lowest pool places still have a final to play for.
A small event: eight teams, two pools of four. The top two teams in each pool go to the Cup semi-finals. The bottom two in each pool go to the Plate semi-finals. Every team plays at least four games, and the finalists play five.
A larger event: sixteen teams, four pools of four. The top two in each pool go to the Cup quarter-finals. The bottom two go to the Bowl quarter-finals. The Cup quarter-final losers move to the Plate semi-finals. The Bowl quarter-final losers move to the Shield semi-finals. Every team still has a knockout game after the pools.
The names are a process, not a product feature. Today, the free bracket generator builds single-elimination brackets for three to thirty-two teams, with byes for the top seeds, and double-elimination brackets for four to thirty-two teams, with an optional reset game. Plate, bowl, shield and consolation brackets are drawn by hand, using the paths above.
Step 3 — protect recovery time
Recovery time is the gap between the end of one game and the start of the next. In sevens, that gap is part of the format, because a team may play several times in one day.
Build in at least one full slot between a team's games.
If a slot is thirty minutes, a team should not play in back-to-back slots.
Include warm-up and changeover in the slot.
Fifteen minutes of play plus fifteen minutes of changeover gives the next teams room to warm up and the pitch crew room to reset.
Check the shortest gap, team by team.
A team can have a long gap in the morning and a short one before a semi-final. The shortest gap is the one that matters.
Check the finalists' path.
A finalist may play five games. Leave at least one full slot between the semi-final and the final.
Check your competition rules.
If they set a minimum rest, use the longer of your slot gap and that rule.
Plan for the heat and the day.
Water, shade, medical cover and a warm-up area are part of recovery too.
In the worked example below, every team gets at least forty-five minutes between games, and every finalist gets at least forty-five minutes between the semi-final and the final.
Step 4 — turn the format into a schedule
A slot is the game plus the changeover. Measure a real game in your competition once, then use that number for every slot.
Illustrative example, not a specific league.
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Game | Two halves of seven minutes, plus a short half-time |
| Play window | About fifteen minutes |
| Changeover | Fifteen minutes |
| Slot | Thirty minutes |
Count the games, then count the slots. Pool play needs one slot per game on each pitch. The knockout needs one slot per game, plus a gap before the finals if the rest rule requires it.
Worked example — eight teams, two pools and a Plate
Illustrative example, not a specific league.
Eight teams enter, split into two pools of four. Two pitches are available, with thirty-minute slots: fifteen minutes of play and fifteen minutes of changeover. The day runs from nine in the morning to half past three.
Pool play. Each pool plays six games, so pool play has twelve games. On two pitches, that is six slots of games. The draw uses eight slots, with a rest slot in each pool, so every team gets at least forty-five minutes between games.
| Time | Pitch 1 — Pool A | Pitch 2 — Pool B |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 | A1 v A2 | B1 v B2 |
| 9:30 | A3 v A4 | B3 v B4 |
| 10:00 | Rest | Rest |
| 10:30 | A1 v A3 | B1 v B3 |
| 11:00 | A2 v A4 | B2 v B4 |
| 11:30 | Rest | Rest |
| 12:00 | A1 v A4 | B1 v B4 |
| 12:30 | A2 v A3 | B2 v B3 |
Pool play ends at one o'clock. There is a thirty-minute break while the pool places are confirmed and the knockout draws are posted.
Knockout. The top two in each pool go to the Cup semi-finals. The bottom two go to the Plate semi-finals.
| Time | Pitch 1 | Pitch 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 13:30 | Cup semi-final 1: 1A v 2B | Plate semi-final 1: 3A v 4B |
| 14:00 | Cup semi-final 2: 1B v 2A | Plate semi-final 2: 3B v 4A |
| 14:30 | Rest | Rest |
| 15:00 | Cup final | Plate final |
The arithmetic. Twelve pool games, four semi-finals and two finals make eighteen games. Each team plays three pool games and one semi-final, so at least four games. The two finalists in each tier play five. Every team gets at least forty-five minutes between games, and every finalist gets at least forty-five minutes between the semi-final and the final.
If your competition plays longer finals, widen the final slot and move the start time later. Keep the rest gap, and publish the new time before the day.
Checklist before you publish
Checklist: before you publish a rugby sevens tournament
- Entries and pool shape are fixed; pools are equal or every team has the same minimum number of games.
- Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield paths are written down, and every team has a knockout game after the pools.
- Slot length is game plus changeover; finals have a longer slot if the rules need one.
- At least one full slot sits between a team's games; the shortest gap is checked team by team.
- Each team's total games are counted, including the finalists' path.
- Warm-up, water, shade, medical cover and pitch changeover are in the plan.
- Competition rules are checked for halves, final length, squad size and rest.
- Coaches and officials review the draft, then the schedule is published once.
How Play 2 Earn Sports supports a rugby sevens tournament
Play 2 Earn Sports is sports league scheduling and club management software for youth and amateur clubs and leagues, for 18 sports, including rugby.
Pool fixtures come from the free round robin generator, and the cup rounds from the bracket generator.
For the weeks between tournaments, see a rugby team app for availability and fair minutes.
- Pools and knockout in one tournament. The tournament maker supports rugby, one of eighteen sports, with round robin, pools and knockout. You can set up the tournament and schedule the games in one place.
- A free bracket generator. The free bracket generator builds single-elimination brackets for three to thirty-two teams, with byes for the top seeds, and double-elimination brackets for four to thirty-two teams, with an optional reset game.
- Plate and consolation paths by hand. Today, Swiss, plate and consolation brackets are planned by hand. The pools and knockout method on this page shows how.
- Rest in league play. For league play, team preferences such as minimum rest and spacing are soft scoring, so review the draft. For a tournament day, the draw is short enough to check every team's rest by eye.
Build the pool draw, then the knockout.
Frequently asked questions
Teams are split into pools, usually of four. Each pool plays a single round robin, then the top teams move into the Cup knockout and the next teams into the Plate, Bowl or Shield. Short slots, a rest gap and a published knockout path keep the day fair.
Pools of four are a practical default. Each team plays three games, each pool plays six, and the pool can finish in three rounds. Pools of three suit small entries; pools of five give four games per team but need more time. Equal pools are fairest.
It depends on the format. In an eight-team event with two pools of four, every team plays three pool games and at least one semi-final, so four games. The Cup and Plate finalists play five. Count the total before you publish, and check the finalists' path.
The Plate is the second tier of the knockout. In a small event it is the knockout for teams below the Cup places. In a larger event it can be the next step for Cup quarter-final losers. It is part of the same day, not a separate event.
Build at least one full slot between a team's games, including warm-up and changeover. In the worked example, a thirty-minute slot gives at least forty-five minutes between games. If your competition sets a minimum rest, use the longer of the two.
Choose equal pools, count pool and knockout games, set a slot length of game plus changeover, then place the games pitch by pitch. Check each team's rest and total games, give the draft to coaches and officials, and publish once. The tournament maker can hold the event and the games.
Today, the free bracket generator builds single-elimination brackets for three to thirty-two teams, with byes for the top seeds, and double-elimination brackets for four to thirty-two teams, with an optional reset game. Swiss, plate and consolation brackets are planned by hand. The tournament maker supports round robin, pools and knockout.
Starter is free for clubs with up to 10 teams. See pricing for the plans for larger clubs and for leagues.
Related guides
- League scheduling guides: every league scheduling guide in one place.
- How to schedule a pool play tournament: pools, rest and crossovers
- League tiebreaker rules: write the order before the first game
- Free tournament maker: create the event and take entries
- Rugby scheduling software
- League playoff bracket
- Bracket generator
