The 2000 Punta del Este Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held in

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este later became internationally known as a resort for the Latin and North American j ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and was the third leg of the 1999-2000 World Sevens Series. The competition took place on 7 and 8 January at the Campus de Maldonado. The hosts,

were eliminated in the Plate semi-finals. For the third consecutive event in the

Series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

, the Cup final was contested between

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The

Punta del Este Sevens The Uruguay Sevens, branded as Seven Punta, is an annual international rugby sevens tournament. Currently held in the capital Montevideo, it was hosted as the Punta del Este Sevens in the resort city of the same name for three decades from 1989 ...

was not included on the World Sevens circuit for the 2000-01 series.

Teams

Sixteen national teams played in the tournament with New Zealand and Fiji being seeded one and two due to winning the previous two tournaments in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

were debuting on the world stage after becoming a member of the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

as they were invited to compete in Punta del Este and

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

Format

The pool stage was played on the first day of the tournament. The 16 teams were separated into four pools of four teams and teams in the same pool played each other once. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup quarterfinals to compete for the 2000 Punta del Este Sevens title.

Summary

The first day of the Punta del Este Sevens saw three teams end the day unbeaten from their pool stages. In Pool A, it was New Zealand who had an handful of players playing rugby sevens for the first time finishing top with victories over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(50–5), Peru (63–0) and

(24–5). Joint-leaders in the series heading into the round, Fiji only conceded twelve points in their group to finish top of the group with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

coming in second place. The other team that finished unbeaten throughout Day 1 was

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

who just slightly edged over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, 19–12 in the fifth game of Pool D to finish top of the pool. Pool C was the only group to not have an unbeaten team with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

forcing an tiebreaker after defeating

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

28–21. But Chile was the unlucky team with the team being the lowest in point average off the three teams. The second day of the tournament saw the first

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

match in the series history with South Africa defeating Argentina 24–19 in the cup quarter final after they initially were locked at 19-all during regulation. After recording victories over South Africa and Samoa in the semi-finals respectively, New Zealand and Fiji met in the third consecutive cup final. During the final, an injury to Fijian player Waisele Serevi occurred in the 14th minute of the final with the score at 21–19. The injury saw New Zealand score three more tries and go to the top of the table with a 42–19 victory.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

won the plate final for the third consecutive event defeating Canada while

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

took out the bowl defeating

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Pool stage

Pool A

Source
World Rugby
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World Rugby
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Pool B

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World Rugby
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World Rugby
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Pool C

Source
World Rugby
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World Rugby
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Pool D

Source
World Rugby
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World Rugby
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Finals

Bowl

Source
World Rugby
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Plate

Source
World Rugby
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Cup

Source
World Rugby
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Tournament placings

Source
Rugby7.com
ref name = standings-2000/>

References

{{1999–2000 World Sevens Series

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...