2016 Club 7’s Qualifier Tournament Rules and Regulations

General Provisions:

Eligible teams that would like to participate in the RRRC 7s Series must be in good standing with USA Rugby, the Red River Rugby Conference (RRRC) and the Texas Rugby Union (TRU).
1. If applying from outside the RRRC or the TRU, the team must be in good standing with a Geographic Union (GU) or a Local Area Union (LAU) and be approved by the RRRC Competitions Committee.
Each team will be required to check in with the RRRC Competitive Region Sevens Director or RRRC Representative with the required photo identification prior to their first match.
Players may only play for one club in the tournament. A team that uses an ineligible player will forfeit that match and will be disqualified from tournament.
A match shall be played by no more than seven players in each team on the playing area. A player may be replaced on account of injury or substituted. A team cannot nominate more than five replacements/substitutes; up to five players may be replaced or substituted per game. Temporary replacement for a blood injury to a player is permitted only at the referee discretion. A player who has been replaced through injury may not resume play in the same match except if temporarily replaced for a blood injury. A player who has been substituted may not resume play in the same match except as a temporary replacement for a player with a blood injury. No replacement or substitution may be made except with the permission of the Referee, and only during a stoppage in play. Violation of the 5 substitution rule will result in a forfeit for that match.
Only players, the referee, touch judges and medically trained persons may enter the playing area in order to tend to an injured player. During the interval, coaches, water boys and camera crews may enter the playing area but they must leave it before resumption of play and must not do anything to delay the punctual resumption of play.
A player sent off (red card) during any match is ineligible for the remainder of the tournament. Two yellow cards in a match is a red card.
Any team arriving more than 5 (five) minutes after scheduled kick-off will forfeit the match. {At the discretion of the non-offending captain, the remaining time may be used to play an abbreviated match, but the result will remain a forfeit.}
Teams are responsible for the behavior of their sidelines and are asked to pick up after themselves.

Brackets and Seeding

Brackets for all RRRC Sevens Qualifiers must be approved by the RRRC Sevens Director and following one of the pre determined formats (4, Team, 8 Team, 10 Team, etc…) as outlined in document “2016 RRRC Qualifier Official Brackets.” Seeding will be done as follows:

Seeding for the first tournament of the competition season will be based on previous years finish in the RRRC. Teams with no previous history in the competition will be seeded on a best effort basis by the RRRC Sevens Director according to reputation and non-qualifying competition history.
The following tournaments will be seeded based of the last tournament(s) results for that year. [Tourney 1: Results from previous 7s RRRC Qualifier season, Tourney 2: Results from Tourney One, Tourney 3: Combined results from Tourney One and Two.] Teams with no previous history in the competition will be seeded on a best effort basis by the RRRC Sevens Director.
- If multiple teams are tied for tournament seeding, seeding hierarchy will be based on the following (from current competitive cycle):
- (Head to head results – winning percentage): The team with the highest winning percentage against the team or teams with which they are tied shall receive the higher seed, if a tie still remains unresolved, then:
- (Head to head results – average point differential per match) The team with the highest point differential average in head to head matches shall receive the higher seed, if a tie still remains unresolved, then:
- (Average tournament result – ie. One 2nd place and one 4th place = 3rd place average) The team with the highest average tournament result shall receive the higher seed, if a tie still remains unresolved, then:
- (Highest tournament finish) the team that achieved the highest result in any one qualifying tournament shall receive the higher seed. If the tied teams achieved the same results over multiple tournaments, the team achieving the highest result in the most recent tournament within the competitive cycle will receive the higher seed, if a tie still remains unresolved, then:
- (Coin Toss) The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Managers concerned by the RRRC Sevens Director or RRRC representative.

Pool Play (round robin) Matches

Play in the pool phase of the tournament will consist of matches between teams in the same pool on a round robin basis. (Pool Play) No extra time will be played in pool matches. Points will be awarded for these matches on the following basis:

Win = 3 points Draw = 2 points Loss = 1 points No show = 0 points

If a Team willfully refuses to play, or willfully abandons a Match in progress, without the prior consent of the Match Referee, then, subject to confirmation by the Disputes Committees, that Team will be expelled from the Tournament.

If a Team has been expelled from the Tournament, for whatever reason, then that Team shall be deemed to have been awarded no pool competition table points and to have scored no tries or points in the pool Matches; and for the purposes of determining standings in the pool competition table, all Match results against such Team shall be deemed null and void. This means that all pool competition table points awarded in

Matches against the expelled Team and tries and points scored or conceded in Matches against such Team will not be taken into account in determining standings in the pool competition.

Determining Pool Table Standings

Position in the pool competition table shall be determined by competition points as set out above with the highest to lowest points ranked in each pool. In case of two or more teams having the same point total the following tie breaker rules shall apply:

(Head to Head) If at the conclusion of the pool stage two Teams are equal on competition points for any position in the pool, such position in the pool competition table will be determined on the result of the Match between the two equal Teams. The Team that won that Match shall be deemed to have finished higher in the pool competition table. If the Head to Head match is a draw or multiple teams are equal in Head to Head competition then the following process shall be used to determine the placing.
(Head to Head – Delta Score) The margin of points scored for and against a Team in only those matches between the tie breaker teams shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of points shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: If the tie remains unresolved then:
(Head to Head – Delta Tries) The margin of tries scored for and against a Team in only those matches between the tie breaker teams shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of tries shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: If the tie remains unresolved then:
(Head to Head – Total Points Scored) The Team that has scored the highest number of points in only those matches between the tie breaker teams shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: If the tie still remains unresolved then;
(Total point Differential) The Team that has achieved the greatest point differential in ALL their pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:
(Total Points For) The Team that has scored the most points in ALL their pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:
(Total Points Against) The Team that has allowed the least amount of points scored against them in ALL their pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:
(Tournament Seed) The Team with the higher seed entering the tournament shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved, then:
(Total Tries Scored) The Team that has scored the highest number of tries in ALL their pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:
(Total Score) The Team that has scored the highest points in ALL their pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:
(Coin toss) The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Managers concerned by the RRRC Sevens Director or RRRC representative.

Qualifier Bracket (Knock Out) Round

During the Knock-out Competitions, in the event of a Match being drawn at the end of normal time, extra time will be played until a winner is determined. Extra time will be in periods of five minutes. After each period the Teams will change ends without interval. In extra time the Team which scores the first try will immediately be declared the winner without further play.

Before extra time starts, the referee organizes a toss. The winner of the toss decides whether to kick off or choose an end. If the winner of the toss decides to choose an end, the opponents must kick off and vice versa.

The Team that first kicked off will do so again in the first period of extra time, and subsequent kick-offs will alternate between the two sides.

The duration of Matches, other than the Qualifier finals, will be seven minutes each half with a one-minute half time interval. The duration of the Qualifier finals MUST BE 10 minutes each half with a two-minute half time interval.

Abandonment of a match (unwillfully)

Apart from the willful abandonment of a match and subsequent expulsion the following shall apply. In the event of a Match having to be stopped after its commencement under the provisions of the Laws of the Game, then subject to confirmation by the Disputes Committee, the following procedure shall apply:

Pool Matches:

Where a pool Match has been abandoned either at half-time or at any time in the second half the result and any points and tries scored by each team in the match shall stand.
Where a pool Match has been abandoned during the first half the result shall be declared a draw.
Where a pool Match has been declared a draw then for that Match each Team will be awarded two Match points and any points and tries scored will count towards the total points and tries scored by each Team in all their pool matches.

Knock Out Matches:

Where a Match has been abandoned either at half time or at any time in the second half the result shall stand. If both Teams are tied then the Team having scored the most tournament points shall be declared the winner. If this does not produce a winner then the team that scores the most Try’s in the tournament shall be declared the winner. However, if one of the Teams participated in a Pool where a Team was expelled, for whatever reason, then the matter will be referred to the Disputes Committee which shall decide the most appropriate method for determining the winner of the tied knock out Match.
If a Match has been abandoned during the first half the result shall be declared a draw and the Team having scored the most tournament points shall be declared the winner. If this does not produce a winner then the team that scores the most Try’s in the tournament shall be declared the winner. However, if one of the Teams participated in a Pool where a Team was expelled, for whatever reason, then the matter will be referred to the Disputes Committee which shall decide the most appropriate method for determining the winner of the tied knock out Match.

Disputes & Disciplinary Committee

The Disputes committee for each Tournament shall be comprised of the RRRC Sevens Director or RRRC Representative, the Tournament Host/Director and the Head Referee for that Tournament.