Men · Elite
Men's Elite Pier
The top men's bracket: invited international and Dutch first-team sevens sides. Pool play Saturday, knockouts on the NRCA main pitch Sunday.
The Amsterdam Sevens began on the weekend of 13–14 May 1972 with twenty-four teams, the Barbarians among them, and English club Walsall the first winners. The idea was floated by Leo Bogers' father at a club social; the motto set that first year, "top rugby in a relaxed atmosphere," still defines it.
More than half a century later it is one of the largest sevens festivals in Europe: 100+ teams across five divisions, men's & women's elite, men's & women's social, and vets tens, over two days, played on ten parallel pitches, with everything from the quarter-finals on moved to the National Rugby Centre's main pitch.
Across the weekend the park is rebuilt into a rugby festival: extra grandstands, a VIP deck, and a full food & entertainment plein with foodbars, music and the unmistakable rugby-way-of-life mix of players and supporters mingling between matches.
Saturday is pool play. Sunday is the knockouts. Five divisions run in parallel (four sevens brackets plus the vets tens) across ten pitches.
The top men's bracket: invited international and Dutch first-team sevens sides. Pool play Saturday, knockouts on the NRCA main pitch Sunday.
The companion bracket for visiting clubs and touring sides: same format, same atmosphere, slightly less of the bruises.
Top women's bracket. Running since 2005; for three seasons (2012–13 to 2014–15) it hosted a leg of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.
Open women's bracket for clubs and touring sides, the social-tier counterpart to the Elite Pier.
Veterans' tens, Men's and Women's, age 35 and up. Different format (10-a-side rather than 7s) but the same weekend, same plein.
Full rules, match length, ranking tiebreakers and entry caps: amsterdamrugby7s.com/rules-setup →
The Amsterdam Sevens is open to visiting clubs and touring sides across all five divisions. €640 covers a sevens team of sixteen: 13 players plus 3 staff. €720 for Vets 10s covers 15 players plus 3 staff. The organisers don't run a hard closing date, so late call-offs can usually be slotted in.
Full tournament photo galleries (by year, by photographer): amsterdamrugby7s.com/photos →
A women's tournament was added to the Amsterdam Sevens in 2005 and has run alongside the men's competition ever since. For three consecutive seasons (2012–13, 2013–14 and 2014–15) the Amsterdam Sevens hosted a leg of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, putting Sportpark De Eendracht on the international circuit alongside the likes of Dubai, Atlanta and São Paulo. New Zealand were the inaugural winners in May 2013, beating Canada 33–24 in the final.
The Sevens has also been a scouting ground for the Dutch national setup. AAC-bred international Tim Visser (later capped 33 times by Scotland and a Premiership winner with Edinburgh and Harlequins) was first spotted at the Amsterdam Sevens as a teenager and used the tournament as a springboard out.
The Amsterdam Sevens partners with Stichting Nazorg Sport Gehandicapten (SNSG), a Dutch foundation that supports former rugby players living with severe, often paralysing injuries. The foundation provides practical aftercare and keeps those players connected to the game.
When the last whistle goes the sports park doesn't empty out — it turns up. The food & entertainment plein runs on into the evening around a DJ booth and stage, with the central beer tent and food bars keeping a few hundred players from every division in no hurry to head home.
Samurai International are the tournament's most successful men's side; Nyenrode 7s have taken the last four titles.
The Amsterdam Sevens runs as its own organisation with its own site. All team entries, fixture lists, photo galleries and live updates through the weekend live there. Full visitor guide →
Tickets, team entries, fixtures and photo galleries for the Amsterdam Sevens live on the tournament's own site.
