2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series

2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series
Host nations	Australia  United Arab Emirates  South Africa  New Zealand  United States  Hong Kong  Japan  Scotland  England
Date	13 Oct 2012 – 12 May 2013
Nations	22
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runners-up	South Africa
Third	Fiji
Series details
Top point scorer	Dan Norton (264 points)
Top try scorer	Dan Norton (52 tries)
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 14th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides. The IRB Sevens World Series has been run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.

The schedule for the 2012–13 Series was released to the general public in late June 2012. At the time, the schedule included a new event to be held in La Plata, Argentina. However, on 16 August, the Argentine Rugby Union pulled out of hosting an event in 2012–13, citing demands associated with the country's 2012 entry into The Rugby Championship.

Before each season, the IRB announces the "core teams" that received guaranteed berths in each event of that season's series. This was the first series in which 15 teams received this status, up from 12 in the recent past. All 12 core teams from 2011–12 retained their status, with three more being elevated as top finishers in a 12-team qualifying tournament conducted as part of the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens. The 2012–13 core teams are:

For the first time, the IRB instituted a formal promotion and relegation process for core team status in the Sevens World Series, replacing the former ad hoc process. The top 12 core teams in the season table after the next-to-last round of the series in Glasgow retained their status for 2013–14. The remaining three core teams for 2013–14 are being determined in a two-stage qualifying process:

The 2012–13 HSBC Sevens World Series 'Dream Team' was selected by the series' regular television broadcast commentators.

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