Rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games

Rugby sevens has been played at all Commonwealth Games since its first appearance at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was an optional sport that was included for 2002 and 2006, but was made a 'Core' sport by the Commonwealth Games Federation, necessitating its appearance at all future games from the 2010 Games onward.

Prior to 2018, rugby sevens was a male-only sport at the Commonwealth Games, but a female tournament was added to the programme for the 21st Games on the Gold Coast. New Zealand dominated the men's tournament at its inception until 2014 when they lost for the first time at the Games, playing South Africa in the gold medal match.

In front of 20,000 fans at the Petaling Jaya Stadium, rugby sevens was an enormous success with New Zealand collecting its 100th Commonwealth Games medal with a 21-12 win over Fiji, the reigning world champions. Man of the match was the giant Jonah Lomu who had worked tirelessly during the 10-minutes each way final. Led by veteran star David Campese, Australia took the bronze beating Samoa 33-12.

Rugby sevens events were held at the City of Manchester Stadium, purpose built for the Games.

The venue for the rugby sevens was the Docklands Stadium, then known commercially as Telstra Dome, on the western edge of Melbourne's Central Business District. Preliminary matches were held on 16 March, with the finals the following day.

The gold medal was won by New Zealand who defeated England 29-21 in the final on 17 March 2006. Fiji won the bronze medal, defeating Australia 24-17 in the 3rd place final. The game was overshadowed by a fit suffered by Australian Scott Fava after a legitimate tackle. Fortunately Fava recovered quickly and was released from hospital the following day.

...
Wikipedia