THE RULES IN A SNAPSHOT
- Seven players per team compete on the field (compared to 15).
- Each team gets five substitutes, with five interchanges (compared to 7 and 7).
- Seven-minute halves (compared to 40-minute halves, in fifteen-a-side).
- Matches tied after regulation time are continued into extra time, in 5-minute periods.
- Conversion attempts are drop-kicked (instead of the option to place-kick).
- Conversions must happen within 40 seconds of scoring a try (compared to 60 seconds).
- Scrums include only three players per side (instead of eight players).
Kick-offs: the team which has just scored kicks off, (rather than the conceding team). - Yellow cards get a 2-minute suspension in the sin-bin (instead of 10 minutes) (yes, just like a powerplay!). Suspensions hurt more in Sevens than in Fifteens. Losing 1 man out of 7 opens up an incredible amount of space for their opponent.