The final two legs of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series in London and Edinburgh played a fitting end to the Series, capping an enthralling and record-breaking season.
Whilst New Zealand were crowned Series champions after winning four of the eight tournaments, South Africa clinched both the London and Edinburgh titles to secure their place as second in the standings behind Gordon Tietjens' side adding to their previous title in Las Vegas.
England, having won the opening tournament in Dubai, finished third after a disappointing home tournament at Twickenham, with Fiji edging Samoa into fourth following victory against their Pacific rivals in the Plate final at Murrayfield.
More than 500,000 fans attended the eight tournaments in Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland, and at Twickenham the biggest one-day crowd record was broken thanks to 54,357 fans attending day one.
Throughout the 2010/11 Series fans of the Series were also able to view the best of the action on the IRB YouTube channel, which has had more than 700,000 views on this year's videos, including highlights from each tournament.
Edinburgh Sevens Highlights
The official HSBC Sevens World Series Facebook page, which now has more than 15,000 fans, has also provided another platform for you to stay involved with the Series and allowed you to share your thoughts and opinions, and below are some of your thoughts on the 2010/11 Series.
Alistair Nigel Winkworth Newman: "Well done New Zealand, a deserved ninth title. Wales came good at the end too, Cymru am byth."
Andrew Awiti: "Norton of England was my man of the season. Love his speed. Kenya did me proud too and well played New Zealand."
Christian Pfusch: "For me Spain was the surprise team. Good performance at Twickenham and in Scotland."
Mary-Ann Robinson: "The HSBC Beach Hut at Twickers was awesome!!!"
Apo Gucake: "Surprise team for me was Russia, if only they can bring their big boys we might say bye to New Zealand's domination."
Pedro Gemelgo: "The fact that South Africa came from behind and finished second just shows that they got better as the season progressed. Paul Treu got the boys to such a level that they could have taken NZ in the final in Scotland. Every Blitz Bokke try was a highlight for me. Well done NZ you guys played well too."
Rameka Waenga: "Tietjens for Prime Minister!!!"
At the end of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series, which was won by New Zealand with an event to spare, Tomasi Cama (NZ), Tim Mikkelson (NZ) and Cecil Afrika (South Africa) were also nominated for the IRB Sevens Player of the Year Award, in association with HSBC and you can vote for who you think should win on the Facebook page.
The outstanding trio were voted by the management teams of the 12 core sides who competed in all eight events on the World Series and the winner will be announced at the IRB Awards in association with Emirates Airline in Auckland on October 24.
IRB Sevens Player of the Year: Nominees
Afrika also ended the season as the top try scorer with 40, five ahead of Frank Halai of New Zealand in second and eight more than England's Dan Norton in third.
With 40 tries and 385 points, Afrika was the season's leading scorer and his efforts in both attack and defence underpinned South Africa's return to form and winning ways, inspiring them to their Cup titles in Las Vegas, London and Edinburgh.
But the most viewed video from this season on the IRB YouTube channel was the 'Play of the Day' from Hong Kong with 65,449 videos.
Monster tackle in Hong Kong
This season has also seen the launch of the official Sevens World Series Application, available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which offers another way to ensure you missed none of the action from the Series.
As the only IRB application with historical World Series data and video highlights, the brand new product offers Rugby fans around the world an even more immediate way to follow the excitement and fast-paced action from the eight legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
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