Four years ago in Hong Kong, Fiji became the first nation to lift the Melrose Cup twice following their maiden success at the same venue in 1997, but with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 now only 17 days away we take a look at some of the interesting statistics to emerge from the tournament's history.
Thirty-four nations have now participated in at least one of the four previous Rugby World Cup Sevens after Tunisia and Uruguay made their debuts in 2005. That number will increase by only one in Dubai with the Arabian Gulf, as the host Union, appearing on this stage for the first time.
Of these 34 nations, only three have yet to taste victory in Latvia, Netherlands and Uruguay. Chinese Taipei had been in that category going into the Hong Kong showpiece, but they broke their duck with a 28-14 defeat of Italy in the pool stages.
The four Rugby World Cup Sevens to date have had one constant with Sevens maestro Waisale Serevi - the man who lifted the Melrose Cup twice for Fiji - the only player to have appeared in all four tournaments.
Eight others have played in three events - Serevi's teammate Marika Vunibaka, Samoan star Brian Lima, New Zealand legend Eric Rush, Shinji Ono of Japan and a trio of Koreans in Hae-kyung Sung, Yong Hwan-Myung and Yoo Min-Suk.
Old rivals lead the way in tries
With Serevi having played in four tournaments it comes as no surprise that he is the leading point scorer in RWC Sevens history with 297 after adding another 45 points to his tally in 2005. Serevi's mark is more than double that of the next best, Vunibaka on 115 with only Lima (101) and New Zealand star Amasio Valence (100) boasting three-figure totals.
Serevi has also kicked nearly three times as many goals as next best with 101 to Samoan Anatelea Aiolupo's 30, while the maestro has scored 19 tries for Fiji, only four behind the top try scorer, his teammate Vunibaka, with Lima two scores behind Serevi.
Fiji, unsurprisingly, therefore share the top try scoring record with New Zealand at 153, although the 2001 champions actually have a slightly better average at 5.1 tries per game, compared to the Fijians 4.9. By contrast, Latvia and Netherlands have scored the fewest tries in the tournament's history with five apiece in their only event in 1993.
Serevi's side had sat top of the try scoring chart on their own going into the 2005 tournament, but New Zealand scored 45 tries - four more than the side that beat them in the final - to draw level. New Zealand's tally in Hong Kong was nine times that of the hosts.
In all there were 498 tries scored by the 24 teams in Hong Kong, taking the total across four tournaments to 1,839 and raising the question, who will score the 2,000th try in Rugby World Cup Sevens history in Dubai?
One thousand reasons to celebrate
Delve a little deeper beyond Fiji and New Zealand at the top and you discover that Argentina, the 2001 semi finalists, need 17 tries to become only the seventh nation to reach 100 tries, while Portugal will reach 50 with four tries and Uruguay's first try in Dubai will take them into double figures.
A total of 11,630 points have now been scored in the tournament's history after the 24 teams involved in 2005 added 3,084 points to the overall tally, with New Zealand the top scorers in Hong Kong with 287 across their eight matches.
The opening day in at The Sevens in Dubai will witness a new milestone in Rugby World Cup Sevens history with both New Zealand and Fiji within touching distance of becoming the first side to score 1,000 points.
Fiji currently sit top on 993 with New Zealand on 985, but Gordon Tietjens' men will be in action before their long-time rivals and will be favourites to claim that honour, needing to score just three tries in their opening match against Italy. If they fail to do that, Fiji will pip them to it when they face Georgia.
Who will score New Zealand and Fiji's 1,000th point and who will make their mark on the fifth Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai - the first to feature a women's competition running alongside the men's event?
Statistical analysis provided by HourGlass Vision Ltd
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