The All Blacks domination of the sport started in 2000 when they went on to win the inaugural IRB World Sevens Series and followed it up by winning the series for the next five years. In addition, the New Zealand Sevens side won gold medals at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and Manchester respectively.

New Zealand's domination was ended by Fiji in the 2005/06 season, but they re-gained their crown last season with some mesmorising displays. But with Fiji, Samoa, South Africa and England in the hunt, New Zealand will have to bring their A game to every tournament if they are to retain their crown once again.