However, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the normal 16.

Effective with this season, the IRB changed the points allocations for all events as follows:[5] In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate.

Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament has 24 teams.

In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield.

[8] The changes made in 2010 were:[9] The points awarded to teams at each event, as well as the overall season totals, are shown in the table below.

Light blue line on the left indicates a core team eligible to participate in all events of the series.