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

On 13 April 2011, both countries' national unions announced that their respective legs of the series would move to new sites for 2011–12.

The South Africa Sevens will move to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

The points allocations for all events were identical to those in the 2009–10 series, reflecting changes that the IRB made starting with that season:[6] In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participated.

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

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