Rugby sevens, the abbreviated form of rugby union, is seeking to ride the wave of popularity in the sport generated by the highly successful World Cup in France.
The three-day season-opening Dubai leg of the World Series sevens circuit run by world rugby's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), attracted 32,000 spectators a day, but importantly offered a showcase for many future international stars.
The recently-concluded World Cup featured 175 players who gained experience on the sevens circuit and no less than 10 of the 20 teams were captained by players who graduated from the shortened form of the game.
Agustin Pichot (Argentina), Morgan Williams (Canada), Vasco Uva (Portugal), Semo Sititi (Samoa), Gareth Thomas (Wales) and Mike Hercus (US) were all the full-time captains of their teams.
And at one stage or another over the course of the tournament, four others -- Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (France), Irakli Abuseridze (Georgia), Felipe Contepomi (Argentina) and Corne Powell (Namibia) -- also took over captaincy duties.
Given that front-five forwards are not suited to the pace and skill-set levels of sevens, the figure of RWC players with sevens experience equates to almost 50 percent of the players in the competition.
Outstanding former sevens players who starred in France also include Argentina's play-making duo Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martin Hernandez, whose sublime passing and kicking skills were honed on the IRB Sevens circuit.
Veteran New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens, whose side won last weekend's Dubai tournament -- beating Fiji 31-21 in the final -- has unearthed a string of players who have starred in the 15-a-side game, notably Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu and Joe Rokocoko.
Along with Rokocoko, former sevens stars Nick Evans, Chris Masoe, Rodney So'oialo and Isaia Toeava all appeared for the All Blacks at the World Cup.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS