Rugby Sevens - new Olympic sport and a fun event to watch (3 Viewers)

[The Military Workshop]

Last week I went to the Rugby Sevens on the Gold Coast. Have been to many in Hong Kong but this was first one I have been to in Australia.

Some of our members may not be too familiar with this sport which will feature at the next Olympics for the first time so I thought I would give an introduction to a fun event. American members might be interested to know Las Vegas holds the USA part of this world competition.

Sevens is a faster format of Rugby Union which normally has 15 in a team. The Sevens game is played on the same size pitch (ie. 100m ) but games are only 14 or 20 mins long. Sevens competitions are usually played over 2-3 days depending upon how many teams are in the tournament (16 - 32).

What makes Sevens such a fun event is the crowd as you have supporters from multiple countries. One game you might be supporting an underdog like Portugal against NZ and in the next deciding who you want to win out of Argentina or France {sm4}. Part of the tradition of Sevens is that many also dress up so you can have Elvis's, Star Wars characters, Super heroes and many more. The Gold Coast 7's had the Kiss Camera, Karaoke, Cheesy Dance, Mexican Wave etc, and was a lot of fun. Type Rugby Sevens Gold Coast 2012 into Google images and you will get a very good idea of what I am talking about. Note dressing up not compulsory !

Fiji won the final against NZ but the surprise of the event was Kenya who beat Australia and England and were beaten by South Africa and came
4th overall. If you go to Youtube and type in Gold Coast Rugby Sevens you can see the games and a lot of the crowd. Same goes for other places such as Las Vegas, Hong Kong etc.

Hong Kong has been running International Sevens competitions for 35 years and there is now a worldwide competition. The Gold Coast Sevens is the first in the current series and the other competitions will be held in :

Dubai 30 NOV - 1 DEC 12
South Africa(Port Elizabeth) 8 - 9 DEC 12
NZ (Wellington) 1 - 2 FEB 13
USA (Las Vegas) 8 - 10 FEB 13
Hong Kong 22 - 24 MAR 13
Japan (Tokyo) 30 - 31 MAR 13
Scotland (Glasgow) 4 - 5 MAY 13
England (Twickenham) 11 - 12 MAY 13

For more details and images look at www.irbsevens.com which has info on all the locations.

If you are near one of the above locations I highly recommend it both for the sport and the fun atmosphere.

Regards
Brett

 

[Mitch]

I think this is a great variation to the traditional game it spawns from although, its a true sport in its own right. I have a few friends who play for the UK and scotland and, many who are big fans. Some good sites on the web to keep everyone updated and plenty on the box. Been only to a few games myself but, as is the case with most rugby type events the crowd as Brett says make it really enjoyable.
Mitch

 

[MCKENNA77]

So I watched Seven’s for this first time ever about a week and half ago. The game is wicked fast compared to normal rugby. I was watching some of it on what I call the strangest day of sports ever. One of the things I miss the most being overseas is some good old NFL football. Yes, this is the game that Howard refers to as a “Sheila’s game”. Unfortunately, finding NFL football(which everyone calls grid iron down here for some reason) on the television down here is difficult at best. Watching it on the internet here is a similar experience of when I was younger and taking a girl out to the drive in movie theatre. You hope things go well and they usually don’t. In short, the game is faster than the internet connection will provide for. I had discovered through a friend down here that sometimes they show grid iron games on the television at the local casino here. Victory. Monday Night Football it was. Which mind you is Tuesday at 1:30pm on this side of the hemisphere. The best part was it featured the Denver Broncos versus the San Diego Chargers. Anyone who knows me well knows that I grew up in Colorado. To say that I’m a Broncos fan would be putting it mildly. The game was only on one tv. The two adjacent televisions are showing Netball and Sevens. Netball is big down here and I still can’t understand why. I can’t even figure out the rules to the game. In short, it’s like WNBA with no backboard or ball dribbling and you can’t shot block anybody. It leaves you with that family holiday party feeling when your crazy Uncle Bob drinks too much and just sort of watch him for entertainment purposes but really in your own head you’re asking what is wrong with Uncle Bob. By this point, Sevens is going full blast and I’m viewing some Kenya dude who runs like the wind rack up the score. Why am I watching two other tv’s? Yeah because for all of my pregame excitement to view some good old American football the NFL Gods decide to issue a Chargers first half drubbing and the game was off to a 24-0 start. Misery. Time for a taco and 9 beers kind of misery. Long story short, the Broncos put up 35 unanswered points and win the game. It was like the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket of NFL games, that sort of thing never happens. Well, lets just say the everyone in the Chch casino wasn’t as big of a Bronco fan as me. After a few barley pops my voice doesn’t really get that loud anyways. Let’s just say I was asked not to come back. I’m making friends here quickly.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Chris,
Glad to see they have their priorities right and the Casino is open. Next will be the Marmite factory but I doubt they will have TV's showing sports.

Howard probably calls it a Sheilas game because of all the padding the NFL dudes wear. Plus the fact they have 203 players in a team in case one gets tired from running 25m{sm4} For heavens sake they even pay former Australian Football Rules players like a million $'s just to come on every now and then and kick the ball. Down Under football players have to do a lot more than that for a million. Hopefully you understand I am just repeating what Howard told me ^&grin

Regards
Brett

 

[TomNT]

So I watched Seven’s for this first time ever about a week and half ago. The game is wicked fast compared to normal rugby. I was watching some of it on what I call the strangest day of sports ever. One of the things I miss the most being overseas is some good old NFL football. Yes, this is the game that Howard refers to as a “Sheila’s game”. Unfortunately, finding NFL football(which everyone calls grid iron down here for some reason) on the television down here is difficult at best. Watching it on the internet here is a similar experience of when I was younger and taking a girl out to the drive in movie theatre. You hope things go well and they usually don’t. In short, the game is faster than the internet connection will provide for. I had discovered through a friend down here that sometimes they show grid iron games on the television at the local casino here. Victory. Monday Night Football it was. Which mind you is Tuesday at 1:30pm on this side of the hemisphere. The best part was it featured the Denver Broncos versus the San Diego Chargers. Anyone who knows me well knows that I grew up in Colorado. To say that I’m a Broncos fan would be putting it mildly. The game was only on one tv. The two adjacent televisions are showing Netball and Sevens. Netball is big down here and I still can’t understand why. I can’t even figure out the rules to the game. In short, it’s like WNBA with no backboard or ball dribbling and you can’t shot block anybody. It leaves you with that family holiday party feeling when your crazy Uncle Bob drinks too much and just sort of watch him for entertainment purposes but really in your own head you’re asking what is wrong with Uncle Bob. By this point, Sevens is going full blast and I’m viewing some Kenya dude who runs like the wind rack up the score. Why am I watching two other tv’s? Yeah because for all of my pregame excitement to view some good old American football the NFL Gods decide to issue a Chargers first half drubbing and the game was off to a 24-0 start. Misery. Time for a taco and 9 beers kind of misery. Long story short, the Broncos put up 35 unanswered points and win the game. It was like the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket of NFL games, that sort of thing never happens. Well, lets just say the everyone in the Chch casino wasn’t as big of a Bronco fan as me. After a few barley pops my voice doesn’t really get that loud anyways. Let’s just say I was asked not to come back. I’m making friends here quickly.

Chris,
Glad to see they have their priorities right and the Casino is open. Next will be the Marmite factory but I doubt they will have TV's showing sports.

Howard probably calls it a Sheilas game because of all the padding the NFL dudes wear. Plus the fact they have 203 players in a team in case one gets tired from running 25m{sm4} For heavens sake they even pay former Australian Football Rules players like a million $'s just to come on every now and then and kick the ball. Down Under football players have to do a lot more than that for a million. Hopefully you understand I am just repeating what Howard told me ^&grin

Regards
Brett

I heard they have that many players so they all have time to receive a manicure and make-up before being called upon... :rolleyes2:^&grin

Tom

 

[waynepoo]

I heard they have that many players so they all have time to receive a manicure and make-up before being called upon... :rolleyes2:^&grin

Tom

In some parts of the world gridiron (also baseball and basketball) is considered a war crime.......:wink2:{sm3}{sm2}^&grin.
Wayne.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Tom, Wayne (and Howard {sm4}),
Just had a PM from Chris about his coming over for next years Brisbane gathering. Seems he wants to sit on the same table as you guys to discuss your views on American sport in a bit more detail.^&grin Jack has already asked to be seated as far away as possible from you guys.
Regards
Brett

 

[MCKENNA77]

Yeah I figured I might catch some grief for that. Guess it really comes down to what you grow up with. I guess if Richie McCaw was tough enough he would be playing NFL. Ha ha.

 

[TomNT]

Tom, Wayne (and Howard {sm4}),
Just had a PM from Chris about his coming over for next years Brisbane gathering. Seems he wants to sit on the same table as you guys to discuss your views on American sport in a bit more detail.^&grin Jack has already asked to be seated as far away as possible from you guys.
Regards
Brett

Brett, im not coming to the event and instead going to Antartica!{eek3}^&grin

Tom

 

[The Military Workshop]

Dear Chris,

Since you mentioned Ritchie McCaw (the NZ Rugby Captain for those not aware of his badness) I
thought I would tell the joke they had on the radio last week before Australia played NZ.

McCaw tells the rest of the team he is so confident in himself that he is going to play on his own
against Australia. He says the rest of the NZ team can take the day off and he will let them know how it goes.

After the game he goes into the bar where they are drinking and gathers them around. He then apologies as he only managed a draw 12 - 12. His team mates comfort him by saying that is not a bad result for one man against 15. McCaw then further apologies by saying "yes but I am disappointed I got sent off 20 minutes before the end of the game"!

Joke can probably be adapted for any team situation.

For the record the real game was 18 - 18 and full NZ team did play.

Regards
Brett