To most Australian rugby fans, 7s rugby is a bit of a joke. Slap and tickle rugby, touch rugby; not a real deal.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Australian teams perform very badly in 7s, and our rugby community shows little interest in the game. But if the San Diego 7s – on at the moment – are anything to go by, we’d all better wake up ’cause 7s is going to be big.
The day started with Uruguay beating Kenya, which set the stage for a number of huge upsets and close-fought games. One of the best aspects of 7s is the format; the action is relentless, with each team playing three games on day one. There is no standing around, no lost time.
Of course this would mean nothing if the games were rubbish. Having a big pool of high quality teams creates tension, emotion and huge upsets. The passion of the supporters from as far afield as Kenya, Fiji, Argentina and the USA brings colour and meaning.
To see the Kenyans pushing in a scrum, leaping in lineouts and driving teams off the ball is magic. To see them crashing over for tries and victory against New Zealand is a fairytale that sports dreams are made of.
But the Kenyans weren’t the only team to shine – the Americans also lifted for the occasion. One point losers to South Africa, the Eagles came back to post victories over Australia and Canada.
In a twist of fate, the two giant killers and best-supported teams in San Diego, the US Eagles and the Kenyans, will clash today as they strive to win the Cup.
Day two is winner take all, knock-out matches. And if yesterday is anything to go by, the tension will be unbearable – as will the celebrations.
sledgeandhammer
Guest
Australia were actually beaten by the USA, so there was a mistake on IRB website. Re tens versus 7s, the idea of teams running length of the field tries all day doesn't interest me either, I prefer structured tries that rely on teamwork. Watching the 7s last weekend I found that due to the overall high standard of teams, there were few long range individual tries. So this was a surprise to me. True, 7s is not rugby, but it is a great showcase for rugby. Remember, San Diego 7s will be shown on free to air TV via ABC in a one hour highlights package - is this a first?
Albert Ross
Guest
C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas le rugby
True Tah
Guest
Argentina defeated England in the final - well done los pumas!!
Chris Ash, syd - Aust
Guest
On the IRB website it says Australia beat USA 17 - 12? Australia also won the Final Bowl against france 40 zip, but we're still sitting on 6 points lol. Gonna try and watch the highlights on foxsports
Vincent
Guest
In Kenya, we used to have a rugby 10's tournament as part of the circuit but this has now been changed as a result of the Kenya Rugby Football Union focus on sevens. But looking at the success of the IRB sevens circuit, does anyone think that wlll change in the near future?
mitzter
Guest
andrew, I was always more of a fan of 10s than 7s too. you actually have rucks as opposed to just one-on-ones and offloads. I dopn't know why this format is almost non-existant and why it wasn't suggested as the version of rugby for the olympics
Vincent
Guest
Argentina beat England 19-14 to win the USA Sevens in San Diego and claim only their second ever IRB Sevens World Series title.
Andrew Logan
Expert
I am a massive Sevens fan, but I must say that these days I wonder if the players are not getting too fast and powerful to only have 7 men on the pitch? In the old days, Sevens was more entertaining I think....less structured and less reliant on one-on-one breaks. I think Tens is the best tournament format and it would be amazing to see the best Sevens teams in the world playing Tens. The game is a little longer and it retains some of the core rugby elements, such as genuine scrums and lineouts, whilst removing 10 players from the pitch and encouraging open play. Sevens can sometimes be boring, particularly when you have a team which is clearly faster and stronger than its opponent. The tries almost become predictable and there's not much entertainment in watching a big Fijian coast 70 metres in third gear to score under the posts....again. I think teams like Portugal, Kenya, Uganda, USA, and the Cook Islands would prosper at Tens and the gap between the big 3 of England, NZ, South Africa would close a bit. No excuses for the Australian program - just generally a better spectacle in my book.
Bailey
Guest
Yay Kenya!! I, a Kiwi, am SOOOO HAPPY that the "underdogs" are making their mark! I enjoy sevens rugby a lot but with NZ constantly winning it was getting abit tiresome! The Wellington 7s for example this year was one of the best that i remember not because of the crowd but the random winnings from countries over the dominant ones! Im glad things are going well for USA and Kenya. Good on them i say.
Vincent
Guest
With a bit more consistency, Kenya will prove to be a greater force. With the added sponsorship of Virgin Atlantic, the team has been able to concentrate on the sevens a bit more although it still is a parttime venture and most of the players (if not all) usually have their 'real' jobs or studies (for those who are still in Uni) to get back to. Having beaten South Africa and now New Zealand, the Kenyans are now being taken as a serious playing force in the rugby sevens.