Sevens rugby is wasted in Adelaide

The gold coast and Sunshine coast are not cities, they are areas. As for half the others, they are regional cities not major cities. Leave it in Adelaide, the reason it struggles is because the eastern states poach all the other sporting avents, GP motor racing just to name one.

The 7s is definately a wasted opportunity in Adelaide. Rugby needs to concentrate it's product in QLD & NSW as they are the more lucrative markets and real battlefield between the codes. There's little rugby union product in Australia as it is and having the 7s in Adelaide is spreading it around too thinly. The 7s in SFS over a weekend in Feb/March would be fantastic and has the potential to become a major sporting fixture on the calendar, as it has done in Hong Kong, Wellington, Duabi etc - it would provide a perfect lead in to the rugby season. Adelaide just doesn't do it for me.

What about Coffs Harbour?.. hosted the Lions game a couple of years back so has the venue .. the "sawtell 7's" were probably the most famous in Australia for a time because they lured teams from bris and syd.. so it has familiarity to rugby followers - local support.. plenty of accommodation, an airport, and rewards country rugby too.

Yep, I went to the 7s in Brisbane a couple of times and it was not a packed house at Ballymore, far from it if memory serves. Leave it where it is, it gets a good following and is going down the path of Wellington with dress ups hhe name of the game. I think a few people are over-estimating it's importance to be frank.

Few will remember George, because it is one leg of a circuit with no names on the field and zero coverage in the papers. But those who watched still remember the world cups of 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009. And i guarantee we will all take note and remember the winner of Rio 2016.

The Sydney sevens were held at the Millner Field in the 60s and 70s and at Warringah in the early 80s. None of them aroused a moment of interest in the public or press and only meant something to the teams participating. In 1988 and 1989, international sevens were held at Concord Oval. There was some interest in the 88 series but dropped below the radar in 1989 and the series folded. Only since the introduction of the sevens circuit and now, admission to the Olympic Games has there been a slight revival and following of the truncated game. The results are a bit like one day and 20/20 cricket. A quick question. Who won the Rugby sevens at George in 2007 and who cares?

Would get lost in Melbourne as a 2nd tier sporting event (unlike the rugby WC). In Adelaide at least it can gain a spotlight in a lighter calendar of sporting events..

There have usually been parties off teh field but despite that, there isn't much of a party on the field -- it's usually pretty serious. No, the best 15s players will always get a look in in 7s -- provided they know how to play 7s. The only real 7s specialists I have seen tend to be those in the playmaking roles, the ones who grease teh wheel. Examples include, Waisale Serevi, Ben Gollings, Stephen Brink, etc. But in every other position, the basic rugby skills are still needed, and the best 15s players will always be superior, period. As I've said before, as an example, I would back this South African seven against the best 7s players South Africa have had running around teh circuit the past few years (including winning teh whole shebang last year): Kankowski, Brussou, Spies; Du Preez; Pienaar, Francois Steyne, Habana.

Got to say it does sound very condescending - "Give the Sevens to Adelaide as a sop...oh, look, now it is serious so we better take it back and put it somewhere important". But I'm surprised that everyone seems to think Sevens will continue to be this big party adjunct to "proper" rugby. Regardless of where the tournaments wind up, I hope the party atmosphere is retained off the field because I doubt there will be much on the field. It is not going to be an after-thought used for training kids any more; before long Olympic selections and coaching careers will be living and dying on those fields and it is going to get real serious. It will be interesting to see whether the 15s players can even get a look in either, once players start really specialising - you don't see Lance Armstrong ditching the Tour de France every four years for the velodrome. I haven't even seen anything indicating a competition structure - trivia moment: at how many of the six Olympics in the last 20 years did the UK or Germany field soccer teams? You can probably guess the answer, so how sure should we be that Australia will even be going to the Olympics? Rather a lot could hinge on whether Australia is classified Asia or Oceania (and guess which one we are now)...

But that would make it no different from now. Great 7s players are often not great at 15s but many great 15s players are also great at 7s, but we don't get to see them at it anymore. That's my point. As I was saying, the 7s cicrcuit will only get better when 15s players start playing 7s as well. I'd like to see that.

another reason why the sevens is played in adelaide might lie in the tendencie for the competitions to be in non heartland areas like how the play in george in south africa which isnt a home of any of the SA's super 14 teams, so maybe it might be a sort of irb protocol for the areas where the series is played in to be areas looking for development.

The Sevens are held in Adelaide because they asked for the tounament to be held there after it was a disaster in Brisbane and Sydney couldn't care less about holding the leg.

"Not being a Gold Coast local, or an Australian, myself I’m not sure what the better alternative to Skilled Park would be? I have been to the Gold Coast a few times, as all travelling Kiwis have, and don’t believe that Skilled Park would be the right venue anyway (even if it was 35K+ seats) because it’s so far from the GC beaches and night life. A redeveloped Carrara will still not really offer enough capacity either. A venue of 40K would really been the minimum you’d want surely?" Well on those criteria you've ruled out the Gold Coast. Without a successful 2018/2022 soccer world cup bid, the Gold Coast won't be getting a 40k+ stadium any time soon -- if ever. Maybe rugby fans should start supporting Australia's soccer world cup bid -- and the Gold Coast as a host city ;-) And even if Australia wins the right to host a soccer world cup AND even if the Gold Coast is chose as venue at the moment it looks like Carrara (an oval venue) and not Skilled Park (a rectangular venue) will get the nod for redevelopment. Oval venues are not of course the end of the world (the Wellington 7s is played in the Cake Tin) but other things being equal a rectangular venue is better. And even if the GC gets a 40k+ venue for the soccer world cup, the problem is keeping such a large stadium as a legacy after the world cup. So many stadiums built for major events then have their capacity pared back if they won't regularly be filled. And week-in week-out NRL or AFL games on the GC are not going to get anywhere near 40k crowds. So unless the GC is going to start hosting regular RL, RU, soccer or cricket internationals there really isn't a need for a 40k+ stadium. And with Brisbane so close I just don't see the GC becoming a venue for these kind of events. With good public transport links (which the GC doesn't really have!) a stadium away from the beaches and tourist accommodation wouldn't be a huge problem. If you had a regular light rail service between Robina and Broadbeach/Surfers that would be fine. But there isn't such a thing and unlikely to come any time soon. The proposed GC light rail (if/when it eventually comes) is going to run down the coast (north-south) and not join the inland suburbs with the coastal ones.

i think more of a reintegration of sevens players into fifteens would be easier. that way you have players learned at sevens who can achieve stardom and good defence in the fifteens

Neither do I, but I do want to see better quality in the 7s, at least at the World Cups, if not during the whole IRB 7s circuit. The standard of play has been lacklustre, which is why the circuit has not really taken off as it could have. I see little that is special. I don't think cherry picking and bringing in star names to try to attract the hard core fans is the way either, as Australia tried to do when picking Giteau, Tuqiri and Latham for the Commnwealth Games in Melbourne. It doesnt work. What is needed is to somehow make it possible for 15s players to get involved so we can identify the good 15s players who are good at 7s. We cannot just guess that someone who plays a certain way would defenitekly be good at 7s. Tuqiri and Latham ,for example, were players who looked like they would be good at 7s but they weren't. The best blends are those of pure specialists, such as Serevi, Gollings, Ryder etc, allied with top-quality players eg Satala, Rush, Lomu, Brooke, Kirk, Van der Westhuizen, ie guys who can play both forms well. Unfortunately, the way the seasons are structured, we never get those guys playing anymore and that is the real reasons the circuit is ordinary. As for being serious, believe you me, it will become very serious as we get to the Olympics. Suddenly it won't be mickey mouse anymore.

I get what you mean Shahsan. But I personally see 7's as being less about serious rugby watchers and more as a vehicle to bring rugby to new markets. If that means that people partying to have a positive association with the game then I'm happy with it. I certainly don't want 7's to suffer from being only about the hardcore rugby fans, as XV's is often described as nowadays. I do agree that getting the best players into the game is important, but mainly only for credibility and recognition from the hard core XV's fans. Casual fans don't care who is on the field, so long as it's entertaining. It's the hardcore fans who see 7's as a waste of time that the top XV as side players would attract. The George Smith's and Matt Giteaus etc are the type of player who I expect to come into the picture closer to the Olympics. But I also expect there to be 7's specialists (as there are in NZ and RSA now) who develop their own techniques and strategies for the different game. I certainly don't want to see a permanent switch of talent over to 7's at the expense of 'real' rugby!

Fair enough, but I believe HK had the balance right in the 90s: serious rugby watchers and serious partygoers all catered for. If the balance tilts too much to the party side, you get the uninformed and uninitiated dismissing 7s as just a party game, dismissing the seriousness of the action on the field. I don’t wish to sound like a wet blanket but, speaking as someone who has been to countless 7s events around the globe for the past 20 years, I think 7s’ most pressing issue is getting the best players playing it rather than just up-and-comers and those who can play only 7s, as is the case now. We need more of the big guns on the field, those adept at both 15s and 7s. I hope this happens as we get towards 2016.

Fair enough, but I believe HK had the balance right in the 90s: serious rugby watchers and serious partygoers all catered for. If the balance tilts too much to the party side, you get idiots on these sites dismissing 7s as just a party game, dismissing the seriousness of the action on the field. I don't wish to sound like a wet blanket but, speaking as someone who has been to countless 7s events around the globe for the past 20 years, I think 7s' most pressing issue is getting the best players playing it rather than just up-and-comers and those who can play only 7s, as is the case now. We need more of the big guns on the field, those adept at both 15s and 7s. I hope this happens as get towards 2016.

I went last year and it was great. It's hard not to overemphasise the party element because I don't believe there'd be that many parties anywhere in the world better than the Wellington 7's. It's almost indescribable seeing a whole city in fancy dress having a good time. You look completely out of place (and feel like a weirdo) if you're not dressed up. It's all in good spirit too and because people aren't there just to watch Rugby then you don't get too many people unhappy if NZ doesn't win the thing. People love having fun and supporting the minnows. But the best part it just the fun that is associated with a 7's tournament. They short duration and large number of total games means you can afford to go grab a few beers (and drink a few more while you're waiting) under the stands and then come back out to watch another great matchup in the sunshine with your mates, and whoever else happens to be partying around you.

I feel sorry for the people of Adelaide with this topic...It smells a lot like the takeover of the Formula 1 GP from the 80's. Back then, it was generally accepted that Adelaide hosted a supurb yearly event (not sure how many they hosted in total, help??), but they did it well & fans, drivers, teams & corporates all agreed it was a great event. Then Melbourne "stole" it, from under their noses. I fear the same may happen with the 7's, if the locals there don't start jumping up & down & ensuring the next tournament is the best yet. Ideally, Adelaide would have a rectangular 40k seat venue (which wont happen), so perhaps, if it does move to the bigger eastern capital cities or alike, it is just market forces...shame if it does happen, the Barossa is a wonderful part of the world & a great side event around the 7's. Long live rugby!!