Brian O’Driscoll enters the Extreme ‘Death Zone’

Everyone who ever played 7s knows how tough the sport is - it's gruelling and ruthless out there on the pitch. If you reach the top level of the game you try everything to prepare for this torture. Brian O'Driscoll, former Ireland and Leinster star and one of the best-ever 15s player visited the England Sevens camp to find out why 7s athletes are among the fittest in the business.

The wait is over: Another big season kicks-off this weekend

This Friday marks the beginning of yet another World Sevens Series season with the renowned Dubai Sevens, the launch of another eventful year for the ever-growing game.

It’s the first stop of the 10-tournament circuit which covers events on all five continents, starting in Dubai this weekend before moving on to play in Cape Town a week later for the last tournament of the year. The new 7s year starts in Australia (Sydney) at the end of January closely followed by the New Zealand leg (Hamilton) at the beginning of February. 

In March, the 16 teams head to America to play a leg in the US (Las Vegas) and in Canada (Vancouver) a week later. The world-famous Hong Kong 7s and the Singapore 7s are on order in April before the series ends in June with the two European competitions in London and the series finale in Paris for the first time.

There are 15 core teams this season including Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Kenya, New Zealand, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, USA and Wales. In addition, one invitational on each round will complete the line-up. 

So much to play for this season

While the World Sevens Series remains an ever-growing and entertaining prospect, it’s just one highlight in another momentous 7s-year. The outstanding event will be the seventh Rugby Sevens World Cup in July. Hosted at the AT&T Park in San Francisco, the 41k-seated home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team promises to become a hugely expected three-day long mega-event. 

Unlike the annual World Sevens Series, the World Cup turned out to be a slightly more fortunate competition for the northern hemispheric teams. England won the inaugural event in 1993 on Scottish soil with famous characters like Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson before Wales produced a shock win over Argentina 2009 in Dubai to claim the title. 

However, since then both tournaments and the historical launch of the Olympic 7s event has been dominated by men’s and women’s teams from the Southern Hemisphere. New Zealand above all, proved that the hugely successful talent production includes not only world-class 15s-aside and Rugby League athletes but also countless skilled 7s players.  

Since the launch of the World Sevens Series in 1999, the Kiwis topped the table 12 out of 18 times at the end of the season and secured two World Cup titles, a record that shows how dominating they have been within this code of Union. However, in the past three seasons, Fiji topped the table twice while South Africa are the current champions following a perfect 2016/2017 season. England played a fine season and deservedly finished in a strong second position.  

Before the World Cup in San Francisco, the international 7s elite will be challenged at another global competition, the 21st Commonwealth Games at Australia’s Gold Coast. From the 13th to the 15th of April, 16 men’s and 8 women’s teams are competing for the medals. 

Who’s in the mix of silverware? 

If South Africa showcases a similar performance like last season, surely coach Neil Powell has an excellent chance to guide the current Series and Commonwealth champions to back-to-back wins. Key players such as Chris Dry and Rosko Specman, both members of last season’s World Series Dream Team and the hugely experienced Kyle Brown and Justin Geduld are all back on board. 

Kwagga Smith just interrupted his 7s-commitments with a few successful months of 15s with Super Rugby franchise Lions, Currie Cup side Golden Lions and a man-of-the-match performance for the Barbarians against the All Blacks.  He’s back also back now and ready to strengthen a squad which finished last season with an impressive 28-point winning margin over second-placed England.

Simon Amor’s England squad looks promising and with the outstanding captain, Tom Mitchell and record try scorer Dan Norton they will be a good chance to finish in the top-three again, however Dan Bibby, one of England’s key player, won’t be available due to injury which could be a difficult one to replace.

The bookmakers favour Olympic gold medallists Fiji to finish second behind South Africa. With a new coaching setup, Welsh coach Gareth Baber who replaced the hugely successful Ben Ryan required time to find the winning recipe for the Flying Fijians. They finished the season in the third position but snatched only one tournament win, the Hong Kong 7s. 

New Zealand, also under new guidance with Scottish coach Clark Laidlaw had a poor season, considering their enormously high standards. Laidlaw replaced coaching legend and IRB Hall of Fame member Gordon Tietjens, who stepped down after over 20 years in charge of New Zealand’s 7s team. Admittedly, not the easiest of tasks to follow such enormous footsteps, however failing to qualify for any Cup-finals during last year’s season must disappoint for any Kiwi fan. The nation is blessed with many top-stars such as the wonderful Tim Mikkelson and even though long-serving captain DJ Forbes announced his retirement New Zealand should be in the mix for the title. 

One team with the most impressive improvements in recent years are the US boys. Sevens guru Mike Friday has formed a world-class team since his arrival in 2014. Especially former sprinter Perry Baker, who is not only the overall top points scorer of last season but also the freshly crowned World Rugby Sevens player of the year, has helped his team to reach a historic fifth place finish last season. They made it to the final in Singapore but just fell short against rivals Canada. However, 7s is an ever-growing giant in the States and the future looks bright for Mike Friday’s team. Hosting the World Cup and the sixth round of the series offers another golden opportunity to showcase the enthusiastic passion for 7s made in America.  

Finally, it’s worth focussing on last year’s sixth-placed finisher Australia. In the last few years, the women’s side were the outstanding team from Down Under especially with the sensational Gold medal win in Rio. But the men’s team had a strong pre-season bagging a few important tournament wins, which should give Andy Friend’s outfit a confidence boost. Skipper Lewi Holland is optimistic, especially with the Commonwealth Games on home soil, this might be a very successful season for Australian rugby.

The World Sevens Series kicks-off this Friday 1st of December with the Dubai Sevens at The Sevens Stadium and concludes on Saturday the 2nd of December.  For all tournament details and a full schedule click here.

Quick Links

World Sevens Series | Website

Rugby Sevens World Cup | Website

Commonwealth Games | Website

Jamaica and Mexico qualify for RWC Sevens 2018

TEXT & PICTURES: WORLD RUGBY

Jamaica’s men and Mexico’s women have qualified for RWC Sevens 2018 after winning their respective Rugby Americas North Sevens Championship titles.

Jamaica and Mexico will compete at a Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament for the first time in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively after being crowned Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens champions. 

Both sides had to dig deep to get a ticket to next year’s San Francisco showpiece, with Jamaica’s men needing a last-minute match-winner to see off the threat of pre-tournament favourites Guyana in the final, while the Mexican women overcame a loss in their second game to pull through.

In addition to playing at RWC Sevens 2018, the sides also qualified for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation (CACSO) Games, Commonwealth Games and the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier in Hong Kong next April.

Jamaica scored 61 points without conceding any in reply in wins over the Dominican Republic and Bermuda to top Pool B. Guyana and hosts Mexico finished top of the pile in the other two pools.

Having beaten the Cayman Islands in a two-point game in the quarter-finals, Jamaica ended Mexico’s hopes of a home final with a 26-12 win in the semis. Ultimately, Mexico had to settle for the bronze medal, after beating Trinidad and Tobago for the second time in the space of two days, while Jamaica met six-time holders Guyana for top honours.

It looked as though Guyana would be the team to make it to San Francisco, but Jamaica’s Conan Osborne ended their dream and sparked wild scenes of celebration among his own team when he crossed in the dying seconds to snatch an historic 28-24 victory. 

Buoyed by the passionate home support inside Campo Marte, hosts Mexico kicked off the round robin women’s competition with a 17-7 win over the Dominican Republic. But they were unable to back that up in their next game, a 26-14 loss to French Guyana, to leave their hopes of finishing first hanging in the balance.

However, further wins over Jamaica (22-7), Bermuda (34-0) and Guyana (17-12) meant the main prize was still at stake when they faced Trinidad and Tobago in a battle between the second and third seeds. They won the tensest of games, 5-0, thanks to a try from captain Dany Rosales.

“I am thrilled for the Mexican rugby community: the players, coaches, families and supporters that have helped us realise our dream. We have faced much adversity this year. This country and these players deserve this," said Mexico coach Robin MacDowell.

For Rosa Riivera, a seven-year veteran of the team, qualifying for RWC Sevens is “a dream come true.”

“It has been a pleasure to be part of this amazing project - the road to the World Cup. To get there, it is a dream come true. It has taken hard work, discipline, full commitment and passion for this beautiful sport, and we are now representing Mexico as one of the top 16 sides in the world.

“We are not only a team, we are a tight family chasing the same goal and making history for our country, all together.”

Live stream: Silicon Valley Sevens | Day 2

Don't miss the action from the second and final day of the Silicon Valley Sevens, live from the Avaya Stadium Stadium in San Jose. 

Quick Links

Silicon Valley Sevens | Website

Live stream: Silicon Valley Sevens

Pic: World Rugby

12 international top teams are competing at this weekend Silicon Valley Sevens at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. Beside the HSBC World Sevens Series teams England, Fiji, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, USA, Samoa and Japan this international world-class competition welcomes Chile, Ireland, China and Tonga to the two-day contest on Saturday and Sunday.  

Pool A

England, Canada, Samoa, Ireland

Pool B

Fiji, Australia, Japan, China

Pool C 

New Zealand, USA,  Chile, Tonga

The tournament is the perfect test to prepare for the first stage of the 2017/2018 World Sevens Series which kicks-off at the first weekend in December with the world-famous Dubai Sevens. Follow all the action live from the Silicon Valley Sevens here on 7bamboos.com.

Quick Links

Silicon Valley Sevens | Website