The largest rugby event in North America is set to take place at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas from February 11th to February 13th. The tournament will feature hundreds of rugby players – including an international section called the World Sevens Series as well as social divisions in the Las Vegas Invitational (LVI).
The HSBC Sevens World Series is a grand prix style event that hosts the top 12 rugby sevens teams during eight fiercely contested tournaments. The 2010/2011 schedule includes:
Dubai (UAE): 3-4 December 2010
George (South Africa): 10-11 December 2010
Wellington (New Zealand): 4-5 February 2011
Las Vegas (USA): 12-13 February 2011
Hong Kong: 25-27 March 2011
Adelaide (Australia): 2-3 April 2011
London (England): 21-22 May 2011
Edinburgh (Scotland): 28-29 May 2011
Each tournament field’s 16 teams – of which 12 are called the core sides that play in all eight – with 4 teams receiving special invitations. The 12 core teams are: England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Fiji, Samoa, USA, Wales, Scotland, France, Argentina and Kenya. The teams will contest each event over a two-day period, in which they play 5 to 6 matches each. Hong Kong – the most famous 7s venue – sees 24 sides taking part over a three-day period.
The Sevens World Cup is the exact same format as Hong Kong, but takes place every four years. The 2009 Sevens World Cup was surprisingly won by Wales in Dubai (UAE) – with Russia hosting the 2013 edition. That will officially be the final Sevens World Cup event, with rugby sevens being featured for the first time in the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.
The Sevens World Series has already kicked off with England taking the Dubai title by defeating Samoa 29-21. A week later New Zealand – recently crowned Commonwealth Games champions – bounced back in George (South Africa) to win a thrilling 22-19 final.
Teams receive points on their tournament standings, which is how the eventually winner is decided. To keep the competition exciting, Day 1 of an event sees all 16 team play three pool matches. This then places the top 8 sides in the Cup competition, and the bottom 8 sides in the Bowl competition. Should you lose your first match on Day 2 you enter the Plate and Shield divisions.
Series Ranking Points System:
Cup Winner: 24 points
Cup Runner Up: 20 points
Cup Semi Final: 16 points
Cup Quarter Final: 6 points
Plate Winner: 12 points
Plate Runner Up: 8 points
Plate Semi Final: 6 points
Bowl Winner: 4 points
Most teams on the Sevens World Series are full time contracted sevens players, while teams like the USA gather two weeks before the tournaments to prepare. After the 2012 Olympics the USA will hope to contract full time players, with funding being made available.
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| The USA 7s team pictured in George, South Africa |
With that in mind the USA is currently ranked 9th in the world, and performed extremely well in Dubai reaching the Cup quarterfinals. Next up the sides will travel to Wellington (New Zealand), before touching down on American soil for the Las Vegas tournament.
| Team | DUB | RSA | NZL | USA | HKG | AUS | ENG | SCO | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | ENGLAND | 24 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
| 2 |  | NEW ZEALAND | 16 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 3 |  | SAMOA | 20 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 4 |  | FIJI | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 |  | SOUTH AFRICA | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 6 |  | AUSTRALIA | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 |  | ARGENTINA | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
 | WALES | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 9 |  | UNITED STATES | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 |  | SCOTLAND | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Spectators looking for more information about the Vegas event – please visit the USA Sevens website - plus we will be featuring further articles leading up to the exciting tournament.
Photo Credits: www.PakisCorner.com
Photo Credits: www.PakisCorner.com
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