Round 5 on the HSBC Sevens World Series takes us to Sin City where thousands of rugby enthusiasts are flooding into Las Vegas for what promises to be three glorious days of non-stop action. As seen in previous years it will be the Fijian and Samoan fans that lead the chants – with the famous Kenyan section arriving late – but certainly making up for it in numbers!
New Zealand were just too strong last weekend in Wellington, storming to their second title of the season, thanks to 24-7 win over Fiji. Tomasi Cama and Frank Halai were tournament standouts, and with them on form in Vegas, the Kiwi’s will be hard to stop. My prediction is that Samoa or England will be challenging the log leaders come Sunday.
Las Vegas is a buzz with excitement, with well over 200 teams competing in the Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) tournament, which features various 7s and XVs sections for youth, college and club rugby just outside Sam Boyd Stadium. It is certainly the largest rugby event in the world, and with TV coverage on NBC Sports it’s doing wonders for bringing increased awareness of the game in the United States. In fact this year will see a record 17 international broadcasters and reach over 220 million homes in 110 countries. Below is the TV viewing schedule, or watch it online at Universal Sports.
For the home side, it has been an interesting few years. USA Eagles Head Coach, Al Caravelli, took over the reigns in 2006/2007 and saw instant success with his young squad recording impressive wins over Samoa, England, Australia, Argentina and Fiji in the first few years. The USA were then granted ‘core’ status in 2008/2009, taking over from neighbors Canada, and reached their first ever Cup final in Adelaide, Australia (2009/2010). Following that, the Eagles haven’t achieved the desired consistency, with a dip in form seen over the past two seasons. For the first time a squad of players (12 at the present moment) have signed full time contracts with USA Rugby and are living in San Diego, training at the wonderful Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista. The goal is for the US to break into the top 10 teams in the world, occasionally knocking off the top 8 sides. There is plenty of potential, but I don’t see that happening this season as it will take time to develop the new wave of young breakout players. Canada are one of the teams challenging the Eagles, making the Cup quarterfinals last weekend (and improving in each tournament), moving ahead of the Eagles on the points table. The pool match between these two rivals in Las Vegas will be extremely intense, especially with talk of a coaching change bringing something different to the USA program…
I am definitely a fan of the new IRB points system with a closer looking ladder. New Zealand are ahead by just 3 points, with Fiji, England and South Africa all challenging for the coveted World Series title. Don’t forget Las Vegas will see a new 3-day format with matches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
Round
5: Pools – Las Vegas, USA
Pool
A: New Zealand, Samoa, Australia, Japan
Pool
C: France, South Africa, Wales, Uruguay
[Click on each team above to see what items are available from World Rugby Shop!]
Catch all the updates on www.irbsevens.com.
If you’re in Las Vegas this weekend, post your fan photos on our Facebook page, and look out for columnist Dallen Stanford playing for the Tigers in the Elite 7s section!
The 2011/2012
HSBC Sevens World Series
Round
1: Australia – Fiji 26 New Zealand 12
Round
2: Dubai – England 29 France 12
Round
3: South Africa – New Zealand 31 South Africa 26
Round
4: New Zealand – New Zealand 24 Fiji 7
Round
5: USA – 10/12 February 2012
Round
6: Hong Kong – 23/25 March 2012
Round
7: Japan – 31 March / 1 April 2012
Round
8: Scotland – 5/6 May 2012
Round
9: England – 12/13 May 2012
___________________________________________________________________________________
Columnist Dallen Stanford played 54 matches for the USA on the IRB World Sevens Series from 2006-2009, including 13 IRB Sevens tournaments and the 2009 Sevens World Cup in Dubai. Stanford was the USA Eagles Team Media Manager for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, and currently works for the Tackling Cancer Foundation and Play Rugby USA.
