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Nick Jordan gives us his thoughts on last weekend''s Adelaide Sevens.

If there was any doubt, the Adelaide Sevens confirmed that the world is changing in the abbreviated code.

Only a miracle will see anyone other than South Africa named IRB Series champion late next month. The Boks' 104 points puts them 28 clear of England with two to play.

However, with all due respect to Paul Treu and co, Kenya making their first ever IRB Sevens Cup Final was the bigger achievement at the Adelaide Oval. With USA making the quarter final in both San Diego and Wellington and Portugal getting to the same point in George - in fact winning their pool - this really is a sport where any one of five or six teams could be the champion.

It was Kenya's third semi final in the last four tournaments, not counting the RWC where they lost to Argentina in the semi, and they actually trounced the RWC Sevens winners Wales by simply being too big, too strong, too fast and too experienced - remarkably the Kenyan side had the most caps of all 16 teams in Adelaide.

Treu paid respect to his African neighbours after their 26-7 win.

"Credit to Kenya to make their first IRB final, they deserve to be there".

But as the likes of Kenya, the Yanks and Portugal establish a Sevens presence, the performances of France and Australia must be of some concern.

France once again did no better than the Bowl and have only made the quarter finals twice in the last 18 tournaments.

With such a youthful team the Aussies 7 have struggled most of the season but finally they showed some potential on days 1 and 2 going unbeaten in the pool stages with super wins against their old foes the Poms and then defeating Samoa for the first time in four years. Their lack of experience resulted in another early exit though in the quarter-finals and they face their critics. The Aussies have only made three semi finals the last five seasons, yet they remain a core team and get invited to all eight events. Some would argue it’s perhaps better to break free from the establishment and encourage the likes of Japan, Canada and the Cook Islands, i.e. places where rugby could really grow more?

And what about the tournament locations? When the IRB introduced the Sevens circuit in 1999, they spoke about taking events to exotic places. Dubai and Hong Kong fit that bill, as did Punta del Este, Santiago and Shanghai in their day. Now, however, five of the tournaments are in "rugby countries" and perhaps Dublin should really take a punt both in order to grow the game and further impress the IOC as the decision on Olympic inclusion gets ever closer. With Kenya, Fiji and Argentina a consistent force on the field, imagine seeing massive home crowds cheering on their heroes in Nairobi, Suva or again at Mar del Plata.

The Adelaide tournament had an official attendance of 28,186, down on some of the other IRB locations, but it’s a different type of tournament to the crazy antics of Wellington or the grandiose nature of Hong Kong. On the whole it was an older crowd, overwhelmingly male and used to an afternoon on the beautiful embankment rather than up for a party. The atmosphere was kept alive by the 800 Kenyan fans, obviously with plenty to cheer about, and one delightful moment when the vanquished Argentineans performed Zorba's Dance in front of them.

The Friday night concept encouraged a disappointing 5000 fans and ARU CEO John O'Neill spoke about a boost to the marketing budget to encourage the crowds to Adelaide, which has two years to run on its contract – it didn’t help that it clashed with an Adelaide Crows game too. But with one side of the stadium closed for renovation (due for completion late 2010) and a global recession the crowds were always likely to be down.

And operationally, the venue still has work to do. The sticky cricket block covering 20 x 20 metres made for some messy footwork and there were a couple of laughable security moments, such as giving the best-dressed competitors (Human banana and Kangaroo etc) an accreditation pass to get on the field for some meaningless contest!?

On a slightly more positive note it seems that the Australian Rugby’s administrators are beginning too see the vast potential of sevens. Australia 15s coach, Robbie Deans, a Kiwi himself perhaps himself recognising the benefits of fully functioning sevens unit from looking at the New Zealand model, became the latest high-profile rugby figure to back Sevens' mooted entry into the Olympic Games. John O’Neil also stated discussions had started over the possibility of the City hosting the next World Cup.

"There's no firm commitment from anyone but it's been the subject of a bit of discussion over a few oysters today," O'Neill said yesterday. The possibility of Adelaide hosting the 2013 rugby World Cup Sevens tournament is worthwhile thinking about. It seems the Aussies are getting their sevens act together!

The conclusion of the tournament was somewhat overshadowed by the tragic death of Shawn Mackay on Monday morning. A former Australian Sevens player, Women’s Sevens Coach, and this season a Brumbie. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and teammates.