Lead columnist and ‘The Voice of Sevens’ Nigel Starmer-Smith gives his regular thoughts on the elite global game.

As we saw in my review last week whilst no-one could stop the New Zealand trail of success in 2002/03, England came closest to wresting the overall series title from them for the next two years.

In fact it was only the marginally greater consistency of New Zealand's performances - an edge probably owing much to Tietjens' demands and fitness disciplines - plus the return at 38 of Eric Rush to steady the ship - that kept them ahead. England perhaps blew it in the opening rounds, trailing badly, but recovered to win 3 of the last 5 tournaments. For whilst New Zealand ended with just the two Cup wins that season, and failed once to make a Cup semi-final for the first time ever (in London), they still finished four points clear in the end.

England and Boks closing the Kiwi gap

All the while that shrewdest of talent-spotters, Gordon Tietjens, was unveiling new 'products', perhaps seen in the local park game, or plucked from the ranks of schools and youth squads. Arriving on the scene, almost unheralded, came 18-year-olds like Liam Messam and Hosea Gear, 19-year-olds like Rudi Wolf and Anthony Tuitavake, and Scott Waldrom - all, today, full All Blacks! They joined the nucleus of the regular squad; Tenana and Rush, de Goldi and Wilson, Ioasa, Kinikinilau and Valence.

Meanwhile England's arrival at the 'top table' was echoed by the emergence of others as the gulf between the top two 'original' sevens nations and the next tier narrowed by the season. It was no longer a two-horse race. South Africa added a second cup title, in Cardiff, in 2003, coached by Chester Williams and inspired by Fabien Juries and Marius Schoeman, whilst the runners-up that day, Argentina, motivated anew by Henri Rouca Oliva, turned history on its head with a first victory over New Zealand, and with it a first IRB Sevens title in Los Angeles, 2004.

That series of 2003/04, the fifth saw history almost repeat itself, as England once again beat New Zealand three tournaments to two, but failed to capitalise on France's first win over NZ in the Cup quarter-final in Singapore. England's overall title challenge was all but drowned in the tropical storms, falling at the same stage to the newly confident Pumas and their fraternal duo Pablo and Santiago Gomez-Cora - only for South Africa to upstage them all with the tournament win.

So, following 4 different Cup winners in World Series 3, and four again in Series 4, by 2004/05 and the fifth season there were six different Cup Final pairings out of the seven events. This time it was France who made the breakthrough, with finally a reward for their indefatigable, extrovert coach Thierry Janeczek, who as a player from Tarbes had represented France in the very first season of the IRB Sevens. Vincent Clerc was the big name recruit in the squad for their home tournament in Paris, but it was one of the relative then unknowns, Julien Malzieu, who won the Player of the Tournament award.

Floundering Fiji on the comeback trail

Meanwhile, what of the nation which had alongside New Zealand dominated the world of Sevens for some 30 or so years? At the start of the 2005 season Fiji had won not a single IRB title for 3 years. And this from a country in which Sevens was king and their national sport, which had won 10 Hong Kong titles, the World Cup Sevens in 1997 and had a population more demanding and expectant of success than any other. It was the Fijians, coupled with the name of Serevi, who had for so many years captivated all watchers through their distinctive, and instinctive, running and handling skills and had provided the unsurpassed entertainment that had helped to bring Sevens to the notice of the world.

But since their win in George 2002 little had gone right. Failure mounted upon failure. Things got more and more desperate as they fought to recapture old glories. Player and public discontent , wrangles over selection policy and the refusal to include players who were plying their trade overseas (and the refusal of overseas teams to release them - Serevi and Delasau amongst them), changes of management, combined to undermine the confidence of both the team and individuals within them. Not that there was a shortage of talent - Nanuku, Daunivucu, Bolavucu, Rokobiau, Davu and Naqelevuki would have graced any line-up. But a lack of continuity in selection and management and perhaps an absence of big ball-winning forwards, saw the problems mount.

However a new-look Fiji was on the horizon, complete this time with its complement of overseas-based players - Serevi, the Satalas, Delasau, Naevo, Vunibaka, Rawaqa, and Bobo - at the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, 2005. The old 'Fijian flair' was restored, the form book was torn up, the fairytale return complete and the end result was the proclamation by the Fijian Prime minister of a National Holiday to celebrate an unheralded, amazing triumph.

The 'outsiders' returned to their 15-a-side domains, but Serevi, fresh from Staines Rugby Club, didn't fly away but simply walked across the Seven Seas to become the new player-captain, and joint-coach with Jo Savou.

The New Serevi

There was to be one further factor in the creation of this welcome revival- the discovery of a rugby 'gem', who's Fiji Sevens debut had come at that World Cup, in which he scored 7 tries and kicked 8 conversions. This 22-year-old from Lautoka, a Serevi in a younger guise, was William Ryder. And although his time in the Sevens' limelight was but brief, (ultimately, I would suggest, because of his inability to cope with his sudden rise to international fame), no one player, not even Serevi, Lomu, Rush or Campese, so dominated the scene or shone quite so brilliantly in the world of Sevens. An unbridled talent, sadly to be lost too soon to the game.

Ryder's arrival, as if from nowhere, coincided not just with that World Cup triumph, but the subsequent return of Fiji to glory days in the IRB Series of 2005/06. For the first time since the start of the action in 1999 New Zealand fell out of contention, shell-shocked, perhaps, by failing to win the World Cup after so much success year on year. Unbelievably they failed to make even one tournament final as Fiji, South Africa and England battled for the season's honours.

It was Fiji who triumphed, appearing in 7 of the 8 Cup finals, winning four of them, whilst Ryder, untamed, scored some 33 tries in the first six events. His troubles were not long delayed in coming to the surface as he was then de-selected from the squad for not arriving back at training camp in time, following his honeymoon holiday.

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Join us next week for the fourth and final part of Starmer’s review looking back at the last decade of the IRB Sevens as we celebrate its 10 year anniversary!