Sometimes I will feel the need to give you a story or set out something I feel strongly about with a beginning, middle and an end, but often I just want to make some points to the world of the internet and I thank UR7s.com for giving me a platform to do so.

Here are, fittingly, Seven thoughts I have ahead of the first leg in Dubai next week and for the rest of the season.

1. South Africa will not run away with the World Series. Paul Treu has his men primed for the defence of their title and the fact that they live and breathe Sevens as full-time international Sevens specialists has many thinking that we are moving away from the Kiwi era and into a Boks one.

I highly doubt this however because the margins are just too small in this game. The middle tier nations are not far behind the elite and the games are too short. It’s a cliché that any team can beat another on any day, but in the case of international Sevens there are 10 teams who are regularly going to beat the others around them. Yes England, South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand will win more than they lose but multiple tournaments on the bounce? Sorry but those days are dead and that's great news for us - the fans of the game.

2. Further to the above - the Series will be decided in Edinburgh with three teams going into the final leg in May with a chance to take home the trophy – FACT.

3. New stars will be born. Every year a group of players put their hands up and join the upper echelons of the game.

It has a lot to do with the turnover of players in the Sevens game moving onto the other version of the sport and this year I expect to see the following players really make a mark on the Series.

- Christian Wade - have been saying it for 18 months, the kid can seriously move!

- JW Jonker - once Paul Treu gives this guy a go, he is going to shock a fair few people outside of the Free State.

- Edward Quirk - like Wade, Quirk is only 18 but this kid may help the Aussies drop their journeyman tag.

4. France will make at least one final on the circuit this season. With five minutes to go, France are three points up against South Africa in the other version of the sport and they are still trying to play rugby (England management please note).

They are passing ball and keeping it alive like they are in the final of the Hong Kong Sevens in the 1980s. Last year France were once again anonymous on the World Series - why? They didn't really care! That will change this year with 2010 seeing the birth of a huge amount of Sevens tournaments in France.

The elite performance departments are also finally looking at Sevens as a development tool and the great French centurion Phillipe Sella is championing the game in his beloved country. I expect to see the best young players in France being released from their Top 14 clubs to show their stuff on the turfs of Wellington and Vegas from February onwards. (NB. They won't make the Cup in Dubai or George).

5. Wales had that freak tournament we have all dreamed about. 'Wales won the World Cup' - still sounds weird, doesn't it? More power to them. I love the fact that they achieved this in the Olympic decision year. They had been pretty poor in the tournaments preceding the World Cup and worse in the following tournaments.

What do we expect from them this year with some central contracts? More of the same - middle of the pack rugby. Having said all of that no-one can take away from those 12 players that they are currently Sevens World Champions and will be until 2013. Sevens is a crazy world.

6. ‘America will one day be a super power in Rugby 7s.’ No they won't. I don't buy into this. This is the popular throwaway line at the moment, as it has been with rugby in America for 10 years. Olympic inclusion means they will get extra money, exposure etc and they have a National Championship, IRB Event, CCS etc.

But USA Rugby has never been poor and they have had a lot of the structure in Sevens for far longer than other better performing nations and rugby has been played in the states for years. The USA side spent more time together than England by about 75%.

I don't care whether they supposedly have better athletes than the rest of the world waiting to get the urge to play rugby because unless children start choosing the sport over the other major sports (I include soccer in this) when they are young,

America will never become a super power. I cannot agree you can pick up the athletes that don't make it in other sports and turn them into world class athletes in our sport. I respect our sport too much. Period.

7. Chris Cracknell will play more minutes than any other player in the World Series. Ben Ryan loves using the engine of the big man. Crackers is without a club at the moment in the UK after being released by Bath and will come into each event fresh and raring to go. Without any worries of annoying English clubs back at home worrying about him dropping weight drastically Ryan will probably use him for an average of 12-13 minutes per game for the whole season. Good luck Crackers and nice tan by the way.

Take it easy and see you at the Sevens!

Want to ask Jonathon a question? Find him on UR7s and questions and answers will be published in next weeks blogumn