It’s been a really enjoyable but exhausting few weeks for me personally. First of all I hit Dubai then a week later it was time to throw myself on a flight to South Africa to report on the next leg. I had been expecting two very different tournaments and that’s exactly what I got.

Dubai couldn’t contrast much more from South Africa. Ridiculous skyscrapers and some of the most advance architectural structures all plonked in a desert in one and stunning mountain ranges, rolling surf and the Garden Route in the other. I’m sure you can guess which is which.

That wasn’t the only major differences I experienced on my adventures. In Dubai I stayed in a rather ‘pimping’ hotel with seemingly every need catered for. Yet as anyone who has been to ‘The Sevens’ stadium will tell you the journey is anything but a laugh a minute.

Trying to explain to the local taxi men what rugby was is hard enough as is stomaching the long drive there and back each day. In South Africa I crashed with a pal in Cape Town for a couple of days then hired the most unflattering granny car possible and drove 4 hours up the N2 to George. No flash hotels and rooftop pools here, more a small B & B including a motherly Landlady who to be fair was an awesome host and made me feel right at home.

There really isn’t much to George, just a small honest little town surround by incredible Outeniqua Mountains. It was the place where former Proteas cricket captain, Hansie Cronje, met his tragic end when his plane crashed in 2002.

Tournaments bring own unique charms

So what of the tournaments themselves? Again so different. Dubai not only hosted the International boys in the IRB event, but also 1500 other rugby players with 11 other tournaments running alongside the main event. ‘The Sevens’ has four other pitches surrounding the main arena, all in pristine condition.

The place is literally coated in Emirates (the tournament’s major sponsor) branding with a huge corporate element to the day.

With expatriates dominating the event with some resourceful fancy dress and a glut of worldwide media, it all adds up to make a hugely impressive operation. George’s Quteniqua Park hosted the 16 teams a week later, and with a max capacity of 10,000 is a different kettle of fish.

South African’s possess some of the most passionate and patriotic rugby fans around and many of them were here purely to witness the mighty Blitzbokke retain the title they won for the first time a year ago.

You might have Samoa battling it out with New Zealand on the pitch but when the fans spot their beloved Boks returning from their warm-up into the changing rooms literally the whole place gets to its feet to roar them on. You got to admire their fire.

A nice difference with George compared to other legs on the IRB Circuit is that because it’s less of a festival and party, the spectators are there to watch the rugby and won’t worry if their wigs are staying on or their tutus are in place.

Being placed in the middle of the partisan atmosphere in George is almost refreshing with the crowd watching each play with intent, all having their own views on the refereeing, making for a refreshing change to the typical fans at other events who by the end of the day are a little zonked to know what’s going on.

The one solitary scoreboard at Outeniqua Park was a constant source of amusement. On day 1 I couldn’t read it and on day 2 it stopped working altogether. Cheers. My limited arithmetic skills were called into play, so apologies if there was some errors on the Live Text!

Hitting all these tournaments I’m starting to see some familiar faces at each event with journalists, IRB guys, referees and of course the players and coaches. With everything moving at 100mph it’s difficult to get to see everybody you want to. Events like Dubai and Hong Kong will ship out a lot of International press making the trip out courtesy of free flights from sponsors, but perhaps the smaller tournaments, such as George, you won’t get that much of a presence.

It can sometimes make for lonely viewing. Only myself and one of UR7s’ writers, Nick Jordan, made up the entourage of international media in George. On day 2 the domestic South African press had mostly packed up as soon as the Blitzbokke were out the Cup.

Such is the rush to clear up at the end of the day I’m often one of the last remaining souls finishing off my end of day copy with the cleaner rustling around my feet clearing up the copious amount of teamsheets, results sheets and all the stats the IRB provide. Enough to take out a small rain forest believe me.

After the weekend’s slog I try and get out and do some touristy stuff. Well in Dubai if you have seen one skyscraper, you’ve seen them all. So...that meant catching up on some much needed sleep by the pool, but in South Africa after heading back to Cape Town I went up Table Mountain and paid a visit to the Cape of Good Hope. Both absolutely stunning. Beats the commute on Northern Line in London any day!

Vegas baby!

So what next? Well we have two massive tournaments in Wellington and Las Vegas to look forward to in February. Wellington is one of the best tournaments out there with the whole of New Zealand heading north in fancy-dress for the biggest weekend of the year.

Vegas have never hosted IRB Sevens so it’s a bit of a step in the unknown but it is bound to spectacular. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love ‘The Vegas’. I don’t know quite know how I’m going to get from New Zealand to Vegas; on paper it looks like a logistical nightmare, but don’t you worry I’ll get there somehow!

Day 2 IRB George Sevens: As it Happpened

Day 2 IRB Dubai Sevens: As it happened

UR7s - 'Best of Dubai/George VII'