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Tom Chick

Whilst the New Zealand leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in Wellington is taking centre stage this weekend, USA Sevens is gearing up to host the fourth leg of the circuit in Las Vegas for the first time on February 13-14.

With 16 top nations continuing to look for circuit points in the iconic city of Las Vegas, the move to the most entertaining city in the world also brings with it the premier social rugby tournament in America – now billed as the Las Vegas Invitational – and an opportunity to become one of the most exhilarating legs on the IRB tour.

With the movement in Sevens continually on the up following the Olympic decision, the Las Vegas Sevens will break new boundaries beginning with this year’s LVI – replacing the previous San Diego Invitational for obvious reasons – which will be bigger than ever and add to the excitement surrounding the city of Las Vegas’ initiation on the circuit.

Tournament Director John Hinkin identified the magnitude of the growth of the SDI in recent years - creating a perfect platform for the LVI to take over the mantle at the Sam Boyd Stadium Complex next weekend.

“When the USA Sevens moved to San Diego in 2007 I was approached to come up with an event (SDI). With very little time we ended up with an eight-team Men’s 7s tournament and a six-team Womens,” said Hinkin.

“The next year we grew to 64 teams, and last year we had over 100 teams and 140 matches. This year we have added the Championship Cup Series and with the move to Las Vegas we have noticed an uptick in International Club teams wanting to play.

"Along with all the same divisions as years past we added the Elite7’s Division with teams from Fiji, England, Australia, France, Canada, Mexico and as well as all over the United Sates. We will have 14 full fields with even more teams this year.”

Inaugural CCS adding to the party

This will be the first year that the CCS will be incorporated into the schedule and it will be a fascinating addition for the fans.

Although the last teams qualified back in November and the finals fall outside of the country’s Sevens season, the eagerly anticipated CCS will mark not only the rise of the USA leg on the IRB circuit, but also an enthralling climax to what was a very successful USA Sevens domestic season.

10 of the 12 teams competing qualified from the five premier Sevens tournaments in America to participate in what will be an historical weekend in Las Vegas for those in attendance, and two teams have been added as wild-cards.

The NY Thanksgiving Sevens saw the last two teams qualify in November (NOVA and NYAC), completing the line-up consisting of some of the best Sevens teams in America; US Nationals Champions Belmont Shore, Aspen, OMBAC, Denver, Glendale, Kansas City, Long Island, Golden Gate and Old Blue.

With qualifying taking place at the Las Vegas Midnight, Cape Fear, Denver and Kansas City Sevens, throughout the US Sevens season, these players will be chomping at the bit to be the first winners of the tournament that is the second-tier elite competition (under the IRB Series), similar to that of the Asian Sevens Series and the upcoming UK National Sevens Series.

Not only is the CCS going to play a major role in this year’s LVI, the International Invitational is also growing, with more teams seeing this as a premier tournament they want to be a part of - again marking the potential the Las Vegas Sevens has to compete with the best legs on the circuit.

Huge potential for Sevens in Vegas

USA Sevens have worked with UR7s Tours to bring some of the premier and most established sides on the global invitational circuit to the event, including Les Bleus, Samurai and Uprising Resort, and there are indications of a very bright future for Sevens in Las Vegas.

“Those two tournaments within the LVI have transformed us from a significant tournament within the USA to a significant tournament around the world,” added Hinkin.

“We are looking to increase the CCS tournaments leading up to the Finals in Las Vegas and bring in more teams and we have already had interest from 20 teams from many countries to play in the Elite Sevens next year.

“We had many teams express interest but dropout in the past few weeks due to the economic climate but, with a year to plan, I can’t wait to see the line up in 2011.”

This is just one of a handful of opportunities that suggests there are a huge number of possibilities with the LVI.

Not only is the Sevens set up beginning to look a lot like that of Dubai with hundreds of teams participating in numerous different categories, with both men, women and collegiate teams taking to the fields, there is a view to match the 11 divisions at Dubai next year in Las Vegas.

But where else on the circuit can we say the off field shenanigans match that of those on the pitch? Hong Kong is infamous for its social side of course, but Las Vegas has the potential to mix it with the best, offering casinos and clubs to keep fans and players alike entertained.

Billed as the entertainment capital of the world, where else could players expect to have an opening party at the Hooters Hotel, where many of the teams will also be staying, and a closing party at the Hard Rock Cafe.

“Las Vegas is a very interesting place, short term and overall we have had a big interest gained worldwide. That has a bunch to do with Vegas being Vegas,” added Hinkin.

But it is now time for the talking to stop and for the Mecca of boxing to take the mantle and embrace the world that is Rugby Sevens – but it is an opportunity that USA Sevens will be grabbing with both hands.

“With any business, you either grow or die, we will grow. Not only will we grow within our divisions but also with many ancillary events that will take place. This will become Rugby Week in North America.”