'Monopoly' is a word that came to mind many times in the last month whilst following a rugby sevens ball around the globe.

The original Monopoly Board was top of mind as I made my way to London Heathrow to head off to the Singapore Cricket Club Rugby Sevens, courtesy of the SCC, Tourism Fiji and Air Pacific.

A tube strike meant a surprisingly enjoyable 90-minute walk to get to the train to the airport. The clogged London streets negated any thoughts of taking a bus, so a trek through the fading light from Angel Islington, up Pentonville Rd past King's Cross, along Euston Rd towards Marylebone Station and finally into Paddington instead took me past some famous places.

You do a lot of walking and get to take in a lot of transport on a three-week Sevens trip. Planes, trains and automobiles, not forgetting buses, taxis and even golf carts, are where you spend most of your time when you're not at the ground. Like the teams in any Sevens event, I had a mixture of world-class and also-rans.

A row to myself on Air Pacific was a treat, getting from the door of the aircraft to the luggage carousel in less than ten minutes in Singapore an absolute delight and riding their (Singapore's) MRT and taxis again a satisfying experience - cheap and efficient.

The trains up and down to the Gold Coast were also efficient, comfortable and cost-effective, but I found the bus drivers unhelpful (one didn't know where Albert Park was despite driving right past its vast greenery) and the lack of basic information such as timetables and route maps from Queensland Rail was incredibly frustrating.

Worst of all, though, were their fares - an unbelievable AUD15 (about 9 pounds) to get a mere one stop to the Brisbane airport for my departure from Australia. That's a monopoly for you!

Not many trains in Fiji, apart from the one carrying the sugar cane across the main island of Viti Levu, but a friendly minivan driver (who remarkably shares my exact birthday!) and an incredibly welcoming set of hosts at the Outrigger on the Lagoon made for a terrific stay.

There was some work involved in Fiji, namely watching their best club teams put up an incredibly competitive set of results at the Fiji Coral Coast Sevens, where none of the 24 teams went through unbeaten. But the monopoly the Fijians had on a certain "style" - when they didn't know what they were going to do so how could the opposition - has seemingly been lost.

The long passes, magnificent handling and audacious sidesteps were few and far between and instead there was, from some teams, an awful amount of kicking and an obvious lack of a game plan.

Let's hope the Fijian national team, who did not participate on the Coral Coast so should not be held to account for the above, turn on the old style in Dubai this week.

500 wins for Tietjens?!

The other monopoly was at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi a month earlier. Thanks to Herbalife (UK) I was fortunate to be there to see New Zealand continue their stranglehold on that particular event.

Gordon Tietjens' troops fought off a huge challenge from neighbours Australia to add to their gold medals from Kuala Lumpur (1998), Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006), all achieved under the master coach.

If there is a better mentor in the history of Rugby Union, let alone rugby sevens, then let him step forward. Tietjens has won a staggering 497 times in 573 matches in charge in 'international' tournaments (i.e. IRB Sevens, Rugby World Cup Sevens and Commonwealth Games, not counting events such as Hong Kong, Dubai or any others prior to the advent of the World Series) since 1994.

'Titch' will therefore bring up a milestone unheard of in rugby in Dubai, probably at the end of Day One when they play Argentina, dwarfing the 100 test match wins that countryman Graham Henry recently celebrated against Ireland.

After the Delhi triumph Hosea Gear credited Tietjens' legendary fitness sessions as the reason for his return to the All Blacks, where he starred. Liam Messam also returned to the side and Sherwin Stowers (Auckland Blues) and Kurt Baker (Wellington Hurricanes) graduated to the Super 15. Who would bet against these two, or the remaining players (Smith, Guildford, Forbes, Mikkelson, Arnold, Cama, Raikabula and Souness) pulling on the black shirt in the future?

What it means for New Zealand right now, though, is a new squad for the Dubai defending champions - six new caps joining five gold medal winners and the recalled Scott Waldrom (who, incidentally, was a major part of Taranaki's surprise win at the Gold Coast).

It's a similar situation for Australia (seven debutants), South Africa (six, albeit four of whom played at Delhi) and Fiji (six) and perhaps the most exciting aspect of Dubai this year is the factor of the unknown.

That aside, the experience of England (166 caps) and Samoa (234) will be telling and my pick is that one of these two - England twice a Dubai champion, Samoa twice a finalist - will lift the trophy at 7he Sevens this weekend.

So looking forward to more travel to be there for the start of the IRB season - there's nowhere quite like Dubai!

Related articles:

Stunning New Zealand claim CWG gold again
Penguins stun SA Vipers in Singapore epic
Taranaki storm past internationals at Gold Coast
Red Rock storm to Fiji Coral Coast title

Nick travelled to Delhi,Singapore,Gold Coast and Fiji thanks to Herbalife, SCC,Tourism Fiji and Air Pacific.