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In between bouts of Las Vegas inspired indulgence, our official duties were twofold. Robin, evidently the brains of the operation, was charged with keeping the world at large up to date on every score, story and snippet of information via the power of Live Text.

Like a wittier, less cringe worthy version of TMS, his observations from the impressive Sam Boyd stadium formed the basis our presence.

My role was somewhat more perfunctory, although it did have its perks. Our plot next to the Hooters stand was, from a business perspective, most distracting – both for our potential customers and ourselves. However, I soon overcame my fist shaking indignation and learnt to live with Brandeen, Kristy, and Anna Mae.

Despite the distraction I met legions of enthusiastic American Sevens fans, most of whom, it seemed, had been won over by the sheer pace of the game. We duly provided them with some UR7s balls with which to spread the gospel, and we hope that the good word is now out crossing the land on horseback.

It was a great pleasure to finally meet up with transient UR7’s columnist Dallen Stanford, and our mates Dumont Walker, Sharon Lovell, Jen Sinkler and Jon Hinkin. Without their help and that of the DC rugby boys, who did us a big favour helping out on the promotional side, I wouldn’t have caught a minute of rugby myself.

What I missed was filled in by Robin and Tom, who reliably inform me that Samurai controlled the Elite Invitational of the LVI with their usual combination of power and precision, and Belmont Shore cleaned up in the very competitive CCS Finals.

What action I did catch was done from the superbly air conditioned Press Centre. After the artificial arctic power of the fans, it was a toss up between a gratuitous supply of Mountain Dew and the presence of Nigel Starmer-Smith live from the commentary box for the most attractive perk of the week. Robin was far too attached to his keyboard to indulge in such pleasures.

I offered my services so that he might savour these gratuities, however, I process words at the rate of a well-educated caveman, so my offer was professionally refused. The Mountain Dew version of ‘The Water Boy’ is where I eventually found my calling, but even then I felt my inner Kenyan beckoning me to the stands for the Semi-Final with NZ.

‘Passionate’ does not describe the response of the Kenyan travelling fans as Victor Odour piled over for the opening try. ‘Mental’, to use a politically incorrect but still appropriate term, does. These guys are turning into a serious force, and this is in no small part down to the attitude of their supporters.

I returned to the press box for the final. It was not the most competitive game in the history of sport; however, it did showcase some talent, particularly that of Samoa and individually Mikaele Pesamino - who was outstanding all weekend. The man can change direction at the speed of light and he relieved a number of players of their dignity in the most sublime manner.

After the climax of the Final, the teams decamped en masse to the obligatory after party around the pool at the Hard Rock. The US team had taken over and were hosting, as was to be expected. After we had published our last pieces of news, Robin and I joined the fray. We were placed in the very capable hands of the Rugby Sevens’ very own Van Wilder.

I’ll keep his identity under wraps but this man’s campus, is the Invitational Sevens circuit of which he has been a familiar face for many a year. He also isn’t afraid of a party.

He instigated, as his moniker would suggest, one of the finest nights experienced by UR7s. We were saddened, when walking through the hotel lobby at 6 in the morning, not to find R-Kelly coming back from ‘the party’.

The return journey was, as it always is, painful. After a dash across the desert we made our flight and returned to normality. We are going back next year, and we suggest that you join us.

If you are interested, we are not saying we are going to pay for your flights, just take a look at our tours pages for more news, pictures, videos and details on how to organise your own expedition. Believe me, you will not regret it.

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US Border Guard: “Why’ve you written in red, son?”

Me: “Well, erm, it was the only colour pen I had”.

US Border Guard: “Red is my colour, son. I’m gonna have to send you for an inspection. Please walk to the right”.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that US immigration officials are some of the people least likely to enjoy banter - of any kind. So, imagine my lack of surprise as I arrived at LAX for the Vegas Sevens to be greeted, with a sore head from the previous night’s Super Bowl party, to a bureaucratic re-enactment of the New Orleans Saint’s offence.

I had committed the heinous crime of using the sacred red ink reserved only for the use of immigration officials on my VISA form, and my punishment was to be subjected to a thorough search. Thankfully, they didn’t go the hole way.

As taxing as this experience was I was eventually released still in the possession of 200 (deflated) UR7s mini rugby balls. I would love to say that I kept them through my debonair charm and rapier wit, but there was most certainly some sweating and weight shifting action undertaken on my part.

The next stop was LA to meet with the rest of the gents from UR7s and begin the “Tour”. There are many, many hardships involved in bringing the public the most in depth, comprehensive news and analysis from the world of rugby sevens, and a week of West Coast sun, Women and Rugby was going to one of the hardest assignments we had ever undertaken.

But seriously, far from being an middle class English version of ‘Entourage’, we did some catching up and then got straight to work. Tom and I met Robin, who had just arrived from Wellington after his superb live text coverage of the Sevens there. So, like a pack of travelling salesmen, we huddled in our Holiday Inn rooms hunched over laptops and sheltered from the rain (not in the brochure), and the inevitable jet lag.

Still, after a few days of frustration, we picked up our desperately sensible hire car and headed East on the fabled I 15 across the desert to the adult funfair of Sin City. Vegas – it is one of those places, to propagate a successful advertising slogan, that, you “either love or hate”. I myself love it, especially after playing count-the-cacti for nine hours along a disturbingly straight road.

The Hard Rock is an institution in Las Vegas. It is to the city what Serevi is to Sevens, so our billeting there was most appropriate. Staying there allowed us great insight into the pre tournament behaviour of international Seven’s players, and I can now confirm that they are seriously focused eating, training and sleeping machines in the build up to a big one. The one exception, as always, was the Welsh team, whose banter is irrepressible – especially when confronted by Andy Powell’s new car!

Our location at the centre of the operation allowed Robin to get some great interviews with some legends of the game, all of which are available on the news section of the site. It also gave our team of young, virile, specimens of masculinity ample opportunity to partake in the more traditional activities on offer – both round the tables and at the bar.

Part Two is ready click here to see what happened next!

Merry Christmas to you all, I am on a train out of London to spend Christmas with my folks at home and would you believe it, the train is delayed; cheers national rail! This does, however, give me a perfect opportunity to pen a quick festive blog.

Just before I pile into what’s been happening at UR7s in recent weeks, I want you just to picture where I am, I am on a train with a million commuters and Christmas shoppers. Fortunately I managed to procure a seat with a table but at the cost of sitting next to a drastically over weight man who is intent on snoring all the way to Peterborough; lovely stuff.

Right, on to more interesting stuff than the 18:28 to Peterborough…

Christmas is upon us. I can tell this not because my advent calendar is fast approaching its final window, or because there is snow on the ground, but because of the activities of the UR7s staff. Robin is sporting a magnificent mahogany tan, which can only mean the IRB Series has started and he has been off on international duty following the IRB Sevens World Series doing his live text commentary. Stewart is showing great excitement about the prospect of turkey... those gym goers amongst you will know it is a great source of protein and very lean... the gas man’s Holy Grail. The normally very un-jolly Tom is merrily singing along to the rubbish Christmas tunes on Radio 1 and finally Tim has hot footed to somewhere hot and is most definitely not on a delayed train in East Anglia...cheers!

The only upside to this delayed train is I can cast my mind back over a great 6 months for me. I have graduated from my position of office fresher (intern) and now, despite what my colleagues think, I am vital cog in the UR7s wheel. Since my last blog I have been to plenty of Sevens tournaments, various sport business events, rugby players benefit dinners and assisting match directors in the Heineken Cup, getting vital insight into running the commercial and rugby aspects of elite level rugby. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the guys at ERC for letting me attend some games.

Despite all this fun stuff there has been some savage geeking going on. Online marketing taking up the bulk of my time and I am still finding and learning more ways to improve the reach of UR7s.com and despite a barrage of abuse from a colleague who sits behind me for being “dry dry dry” I do still enjoy it. Right, enough of that or you will all be as comatose as the portly gentleman to my right!

It hasn’t been all work and no play this year; we’ve had some funny times too. Personal highlights have to be Tim chatting to DJ Spoony live on Radio 5 about the Olympic decision, recruiting the Royal Navy to stop the speed cage blowing away at Newquay and listening to Austin Healey bantering Martin Johnson about the somewhat under par performance of the England team in the Autumn internationals. Ah, and of course listening to Tom’s plight as he struggled to get home from Edinburgh last weekend!

Looking forward to the teenies, if that is what the tabloid press chooses to call it, remember you heard it here first! There is stack loads of exciting stuff coming your way in 2010. There isn’t enough time to go into it now, but as you will know the UK national Sevens Series will be a great addition to the UK sevens scene and UR7s tours is really kicking off; Las Vegas 2010 is really shaping up to be a classic. Now this is not to sound like the hard sell but this is not one to be missed...Rugby Sevens in Vegas. Come on, need I say more?

Big news for us who work at UR7s, we are moving HQ from East to South West London. We fully understand this will have zero impact on our readers but it does mean we will be taking very pleasant walks to work now rather than the Northern line with 1 million other commuters...you might have noticed through this blog I’m not the biggest fan of trains.

Right I am about to get to my stop so I’m going to have to call it a day there, time for a week of overeating and relaxing. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all on UR7s.com in the New Year.

Finally, we love it when you guys let us know your opinion on Sevens or anything you’re up to so please keep commenting on articles, @ us on twitter and bantering on the Facebook fan page.

Barney

The dust seems to have settled, so I thought I’d reflect on the IOC’s decision and share some personal insights into what already seems to have changed in the world of Rugby Sevens, since it became an Olympic sport a couple of weeks back. No doubt the big exposure for Sevens will come in 2016, but I see the sport morphing over the next few years in anticipation of the attention that Rio will bring.

So what has changed in the last couple of weeks? Well, much speculation and very little that’s tangible. But, significantly, there has already been a fundamental shift in the way that Sevens is perceived – by governing bodies, press, media, broadcasters and sponsors.

Central Sevens contracts

Most tangible are the announcements by various national governing bodies of central contracts for Sevens players. This has come from traditional rugby playing countries as well as the ‘developing’ nations and is as clear an indication as any of the focus Sevens will now see at the highest levels of rugby administration. The more interesting question for me is whether these contracts are also a sign that Sevens players are increasingly being regarded as specialist at the highest level.

Mick Cleary won over at England 7s training camp

There’s been much speculation in the press about what impact Olympic inclusion will have on the world of rugby at large. As you might expect, some of the most enthusiastic optimism comes from less traditional rugby playing countries but – Jeff Probyn and one or two others aside – the reaction amongst traditional rugby press has also been surprisingly positive.

One of the most telling statements was seeing the Telegraph’s rugby correspondent, Mick Cleary, at the most recent England 7s training camp – a rare sight, if not unprecedented. More of a statement was his conclusion that ‘Sevens has changed’, alluding to its highly competitive nature, and his description of the session as ‘some of the most brutal fitness testing I’ve ever seen’.

Broadcasters sensing an opportunity

A frustration often expressed amongst the rugby community is how little TV exposure Sevens gets. If my experience in Monaco two weeks ago is anything to go by, this is all set to change. I was at Sportel, the global sports media conference. As I talked with various international broadcasters and media rights agencies, it struck me how – all of a sudden – they were only too willing to hear about the world of Sevens. The Olympic announcement has clearly nudged Sevens onto their radars.

Sponsorship in Sevens set to double

Likewise, we’ll see sponsors investing in the sport like never before and I don’t think they’ll be waiting until 2016. Olympic status has already brought with it a certain amount of credibility and there is now a rare opportunity for brands, like broadcasters, to get a foot in the door and take ‘ownership’ of Sevens properties around the world. Giles Morgan, Head of Sponsorship at HSBC, predicted that sponsorship in Sevens would double on the back of the Olympic decision. I see it growing exponentially in the coming years, particularly as greater structure comes into the game.

So these are some of the early signs that I’ve seen and, no doubt, there are more out there. I’ll continue to reflect, from time to time, on the developing landscape of Sevens as I see it. I’d love to hear other views and insights from around the rugby world – if you have any, do share them in a blog or forum post.

For everything 7s.

Follow the Founder on Twitter @TimLacey

Those of you that subscribe to the UR7s newsletter will have read that UR7s.com has recently taken on two new interns. Me being one of them and now that the UK season has come to an end I wanted to take this opportunity to blog about my life at UR7s HQ.

As an intern I was surprised when it was recently suggested to me that I might have the best job in Sevens but it got me thinking, is it true?

To be honest I couldn’t believe my luck when I was told I had got the internship initially. When I applied for the job I made the most schoolboy of errors and forgot to attach my CV to my covering email. However the very diligent Stewart Turton promptly emailed me back requesting I sent it again! Brilliant, I still got a shot!

A few days passed before I was invited for an interview in London, but this being my first post university job interview I panicked and went and immediately brought a new suit. Little did I know I will only ever wear it for funerals and weddings though - apparently sports’ marketing is a full time stash competition!

I was interviewed by Tim (the boss) and Stewart; to be honest all I really remember from it was feeling massively over dressed in my sharp new pin stripe while Stewart was chilling in this now famous Esher RFC boardies but it must have done the trick as I was offered the position.

I remember two things from my first day, both things the bosses said to me. Firstly I was told “if you want a job after the internship, make yourself indispensable.” The second was something the VP of business development said to me, which I am sure will stay with me for a while; “you are no longer a rugby fan, player or supporter, you work in rugby, if you see Lawrence Dallaglio, that is someone who works in your line of business and is not the England international.”

I pretended to take this on board, but in reality my head was spinning thinking that that was the coolest thing you could ever hear on your first day!

Down to the day job.

Five months ago the world of online marketing was a foreign land to me, I rather assumed it was a world where people who never saw sunlight worked and was something I side stepped with a William Ryder-esque style while at University. But now I find myself fully immersed in the world of Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Pay Per Click, Page Rank, Do follow Links and Google Analytics.

I have learnt that it is a vital tool for marketing yesterday, today and tomorrow and if I am going to succeed as a sports marketer I am going to need to learn all about it. Now at this stage I hope you have all got bored and are no longer reading this because I am about to say something I thought would never cross my keyboard. Right here goes....I quite like online marketing! There I said it.....Barnaby Harrison likes online marketing!

Sorry about that little moment of ‘finding myself’, let’s get onto the other aspects of my job.

At the end of my second week was the IRB London Sevens, my first opportunity to get out and see some Sevens rather than just talking about it online. When I arrived at Twickenham I met some of the other members of the UR7s staff; suffice to say they weren’t wearing Esher RFC boardies. I was greeted at Twickenham by four, boob tube wearing, legging clad girls known as the UR7s.com ‘7ettes’. I couldn’t believe my luck.

A few weeks passed and I was put in charge of running the UR7s presence at tournaments which included the speed cage and of course the 7ettes. To summarise, I have spent my summer at the UK’s premier Sevens events chatting about rugby Sevens and hanging out with four girls in boob tubes. Does it get better than that?

In fact yes it does because as well as this I have gained, and am very much still gaining, some invaluable skills that will aid me undoubtedly as I try to become a sports marketer.

Earlier I mentioned as an intern you have to make yourself indispensible, and I guess I have done enough to make do so as I have just been promoted from my position of office fresher and I am now going to be with UR7s for the foreseeable future. I like to think it’s the way I improved keyword ranking or managed the 7ettes but I can’t help but wonder whether my skills with a coffee pot have helped.

I wish I had time to tell you about some of my the other antics at UR7s, Newquay Surf Sevens, the day in the pub to watch England reclaim the Ashes, the endless banter that fly’s round our office, chatting with Ugo Monye and James Haskell at the RCUK Charity Sevens and of course Tim’s days as a rock n roll super star! However the Asian season is fast starting and I have to do some real work!

There is always so much happening at UR7s and I will do my best when I find another minute to give you an insight into what I have been up to. For the time being remember to log on to the Olympic rugby pages to play your part in helping rugby sevens get to the Olympics and please spread the word about UR7s.com!

Have I got the best job in sevens? To be honest it’s not far off but I think I would rather be Ollie Phillips carving it up on the IRB series.

Barney
 

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As we sized up our trip to Amsterdam, we began to question our decision to take the channel tunnel and drive across Europe to get to the Dam. Who needs air travel when you have Burwell’s mini? Mini by name, mini by nature – we squeezed in as much stash as we could and armed with a plethora of protein based foods, we set off to Folkestone get this show on the road.

Our initial advances across mainland Europe went without a hitch, we cruised through clear roads (70mph - tops) and crossed the border into Belgium. That’s France out of the way. Belgium, what can you offer us? Torrential rain, dubious music and savage levels of traffic at the Kennedy Tunnel in Antwerp!

‘Schehfflyltunnel’ read the road sign as we made our approach. I take it that means tunnel then. We’re still in Belgium but the road signs seem particularly Dutch. The Dutch language provides a constant source of amusement to me all weekend. By the looks of things, the process of translating an English word to Dutch involves adding a random selection of letters and jumbling them round a bit.

After the grittiest of traffic jams in Antwerp (the less said about this the better) we found some clear roads and despite the barrage of rain we picked up the speed and starting making some progress. We headed into Holland after stopping for some sausage (a little more protein) and the final part of our trip was done and dusted. We hit the hotel in Amsterdam had a couple cold Warsteiner beers, some chicken satay and hit the hay, the morning would bring an early start for the UR7s guys and gals and our first venture into promotions on the continent.

I woke up to find out that I had been drawn in to a team for the tournament, 6 weeks post knee operation with little more than a couple of track sessions under my belt. Cheers Burwell, thanks for consulting me first!

A Google Map was printed out to guide us to the ground; a leisurely 10 minute drive turned into a debacle, Burwell realising 30 minutes into the journey that the reason we were completely lost was because he was reading the map back to front. Which made his previous comment quite amusing: “It’s almost as if the map’s upside down”! Tom’s outburst can’t be reprinted here but it began with “Oh you are a... ” and rhymed with “Banker”.

We reached the ground, a pair of boots were sourced and one full set of stash later I found myself on the bench for the Plume of Feathers, the team named after the smallest pub in Wales, previous winners of the tournament back in 1989. Some rudimentary calculations were made, and it became apparent that they in fact had enough players and they didn’t need a 13th. So onto standby I went and back came the Saturday night razz onto the itinerary.

The UR7ettes went down a storm at the tournament, turning heads all day and on occasion causing passers by to chirp up with what I assumed to be the continental equivalent of ‘oi oi saveloy’.

The first day’s play featured the usual mismatches as the more competitive sides racked up as many points as possible to help their seeding for the second day. One of the clashes of the day was Samurai vs Leggie’s Legends, the team of front row forwards on tour for the stag do of Blackheath prop Simon Legg, who was my Club Captain at Exeter University. This is a man who loves nothing better than to scrummage, and has been known to purposely knock the ball on to have another crack at his opposite man.

Their tactics were simple. 1) Take a kick off that fails to go 10 metres, start a rolling maul from the impending scrum and score a try from it. 2) Repeat the routine for the rest of the game and hope for the best.

Samurai used all their experience when they opted for the free kick instead of the scrum, effectively scuppering their cunning plan! 77 unanswered points later and Samurai had a great start to a tournament they eventually won for the 5th year on the trot. Leggie was later seen in Susie’s Saloon dressed as the only gay in the village!

As the rugby came to an end on Day 1, the girls made their way back to the hotel and the boys got on the beers in preparation for the Guinness Premiership Final. The clubhouse was packed, so much so that Waisale Serevi had to make do with a seat on the floor! It was great to see the big man at the dam, always more than happy to have a chat and pose for a photo with people. A win for the tigers made Burwell happy; the sight of people straight arm bolting their pints outside in the rain did the same for me. Oh and it’s worth mentioning the canapés being handed out during the game truly were a lovely touch – not something that you get at every tournament.

A large one in Susie’s Saloon ensued, a potent mix of Snakebite & Blackcurrant and Jagerbombs in teacups did a number on us, so much so that I felt the need to lend a hand behind the bar at McDonalds. The queue was massive but for some reason they didn’t appreciate my help.

The rugby got more interesting on day 2 as the more competitive teams came up against sides of a similar standard. We caught the crowd favourites Kooga Wailers’ quarter-final vs Millfield Old Boys, which was well supported on the touchline. The Wailers drew big crowds for all their games; Dutchman Tim Visser’s involvement no doubt being a factor. Millfield were weakened by a few last minute dropouts prior to leaving the UK and were knocked out by the men from the north.

Next up was Stoned Pups in their fully pink stash, complete with tracksuit and under-armour, versus the International Marauders, who were one of two teams with Marauders in their name competing. The Pups edged this one with Ken Aseme having a good game after shrugging off his Susies Saloon induced hangover.

Unfortunately this was the last of the rugby we could squeeze in before we had to front up to the long drive home. A successful weekend ended with a gruelling but traffic free journey through Europe, including the Kennedy Tunnel in Antwerp much to our surprise. Amsterdam done, Twickenham here we come for the London Sevens!

Stewart Turton
for Everything 7s!

We're currently on our way back from the Crown Plaza hotel, out in the sticks near Heathrow, where the IRB Series teams are all arriving for their week in London ahead of this weekend's Twickenham leg.

Robin and I met for lunch with Paul Treu, the South African coach and runaway favourite to take home this season's Series Championship. He is what Will Greenwood would call a 'true student' of the game - one of a growing number of 7s coaching pioneers, continuously looking to advance the game on and off the pitch.

We shared all sorts of specific and more high level views on the game; for example, where it is headed and how to take it forward. It soon became clear that our thoughts are entirely aligned, so we discussed a few ideas for projects on which we can work together going forward.

In particular, he has some great ideas for sharing coaching tips with the wider 7s community and would like to see the 7s scene in South Africa develop. There are currently very few high quality tournaments and not much of an 'invitational' club circuit, as there is in Europe and the US.

In the near-term, he will be joining UR7s as a columnist, sharing his thoughts on a wide range of topics, from tips and philosophies on playing the game to life as an international coach and life on tour.

As we spoke, the Kiwi, Samoan and US teams arrived. The US team really did look fresh, as Robin had written about earlier in the day. Al Caravelli, the US coach, had already read the article and seems to be becoming one of UR7s.com's most avid supporters..! It was great to catch up with some of that crew and see them renew friendships that are built on sharing hotels and running rings around each other in 8 different countries every year.

Word has to go out to Kiwi captain DJ Forbes, however, whose beard vs bald battle is starting to get a little out of control.

TL
For everything 7s

UR7s has teamed up with the London leg of the IRB World 7s Series in a promotional partnership to give away 10 tickets every week for the next 4 weeks to the most active team on UR7s.com.

The London Sevens is the next and penultimate tournament of the 8-leg IRB World Series and takes place at Twickenham on 23rd and 24th May. If you play for a team, all you have to do to give your team mates a chance of bagging the tickets, is sign up as a member, blog on behalf of the team and upload videos or photos of the guys in action... and a weekend of festivities in front of some top international 7s could be yours to enjoy. Get to it!

For Everything 7s

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Similarly to San Diego I was sent packing to Hong Kong (HK) by the UR7s powers that be to perform my duties of providing a Live Text Commentary of the tournament form start to finish. Needless to say I wasn’t complaining - I was heading to one of the most notorious parties on the rugby calendar.

Being sent over all on my own was certainly an eye opener and forced me to be on my guard knowing I would be shoved in front of some pretty influential people. Most rugby enthusiasts know someone who has made the HK 7s pilgrimage and returned regaling stories of an unbelievable experience. I couldn’t wait to see sample the electric atmosphere amongst the anarchy in the South Stand.

Coming at halfway point of the IRB World Seven Series this was always going to make for enthralling viewing with 30 precious points up for grabs. Any hope of Moët laden rugby, however, was blown out of the water when it decided to bucket it down in the preceding week.

Not surprisingly the pitch was decidedly boggy which didn’t seem to suit the ‘speeders n steppers’. Even the players weren’t ready for it with some of the England boys giving coach Ben Ryan plenty of heart failures by only bringing moulded blades in their kit bag – requiring various RFU officials to bolt off in a crazy dash around the island to various sport shops hunting for suitable studded attire (whilst complying with their various knit-picking sponsors requirements). All in all, a bit of a palava.

The pitch actually held together reasonably well, considering the last time the HK stadium was under the spotlight. That was at the historic Bledisloe Cup back in 2008 where the inability of the pitch to soak up slashing rain reduced the likes of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter to doing their best impressions of Bambi on Ice.

Rugby-wise you genuinely get a feel that this is a stage for Asian Rugby with Hong Kong, Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and Sri Lanka all playing a major part of the tournament. The almighty roar the Hong Kong boys got when they make their way to the paddock made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. Although the support they receive almost amounts to having an extra man and a half, they seem to be the most improved side. As is so often the case in the IRB it’s the side that peaks at just the right time that enjoys the most success. The Boks and Fiji hadn’t set the world alight but turned it on to reach the final, with the islanders exciting new breed doing the business.

For those of you who caught my Live Text you might have got a glimpse of what I mean when referring to the HK 7s as the ultimate rugby party – I won’t bore you with the details as you know the IRB Sevens party formula. Some personal memories? Although dominated by expatriates it was also refreshing to see plenty of Asian fans turning out and adding to the ‘specialness’ that HK evokes. There were hordes of South African fans in attendance and this lot are passionate about their rugby. None more so then their outstanding coach Paul Treu who I had the pleasure meeting in the players function post-tournament.

He was obviously disappointed by his team's final loss but is wonderfully passionate and philosophical about the game - International Sevens needs the likes of him and Gordan Tietjens to give 7s a continuing identity. Another South African who took the defeat personally was the journalist next to me...don’t think the poor guy moved for about an hour post tournament – even ignoring calls from his missus. Tough break – they got what they deserved in Adelaide though, that’s for sure.

I wing-manned my mate from the Kenyan media, Toby, on the final night and had an absolute blast with the Kenya team, soaking up the street parties that dominated Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fung – who enjoyed dismantling a bedraggled New Zealand team in the quarters. Shared a few shots with Sidney Ashioya who bagged himself a bulldozing brace and is an extremely nice chap to boot.

Being part of their ‘entourage’ was a real eye-opener. The handshakes, high-fives and wolf whistles weren’t a shock as everyone knows how popular these boys are. What surprised me was that there still seems to be people who didn’t have a clue that Kenya even competed amongst the top echelon in sevens. People love their sevens but often I find they are a bit out of touch with the general form guide. It’s up to us here at UR7s to educate you people! For Everything 7s...

RH

PS – Almost forgot a massive big-up to the plethora of streakers who braved the wrath of the HK Police force to keep us entertained on the Sunday. Best undoubtedly was the guy who literally had the security guards in a spin with some rather snazzy footwork. He then really began taking the Michael with 5 centre line press-ups, a drop goal in front of the South Stand before reality sunk in and one of the Portuguese players took matters into his own hands, boshing the unsuspecting ‘Streaks’!
 

I was the unlucky one last week. Yep I took the hit for the team and was the poor and unfortunate sod to be sent to a sun drenched Dubai for UR7s to report and provide a Live Text Commentary for all our users at the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Tough gig.

Yet before you imagine me floating around the pool at one of the 7* Hotels all day on the Palm, think again. As soon we touched down, Tim (the boss) our competition winner Jack, and I headed straight for the official press conference. IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset was out in force as well as some of the sport’s luminaries, including big Jonah! I enjoyed meeting the USA Head Coach Al Caravelli for the first time also.

In the run up to Dubai’s showpiece, his side has prospered in Wellington and San Diego and his passion for the game and his enthusiasm was infectious. It was especially interesting to hear his ideas and plans for transferring elite US athletes from other sporting disciplines and putting them on a sevens paddock. It definitely got me thinking about the awesome potential that the States could tap into if the Olympic decision goes Rugby Sevens' way for 2016.

Talking of Olympics, it would be fair to say the IRB pulled out all the stops to promote sevens in its best light for the watching IOC. As well as Lomu, ‘Lol’ Dallaglio was there signing autographs, posing for pictures, and quite rightly preaching that Sevens fits perfectly into the Olympic programme whilst Rugby intrinsically satisfies the ‘ideals’ the Games seeks to promote.

Post-tournament the two IOC officials were particularly impressed with the global nature of rugby sevens. With both Men and Women’s competitions on tap in Dubai, we saw sides like China, Thailand, Brazil, Uruguay, Kenya, Uganda, Portugal, and The Netherlands grace ‘The Sevens’. Get it in!

Dubai’s spectacular new venue, aptly named ‘The Sevens’, can hold 40,000 people on the main pitch (with a bit of help from some temporary seating). Situated slap bang in the middle of the desert, about 30 minutes from Dubai itself. It’s all fine until about 9pm on tournament days when 40,000 well oiled fans hunt and jostle for taxis and buses (that take you back to Dubai via Abu Dhabi bizzarely). An experience, let’s just leave it at that.

My duties at these tournaments differ considerably to the typical reporter/journalist. For example, press from Argentina, Kenya or England press organisations will usually just follow their respective countries on the whole, and post-game will rush to get quotes from coaches and players.

I, on the other hand, watch almost every game providing a brief match report for each game for UR7s and in between matches will continue blogging on ‘craic’ around the ground, previewing the upcoming matches or basically anything that comes into my little head! It’s a long, intensive, and sometimes pretty draining process – but I’m not whining, I love it. Apart from ticking the political correctness boxes there are no boundaries and we have embraced the social media phenomenon ‘Twitter’ by ‘Tweeting’ every single result too.

A couple of good mates of mine were in the crowd in Dubai fancy-dressed up to the max over the three days and I enjoyed giving one of those boys, ‘Stumpy’, an identity as my social liaison type man in the crowd, to give readers a true appreciation of the gargantuan nature of these carnival type affairs! The crowd is what really makes these tournaments special and after all the hullabaloo of the quarter-finals which saw the top four seeds crash out, the fans turned their attentions and weight behind Kenya’s chase for the glory.

One bizarre memory that sticks out is the sight of the New Zealand team (who had been knocked out some hours before) performing a Haka during the Melrose Cup Final – no-one, including the Kiwi reporter sat next to me, could quite understand why?! It didn’t take the gloss of the Welsh win though. What a performance from Paul John’s boys.

We have all had those seminal moments in team sports when you feel something special building and finally everything seems to click in, stringing some quality performances together in a tournament. Speaking to proud Welshmen and IRB commentator Wyn Gruffydd, at the official after-party, he seemed convinced that the ability to maintain some continuity in selection breeds the ultimate success at this level and the Welsh have managed that this season.

Enjoyed briefly catching up with some of the USA Men's team too. They had a bad tournaments by their lofty standards this year, and they seem to always struggle in Dubai for some reason unbeknown to them. With retirements and their players unavailable for the remaining legs of the Series, it will be interesting to see how they go.

As for me, recollecting on my time in Dubai must cease, I’m off on my travels again – along with 100,000 other fans who will also make their way for the big one – The Hong Kong Sevens. Stay tuned - it’s going to be mega/massive/muchos large. I’ve rambled enough.

RH

For Everything Sevens…
 

Dubai

We were met at Dubai airport this morning by former 7s specialist and flyer Gareth “Cooch” Chilcott on behalf of Gullivers Sports Travel, whose hospitality we will be gratefully enjoying over the next few days. After touching down at the hotel we headed straight for the World Cup kick-off press conference at the Atlantis (the big one on the Palm, which opened with Kylie and the world’s biggest fireworks display – standard Dubai fuss). The impressive and somewhat surreal structure is tournament HQ and home to participating teams – all 24 men’s and 16 women’s national sides.

All of the top IRB brass were at the conference, as well as top executives from Emirates Airways, and team coaches and players. It was also fantastic to see the likes of Jonah Lomu in attendance. But what got Robin most animated was the presence of a face that I recognised but couldn’t quite place. It seemed that only Robin and some of the Kenyan press, of all people, knew that it was Stuart Parker from Neighbours – or Blair McDonough in real life.

Blair, who used to play a lot of sevens growing up in Singapore and Australia, is here helping his girlfriend who manages the cheerleading team – flown in from Oz especially for this weekend’s festivities. Can’t be bad..!

The day came to a close with the Gullivers Welcome Dinner. Ian Robertson spoke in a fantastically old school after-rugby dinner stand-up way, telling joke after funny tale after joke in his very familiar Scottish commentary voice.

Ben Gollings was also there to answer a series of questions from Chilcott, giving good insights into the England Team. Interesting that Kenya was the team he highlighted as being who he was most wary of. While inconsistent, they have shown what they can do to the best sides in the world. Imagine what they could achieve with half of the funding, infrastructure and resources that the likes of New Zealand, England and South Arica have. In the meantime, let’s see what they can achieve without it this weekend...

TL
Everything 7s

From Sevens Heaven

Since UR7s.com was a mere holding page during the latter part of last year, we have run a competition in which anyone to sign up would be put into a draw to win a Gullivers package to the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

Last week, and after several thousand entries, the competition closed and the draw took place. Congratulation go to the lucky, lucky, winner - Mr Stanley Roe from Sacramento, California. He and his fiancée will head to Dubai and stay at the Metropolitan Hotel and watch the 3-day tournament at The Sevens with the Gullivers crew.

Many thanks to Gulivers, who are the Official Travel Agent for the RWC Sevens, for supplying this generous prize.

There will be plenty more prizes to be won – watch this space…

For Everything 7s

From Petco Park, San Diego

So, here we are at the ball park in San Diego. Star-Spangled Banner is ringing out around the stadium, only to be drowned out for a few dramatic seconds as the US Air Force stage their well-timed fly-by. Ultimate Rugby Sevens is at the USA Sevens.

It’s a unique and awesome setting for this relatively young event that is well on its way to fulfilling its huge potential. Team UR7s, with whom USA Sevens enjoys a tight and collaborative partnership, is duly getting involved.

Robin is sat up high in the state-of-the-art press box, with the legendary Mark Ella sat on one side and UR7s Columnist Nigel Starmer-Smith commentating with Canada’s Gareth Rees on the other. Our man is carving new ground in Sevens coverage with his live text commentary – akin to BBC Online’s coverage of Test Match Cricket.

Tom, Stewart and the boys from Elite ID – an invitational 7s team managed by Tom – are manning the UR7s booth in the vibrant Fan Festival, next to our new friends at rugby charity Try For Others. The booth seems to be getting a significant amount of attention. 12 British rugby lads, all kitted out in UR7s polos and boardies, mincing about in Southern California... I wonder why? With a strong Forest of Dean influence in the squad, theories about the power of British accents in the US of A were put to their sternest test – and by all accounts passed with flying colours.

Tom had brought Elite ID out to make history as the first overseas invitational team to play in the San Diego Invitational Sevens, which takes place at the stunning San Diego Polo Ground – in the hills a few miles north of the city. The boys came out a couple of days early to “scrimmage” with Hyde Rugby, the Washington DC Charter School that has found itself at the centre of a national media frenzy in recent months. The sessions, led by Tom and Hyde’s Tal Bayer, were captured by a documentary crew from ESPN.

The school has produced America’s first all African-American rugby team, including a number of kids from troubled backgrounds who now credit rugby for turning their lives around. It’s an extraordinary story that encapsulates the power of rugby in a nutshell – see our feature, America’s All-Blacks, for the full story.

A young Elite ID was led by former England Under-19 Captain, Danny Pointon, and balanced in years by former Wales 7s international Jon Hooper and the perennial 7s tourist, former England 7s international Jim Jenner (cheered on by his parents, who had flown over to support their boy – bless!). The boys were successful in the SDI and earlier this afternoon presented with their title in front of a cheering 20,000-strong Petco Park crowd.

This is my third trip to San Diego for the USA Sevens and I have to say it’s right up there on tournaments to get to. It’s not yet attracting the crowds that Hong Kong, Wellington and Dubai see. But I do think it’s only a matter of time. Former Bath and USA Eagles No.8 Dan Lyle, who has managed the event since its move from LA three years ago, runs a slick operation and has ambitious plans – not only for the USA Sevens, but more broadly for Sevens in the USA.

For me, Sevens is the future of rugby in the States and, if the sport gains entry to the Olympics, I can see it becoming a phenomenon in a country that loves quick-fire, dynamic and confrontational sporting drama and whose national team would become a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.

Tonight we head to an Ambassador’s cocktail reception, hosted by USA Sevens, at which IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset, USA Rugby’s Nigel Melville and various international representatives will be present. Rumour has it that Californian Governor, the Terminator, is on the guest list. My goal for the evening is to arrange a Schwarzenegger vs Lyle arm-wrestle. Place your bets...

TL
For everything 7s.

From Heathrow Airport

We’ve been waiting for the dust to settle, but after almost three weeks of existence it’s become apparent that the dust will never settle – and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that we’re actually far better off that way. That is the nature of the project we’ve undertaken at Ultimate Rugby Sevens, and that is the nature of this sport.

I’ll be keeping this entry - our first foray into the UR7s blog - brief. But one thing I have to get in is a massive thanks to you all for coming on board in these earliest of days. Your feedback and words of encouragement have further fuelled our ambition to make this the valuable tool that it can be for all involved in the sport.

The aim of this blog is to share with you some of the thoughts of the individuals involved with UR7s – opinion on what’s going on in the sport, reflection on our journey and what we’re up to at UR7s HQ, as well as sharing with you the ideas and features we are planning on rolling out in the coming weeks and months.

Whilst we are not short of ideas, and are continually working to roll them out, we’d love to hear yours. What you see on UR7s.com right now are the basics. Once we feel we’ve got these right (and we’re not far off now), we’ll build out features and functionality (some simple, some pushing boundaries) to gradually and continually take it to the next level. We’ll keep you in the loop with our plans.

One thing we’ll be trying for the first time this weekend is live text commentary of the USA Sevens from San Diego. At UR7s HQ we’re all big fans of Ben Dirs and the crew at the BBC who entertain us with such coverage of Test Match cricket. As a format, we think it’s a great way to cover sevens and our very own Robin Heymann will be sat in the PETCO Park press box turning his typing finger to such relentless commentary.

For now though, we have a flight to catch. Tom, Stewart, Robin and I will all be in San Diego for the next few days. I’ll post again shortly and let you know what we’re up to in the US of A.

Ready for take off...

TL
For everything 7s.