The Commonwealth Games
is sadly over for this time around, but boy was it a belter! The Rugby Sevens was fast, furious and downright exciting,
especially for us rugby fans. As a brilliant prelude to the official 2016
Olympics debut, rugby was very well represented at the Glasgow 2014 Games.
Rugby Sevens is much the same as a full team game, but because there are only
seven players on each side it's double the work and double the effort. It makes
for an extremely energetic and fast-paced game.
How it Works
Over two days, there
are a total of 45 games played between 16 teams. Because it is a knockout
tournament, eventually there will be two teams left, vying for the winning Gold
prize. There are four ‘pools,' containing four teams. This year it began with
pool A containing New Zealand, Canada, Scotland and Barbados. Pool B contained
South Africa, Kenya, Cook Islands and Trinidad and Tobago. Pool C contained
Samoa, Wales, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia and Pool D contained England,
Australia Sri Lanka and Uganda. In the same way as the FIFA Soccer World Cup,
the teams in each pool play each other, with the top 8 qualifying for the
quarter-finals. Then, they play each and it is whittled down further and so on,
until only two are left. This year’s Gold went to South Africa.
Excitement and Support
Hardened rugby fans
like seven's simply because it is a little more hardcore sometimes. It doesn't
compare to 11's because they are both played entirely differently, with the
exception of the rules, but because each team has twice the work it does lead
to twice the excitement and twice the effort. The fans love it and because it is
a shorter punchier version of ‘big' rugby is perfect for new fans to get
acquainted with the beautiful game, too.
Keep an eye out for
the latest fixtures in the Sevens World Series and make sure you stalk up on your home nation
rugby tops here!
