Irb Sevens Rugby Tournament Tickets

IRB Sevens Rugby Tournament
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which only seven players per side feature, instead of the full 15. The version of rugby union is very popular, with notable competitions including the IRB Sevens World Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Rugby sevens is also played at events such as the Commonwealth Games. Although it was conceived as an event for rugby union, rugby league has also adopted the sevens format.

Women's rugby seven's may be added to the Commonwealth Games in 2014 or 2018. Women's rugby 7s is dominated by New Zealand, with either the New Zealand team (1999-2001) or Aotearoa Maori Women's Rugby 7's team (playing as New Zealand) winning all of the Hong Kong 7s to date (as of 2007). The inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament will be held in 2009 in Dubai in conjunction with the men's tournament. Other strong nations in Women's 7s are Australia and the USA.

Rugby sevens is sanctioned by the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is played under substantially the same rules and on a field of the same dimensions as the 15-player game. However, sevens scores are generally comparable to union scores; scoring occurs with much greater regularity in sevens, since the defenders are more spaced out than in rugby union. Scrums still exist within sevens, composed of just three players from each team. Given the speedy nature of the game, players are usually either from the backline or the trio of loose forwards in fifteens rugby.

Rugby sevens was initially conceived by Ned Haig, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland as a fundraising event for his local club in 1883. The first ever sevens match was played at the Greenyards, where it was well received. The largest sevens tournament in the world is the Rosslyn Park Schools tournament, with an attendance of over 3,000 schoolchildren from around the world. The first ever officially sanctioned international tournament occurred at Murrayfield as part of the Scottish Rugby Union's celebration of rugby centenary celebrations in 1973.

Due to the success of the format, the ongoing Hong Kong Sevens was launched three years later. In 1993, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, in which the Melrose Cup is contested, was launched. Two of the best known sevens competitions are the Hong Kong Sevens and Dubai Sevens, which now make up parts of the IRB Sevens World Series.

The emphasis of play in Sevens is speed, skill, and fitness. A team is usually comprised entirely of backs, because of their fitness and agility compared to their forward counterparts. Furthermore, players may need to get more creative in making plays, with only 14-20 minutes to play a single game. There are several variations in laws which apply to Rugby Sevens, primarily to speed up the game and to account for the reduced number of players.

Owing to the speed by which matches are resolved and the minimal personnel requirements, there is hope that sevens will be accepted for Olympic competition although it has been in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. The IRB pointed towards sellout crowds at Commonwealth Games and World Cup sevens as proof of the sport's popularity. In addition, it would provide a competition in which sporting minnows from regions such as the Pacific, who are able to field competitive rugby teams, could genuinely contend for medals. However, the International Olympic Committee turned down the bid for the purposes of the 2012 Olympics to be held in London.

The IRB responded by pointing out in terms of the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger), that a rugby player was more likely to possess all of these attributes than competitors within other debatable Olympic events, such as rhythmic gymnastics. The IRB has recently moved to counter criticisms that it only proposed for a male Olympic tournament, establishing a series of Sevens events for women; the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens will include a women's championship for the first time.

Rugby league may also be played under seven-a-side rules, though this is less common as an alternative when compared with Rugby league nines (played on a nine-a-side basis). The major tournament was the World Sevens played prior to the start of the National Rugby League season in Sydney, but the tournament has been cancelled.

Rugby league sevens is particularly popular with pub teams ? formed from the regulars at a particular public house, the reason for this is that it is often difficult for a single Pub (particularly in the north of England where rugby league is popular, as are pubs) to form a full squad of 13 players and four substitutes of willing players.