IRB Chairman Hails Another Record-Breaking Season for Rugby Sevens

Posted on May 16, 2012 in IRB, Sevens

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset has hailed the global success of another record-breaking HSBC Sevens World Series.

Once again the Series as a whole set a new attendance record with just over 547,500 fans supporting the nine events played across five continents, outstripping the previous best of 500,100.

As well as expanding to nine events with the addition of Japan, there were four new venues in total on the 2011/12 Series, all of which proved an instant hit with supporters.

Australia’s move to the Gold Coast was well supported at the start of the season; Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium provided a cauldron of atmosphere in South Africa; Scotland’s switch from Edinburgh to Glasgow attracted new fans to the game and a return to Tokyo was significant for Asian Rugby as Japan prepares to host Rugby World Cup 2019.

At three of the nine venues spectators were also treated to top women’s action, with the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup underscoring the global and competitive nature of the Women’s Game, acting as a pre-cursor to a new IRB Women’s Sevens Series, to be announced in due course.

"This has been a magnificent season of achievement for Rugby Sevens both on and off the field," said IRB Chairman, Bernard Lapasset.

"The action has been more competitive than ever before in the HSBC Sevens World Series, with five different Cup winners and no fewer than thirteen teams reaching the Cup quarter finals, including the likes of Spain, Canada, Tonga and Kenya, while our Women’s and Regional events are going from strength to strength."

"In the stands and around the venues the carnival atmosphere of a Sevens tournament continues to provide a unique appeal to Rugby fans all around the world. Together these factors combine to make the sport an incredibly enticing prospect as we move ever closer to Sevens’ Olympic Games debut in 2016."

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Scarratt set to make her England Sevens debut

Posted on May 10, 2012 in England Sevens, England Women

England Women’s Emily Scarratt is hoping to set the Rugby Sevens world alight this weekend when she makes her international sevens debut in the IRB Challenge Cup at the Marriott London Sevens (May 12-13) at Twickenham Stadium.

Scarratt, 22, has done just that in the XVs game, running out an impressive 39 times for England, scoring 65 international points and competing in the 2010 Rugby World Cup where England finished second, but this weekend’s international sevens tournament will represent a new chapter in her rugby career.

“I’m very excited that this is going to be my first international Sevens tournament,” said the Lichfield player. “With it being at Twickenham hopefully it will be a great occasion, with lots of rugby fans coming to watch a great weekend of international rugby. As long as I can find my lungs and keep my legs with me then hopefully I can successfully transfer my skills over from XVs to Sevens. It will be a challenge but one that I am really looking forward to.”

Scarratt joins the England Sevens squad on the back of victory at the IRB Women’s Challenge Cup in Hong Kong in March whilst the team also reached the final of the Dubai leg of the tournament in December, narrowly losing out to a strong Canadian outfit.

“This England team has already set the bar very high, winning in Hong Kong and finishing second in Dubai,” added Scarratt. “Our Sevens programme is really developing at speed and that is now starting to show in our results. This tournament is even bigger for us as it’s on home turf and obviously we want to win the final Challenge Cup of this season. I’ve played at Twickenham before so I know first-hand how the atmosphere can lift you and hopefully with the crowd behind us again at the weekend we can repeat the success we have enjoyed at Twickenham in XVs.”

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RFUW appoint first ever full time England Women’s Sevens Head Coach

Posted on May 8, 2012 in England Sevens, England Women

Barry Maddocks has been appointed to the newly created position of full time England Women’s Sevens Head Coach.

Maddocks, who has been coaching the England Women’s Sevens team on a sessional basis, will now join Gary Street and Graham Smith as part of the England Women’s coaching team which is overseen by RFUW Head of Performance Nicola Ponsford.

45 applicants from around the world applied for the position, which will see the England Head Coach lead England into the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia, participate in an IRB Women’s World Sevens Series next season and help build towards Rugby Sevens’ inclusion in the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The shortlisted candidates underwent a rigorous interview process with Gary Street, England Women’s Head Coach, Nigel Redman, RFU Elite Coach Development Manager and Ben Ryan, England Men’s Sevens Head Coach on the interview panel.

“Following a very thorough and competitive interview process I am pleased to announce that Barry Maddocks has been appointed as the full time England Women’s Sevens Head Coach,” said Ponsford. “The level of applicants for this role was very high and we are delighted that Barry has agreed to join us. Barry was outstanding in the interview process and was the stand out candidate for us, demonstrating his excellent in depth knowledge of Sevens.

“This fulltime appointment underlines our commitment to Sevens as well as XVs Rugby. Barry will be joining a well-established EPS team and his specific in depth knowledge in Sevens will certainly help shape our team.”

Ryan added: “Barry was an outstanding candidate in a very competitive field and I’d like to wish him and the England Women’s sevens team every success in the coming years. They’ve made great progress this season and their performances in Dubai and in Hong Kong were outstanding. There’s a strong bond between our two teams and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Barry, his staff and players.”

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England Women hunting a second successive Sevens crown

Posted on May 8, 2012 in England Sevens, England Women

England Women’s Sevens captain Michaela Staniford says England will be looking to make it two wins from two at this weekend’s IRB Women’s Challenge Cup at the Marriott London Sevens (May 12-13), Twickenham.

England head into the tournament on the back of a thrilling 15-10 victory over world champions Australia in the final of Hong Kong, and with Head Coach Barry Maddocks naming a strong squad, boosted with a handful of Six Nations winners, the home side will be amongst the favourites to lift the crown again.

“We have reached the last two Challenge Cup finals but have only won one of them so the girls are not fully satisfied,” said the England skipper. “Without a doubt this squad, which has been further strengthened after Hong Kong, have the ability to get to the final and win but we all know Sevens can be a brutal game. What may seem like a small error can easily be capitalised on by the opposition. We need to focus on our game and have the ability to perform game after game. Good teams win games, world class teams repeatedly win finals and that’s what we are aiming for.”

The third IRB-sanctioned tournament, which runs alongside the HSBC Sevens World Series, will see 12 invited teams from six continents compete for the prized Cup.

Joining England in Pool A are South Africa, Kazakhstan and Olympic Games 2016 hosts Brazil.  The pool games of the IRB Challenge Cup will be played on the neighbouring Cardinal Vaughan pitches, with the semi-finals and final on the famous Twickenham pitch.

“This is another tough pool for England,” added Staniford, who plays her club rugby for Wasps. “South Africa are the team that jump out at me. They have been developing at an impressive rate over the past few years and definitely our toughest opponents in Dubai, where we only won by two points.

“Kazakhstan have a very athletic side with a fantastic work rate and a never die attitude which they demonstrated in the XVs World Cup in 2010. Sevens is certainly the perfect game for these girls who love to run with the ball. Like Kazakhstan, Brazil and England have not met on the Sevens circuit yet so we need to expect a very competitive pool stage for England.”

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J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s Series Kicks Off The Road To Rio

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 in Sevens

This year’s J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s Series will kick off the Road to Rio for England’s top Sevens players.

That’s according to England Sevens coach Ben Ryan who will be glued to the Sevens Series when it kicks off on 13 July at the Twickenham Stoop.

“The tournament has grown ever year in line with the global exposure that 7’s is now getting as we look to Rio 2016,” said Ryan.

“The J.P. Morgan Premiership 7s Series allows the cream of English talent to get their first taste of playing for their club on a big stage, in front of a crowd and on live TV.

“Not only that, it also offers them the opportunity to showcase their ability in front of national selectors and you can see from the likes of Owen Farrell, who starred for Saracens in the tournament two years ago, it is a great starting platform for international development”.

In just four short years Rugby Sevens will return to the Olympics and with a gold medal on offer now is the chance for England’s top players to start putting down a marker for Great Britain selection in the J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s Series.

This year’s Series, the third, is split into three qualifying legs, contested by all 12 Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs, with the final at The Recreation Ground on 3rd August. This is the only Sevens event where you can watch Aviva Premiership Rugby sides battle against one another.

Pool A sees Harlequins take on, London Irish, London Wasps and Saracens on Friday 13th July at The Twickenham Stoop. Pool B features Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park, Stockport on Friday 20th July, an event which is likely to see the last top-flight rugby played at the ground after Sale Sharks’ decision to move to the Salford City Stadium next season.

Pool C has Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester Rugby and Worcester Warriors up against each other on Thursday 26th July at Kingsholm, Gloucester.

The top two seeds from each of the Pool events go through to the Series Final at The Recreation Ground in Bath.

This year Tom Williams was part of a group of Harlequins players, including Luke Wallace, Miles Mantella and George Lowe, to take part in a series of challenges ahead of this year’s Sevens Series the first of which is launched today and can be viewed at www.premiershiprugby.com/jpmsevens

The second film will be launched at 9am next Thursday, 19 April and the final one a week later at the same time, Thursday 26 April.

Williams, who believes that Sevens is “ten times more taxing” that the 15-a-side game added: “The J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s Series is such an exciting and enjoyable format and the tournament itself creates a bit of a party atmosphere. It is a great occasion to be involved in.

“But while it is a lot of fun, Sevens is also a tough game. It is ten times as taxing as the XV code but on the flip side it is a good indicator of where you stand ahead of the season kicking off.

“A number of guys have come through and shown what they can do and gone on to win starting spots because of it, so if I am involved again I will be doing exactly the same as I don’t want to have someone steal my spot.”