In another one that’s probably flown under many radars, the inaugural World Club 7’s Series concluded over the weekend with a big win by the ACT Brumbies from Australia over the Auckland Blues of New Zealand.
The World Club 7’s differs from the current international 7’s series in that teams are drawn from clubs that currently compete in their own respective domestic level series. The Auckland Blues and ACT Brumbies for example compete in the Super Rugby Series in Australia and New Zealand, and Harlequins come from the Aviva Premiership in the UK. The Club 7’s give teams from around the world a chance to pit their skills against one another in a quick fire format, and also serves to showcase rugby to the world in a whole new, and very exciting manner.
One of the biggest drawcards with 7’s rugby is the short, sharp games. Two 15 minute halves, and 7 players a side leads to some blinding pace, enthusiastic game play and usually pretty high scoring margins. From an international standpoint, it’s been a huge development for a lot of countries – Kenya in particular has really become a force to be reckoned with on the global stage, alongside the usual suspects of Australia, England and of course New Zealand. That said, Fiji, from a 7’s point of view, are always going to be a team to watch and enjoy. Watching Fiji play 7’s is like watching Brazil play soccer – sheer, unadulterated joy, passion and a bunch of guys running around with permanent smiles. What’s not to love?
To see this atmosphere recreated at club level frankly is a stroke of absolute genius. The teams that competed gave us a chance to not only see powerhouse nations like the UK and South Africa, we also saw Russian, and American teams in the mix, with the New York City Sevens coming away with a victory in the Plate Series.
Back to the main game though. In Super Rugby, both ACT and Auckland field powerful sides, so it was no real surprise to see these two clubs slogging it out for the top spot. Henry Speight’s two tries secured a very hard fought victory for the Brumbies 17-14 over a plucky Blues team. Henry Speight’s emotion over the win was palpable, saying “It means a whole lot to win this. It’s not only for us but for the whole Brumbies team back in Canberra, We’ve been though the whole season together and it’s great to end on a good note and take some silverware home.”
Auckland Captain Orene Ai’i accepted the Blues were defeated by a team that had come to play, and play hard “It was a good game we knew it was going to be tough, We had to play catch up rugby and when you do against a team like the Brumbies it’s going to be a tough day.”
To play a series like this on such an iconic field as Twickenham, one of the sites which will host the Rugby World Cup in 2015, only added to the majesty of the moment. Ai’i said the memory of this event will live long with him, and while he’s unsure if he will physically be able to compete in the next series, it’s safe to say the Blues will be back, as will the Brumbies, and I wouldn’t be surprised if next year they bring some friends to play too.
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