Don’t let the photo fool you, I am actually working here. The Wellington Sevens kicks off today at Westpac Stadium in what is a glorious summers day, and the spectacle has begun.
This is the fifteenth year Wellington has hosted the IRB event, and every year the atmosphere is made as much by the fans as it is by the games themselves. People come from all over the world to be a part of the electricity and insanity that is Sevens rugby.
This year promises to be an intensely competed round as South Africa looks to tighten its hold on the sevens series. Currently leading the table, they are certainly the form team to beat, and while New Zealand will no doubt enter as the crowd favourite, it remains to be seen whether they can pull it out on game day.
Day one is all pool games, so the various nations essentially jostle for positions in tomorrows playoff series. That said, the pools this year are nasty to say the least. Canada have to defeat USA to advance, New Zealand has to defeat Fiji and neither of these are easy prospects. Throw into the mix the developing Kenyan and Tongan squads, and the fiery English and we have the makings of what my WWE colleagues would refer to as a “slobberknocker”
Meanwhile in the stands there all sorts of interesting sights, which in is elf makes the event memorable. Plus entertainment, crowd displays, the sevens is not a sporting event, it is a world wide tournament of epic proportions.
Over the next two days Last Word on Sports will be bringing you news, views and interviews from the big games, and big playmakers. This is a hugely exciting event to be a part of, and I thank the team from the Wellington Sevens for allowing me to be a part of it. The games are all being streamed on the IRB website, and will be on various sports channels around the world.
We’re ticking down to the start of game one, Canada will take on Scotland to kick off the beginning of this amazing event, lets get it on!
