Almost time for Vegas!
by Paki's Corner | 28 January 2010 (08:37)
Las Vegas will host the 4th leg of the IRB World Sevens Series for the first time in sevens history!
For three years the beautiful beach town of San Diego hosted the USA 7s with increasing success. But the baseball stadium (Petco Park) is to be replaced by the Sam Boyd Football Stadium, and the beach exchanged for the desert.
I expect thousands more spectators will be flooding into Vegas in two weeks time (February 13 & 14) for the epic weekend of international sevens, and the chance to see the bright lights and casinos that one of America’s most iconic cities has to offer. I’ve just bought my plane ticket, so hope to see many of you there!
Before that, however, the next leg of the Sevens World Series takes us to the very popular NZI Sevens in New Zealand. Westpac Stadium – home of the Wellington Hurricanes – was sold out yet again in record time this year (less than 10 minutes!).
I was fortunate to play in this tournament for the past three years and it ranks as one of the best sevens events on the circuit. Hong Kong is truly amazing, but Wellington has the festival atmosphere throughout the whole stadium. Every member of the capacity crowd is dressed up in a theme or costume, and is not scared of a 48-hour party!
Next week all 16 teams will jet into Auckland, catch the short flight to Wellington, and stay at the James Cook hotel. A tradition at the NZI sevens is the street parade on the Thursday before the tournament. Each team boards a float representing their country as they meander their way through the packed city streets.
Last year the organizers had setup a dodge ball court at the end destination, with our side arriving just in-time to see a classic USA vs. Kenya playoff! It was just like the movie Dodgeball when Matt Hawkins took out two Kenyan players with one shot (If only he could have done that on the field)…
As far as the pools go, it’s going to be an all out battle for hosts and log leaders New Zealand in Pool A as they square off against South Africa. The Springboks will be looking to turn around a string of below average results – after dominating the Series last year.
Fiji should go through unbeaten, but the pool of death is certainly group C with Kenya, England, Tonga and the USA all realistically able to beat one other. Samoa should continue their form (the only team to beat New Zealand this season) and top pool D.
New Zealand 7s
Pool A: New Zealand, South Africa, Wales, Niue.
Pool B: Fiji, Australia, Scotland, Papua New Guinea.
Pool C: England, Kenya, USA, Tonga.
Pool D: Samoa, Argentina, France, Canada.
IRB World Series 2009/2010 Points Table
New Zealand 48
Fiji 36
England 28
Samoa 26
Argentina 22
Kenya 22
Australia 18
South Africa 16
Wales 8
Cheers
Dallen
Dallen Stanford played 54 matches for the USA 7s team throughout his career spanning from 2006 to 2009, including 13 IRB 7s tournament appearances. To read other articles by the South African visit www.ur7s.com and www.pakiscorner.com.
