Let's just say I am a recent converted rugby fan after seeing Rugby Sevens on the Rugby Club on FSW. I seen the other rugby too, but I believe that the Rugby Sevens is a whole lot better. It's fast, furious, exciting and not a lot of interuptions of the game to boost. Heck, if more people see this product, they probably like it a lot better than the NFL (even regular NFL fans). The most exciting play of the NFL is the backward pass and then run, then backward pass, then run, then sometimes there was a score (you usually see this when there is no more time left and no chance for a hail mary.). Well, Rugby Sevens has all of it. After seeing the final in the South Africa stage between New Zealand and England, I was blow away. Anyway, if you have seen both, which do you think is better? and do you think it has a better chance of going mainstream in American sport than the regular rugby?
Sevens is just too short of a game. They need to add some time, otherwise I'd take regular rugby union (not league). Sevens seems like a hell of a lot better game to play, though. Sykotyk
I love the speed in Rugby Sevens..... I find the passes are more beautiful because it led to breakaways. I love the breakaway game.... and then they have game-saving tackles. I live in Hong Kong and attempted the last three HK Sevens.... THE tournament in Rugby Seven so I am biased. The American Eagles actually has a very good Seven player. He is originally from Fuji.... he got speed!!! Anyway, I got invited to meet the American Eagle every year. i went one year for the free cocktail. BTW, I think they will have an American stage this year in San Francisco,
I always think it's silly to talk about which sport is "better" than another. Every sport is different and offers different things to offer. As a spectator sport, I prefer Union because I like to watch the build up, the repeated crashing and restarts eventually leading to a breakaway. Its appeal is a lot like soccer in that it demands a little patience. Sevens is more fun to play as every player is involved virtually non-stop. I don't find it as much fun to watch - yeah, you get more breakaways, but there's very less buildup and each try isn't as valuable.
1) Disagree. But I was a prop, so what do you expect? 2) Agree. Sevens is like track, only there's a ball and the teams go in different directions.
I like sevens. It's fun, and fast, and all that, but I view it more as a warmup and a time to work on stuff like ball handling in preperation for the real thing, Rugby (Union you call it there, it's the only rugby here). My view may be skewed by the fact that I'm a lock/flanker/8 man and I absolutely abhor playing prop, the way I have to in Sevens.
it's actually Los Angeles at the Home Depot Center. If you are not too familiar with the MLS scene, that a brand-new 27,000 seat Soccer Specific Stadium for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Feb 14 and 15 is the date of the event. Cali in winter (70 degree sunny.....hmmm). Too bad I can't go.
Sevens is a good way to pick out new talent, especially for the Centre's and the Wings... It doesn't really compare to a fully blown match of Union, there are no rucks, propper scrums and the tackels aren't as hard....Although I do like to watch the HK Sevens.... I play in London for a local club and there are 1 0r 2 American lads giving it a go, made us laugh when they asked what protective clothing we wear...LOL
I should also point out that my preference for the 15-a-side game stems from my one experience with Sevens about twenty years ago when I was a prop rather than a lock. We drove 8 hours from Macomb, IL to Kansas City for a Sevens tournament. There were only 7 of us, incidently. I assumed it would be like 5-a-side soccer, which is played over a much smaller surface, and not something that is like 80 yards long, etc. Oh, and the organizers of the tournament had us playing something like 40 minute games. It was a double elimination tournament. We lost our first game, but scored on a last second drop-goal (by me, actually) in the second to win, which really pissed everyone off. Came close in the third game, but... well, 120 minutes of 7s rugby is a bit much, especially with no subs. The van ride home was unpleasant too, what with rigor mortis setting in before we got more than 15 miles into Missouri. So... no real fond memories of 7s here. Maybe that leads me to my conclusion that, from a spectator's point of view, it's more like track with a ball instead of actual rugby.
I previously wrote that I prefer Fifteens over Sevens as a spectator sport, but part ot it is that Sevens is better appreciated on a tournament basis rather than by individual matches. Sevens matches are short and tend to be one-dimensional without a lot of the elements you see in Fifteens. For me, the best part of a Sevens tournament is seeing different matchups and adjustments over the course of the day.