The Origins of Sevens Rugby
Sevens Rugby is a breakaway version of the more popular 15 a side game. In recent years the International Rugby Board (IRB which governs rugby internationally) has developed a World Sevens Series to spread the game of rugby around the globe.
However it is a 19th century Scottish butcher and his apprentice who were the real architects of what modern day fans now know as Sevens Rugby. In 1883, a rugby committee met in the small Scottish town of Melrose to raise money for the club. At this meeting that the local butchers apprentice, Ned Haig, suggested having a rugby tournament as part of their annual sports day. At this stage they were playing 20-a-side and to run a tournament such numbers were considered unworkable.
It was at this point that they decided playing in a tournament over the Border that required reduced numbers of players in each team. Subsequently, on 28 April 1883, seven clubs took part in the Melrose seven-a-side tournament, with the time of each match limited to 15 minutes. The tournament was an instant hit with the public and about 1,600 tickets were sold on the day.
The popularity of Sevens Rugby has continued to grow since the tournament in Melrose. It is worth noting, though, that the idea of a sevens tournament is not the only legacy of the Melrose butcher and his apprentice.
Today, the World Sevens Series still follows the rule that the first team to score in extra time is the winner of the match – something which happened in the first final back in 1883.
Sevens - today
The New Zealand Sevens team is unarguably the most successful Sevens team in the world, winning the inaugural IRB World Sevens Series in 2000 and then again in 2001 and 2002. In addition to that, the team also won back-to-back gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and in Manchester in 2002. But it wasn't just a sudden international success for the New Zealand Sevens team.
The first full international team was sent to Hong Kong in 1983, reached the final in 1984 and won the title in 1986, 1987 and 1989. Then there was the hat-trick from 1994-1996. The team is one of the most exciting on the international Sevens stage, has set the benchmark for Sevens rugby and, as the results show, they know how to win.
Fiji has been the traditional rival of New Zealand and have strongly contested the World Sevens Series each year and won the Hong Kong Sevens many times as well. In more recent years the standards have raised from other international teams to the extent that a number of teams on the day can take out a championship round.
Specialist players have developed and the strong ‘professional’ circuit now means players can concentrate on one form of the game if they wish.
Personalities such as Eric Rush (NZ) and Waisale Serevi (Fiji) have emerged as just as strong identities in Sevens Rugby as any counterparts in the 15-a-side game.
