DUBAI: The fifth Rugby World Cup 7s kicked into life this afternoon with and promises to be the most fiercely contested ever. England, the favorite to win the men’s tournament, is by no means secure in its position. An on form Argentina won the San Diego Sevens two weeks ago and the buzz in the players clubhouse is that that the Kenyans, having eliminated the powerful New Zealanders 27-7, are determined to upset the seedings and go for the cup.
It will be women who make history at the 2009 tournament. Sixteen women’s teams will compete for the Women’s Rugby Sevens World Cup for the first time since the first World Cup tournament in Edinburgh in 1993. Here again England starts as favorite but all the women’s teams are contesting hard for the unique status of being the winner of the inaugural title match.
The first match of the tournament was a nod in the direction of the future players of seven-a-side rugby in the host region, the GCC. Youth teams — players under 18-years-old — from schools across the GCC competed for the honor of playing the final in the main stadium in front of the enthusiastic first day crowds immediately before the official opening ceremony.
“Rugby is a great sport that promotes the values of teamwork, pride, tradition camaraderie and discipline,” said Bruce Morton, development manger for the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union. “We are looking forward to a cracking youth final.” The opener saw English College up against Dubai Knights who went down a crushing 34-0. The Knights had speed on the wing, but good cover tackling by the College team limited its effectiveness and weak ball skills saw dropped and missed passes. The opening match of the tournament, Zimbabwe vs. Wales, was a predictable 31-5 win for the Welsh. Despite some good ball handling skills and determination, rewarded by a single try, from the Zimbabweans the Welsh line simply outclassed the Africans who had no answer to the deliberate and disciplined maneuvers of the Welsh who once in possession ran them ragged.
Second up, Tunisia faced the Kenyans who dominated the scene, running in 29 points to Tunisia’s seven.
However, the first real surprise of the tournament came when Canada gave Scotland a nasty shock repeatedly pouring through a scrappy defense and piling on 33 points to nil in the first half. Canada out ran, out tackled and thought quicker and more adventurously than the Scots.
The second-half saw Scotland rally and pull themselves together and run in two grimly determined tries between the posts, though too little too late, to claw back 14 points, but is was apparent that Canada was by that stage in a holding pattern. Full time saw the Canadians victorious by 33 points to 14.
The final of the youth teams tournament was played to full house in the main stadium and Dubai College emerged victors over Dubai Exiles 17-10 in an extremely hard-fought and highly skilled match.
Day two, today, sees the women’s tournament and will doubtless yield some surprises of its own.
