Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014
Spring is just around the corner and with it the Japan Rugby Sevens return to Tokyo. This International Rugby Board (IRB) tournament runs March 22-23 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium and offers fans the opportunity to watch a fast-paced, highly entertaining and shortened version of the normal 15-a-side game of rugby. Tokyo plays host to 15 core teams including the big guns of world VIIs rugby, including New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, England and Australia. What are the rugby sevens? In sevens, the teams are made up of just seven players but the game is played on a field the same size as a regular 15-player game. Each game consists of two seven-minute halves with a one-minute half-time break. In the Cup final, which determines the overall tournament champion, the halves are ten minutes long with a two-minute break. Conversions of tries must be drop-kicked over within 40 seconds of the try having been scored. Scrums consist of 3 players from each team and points, in general, are scored considerably faster as the defenders have more space to cover. These changes to the 15 player game have greatly increased the appeal of the VIIs format, creating non-stop action in a shorter length of playing time. It’s not uncommon to see a player run the length of the field and back again. Throw in a few tackles along the way, and you are witnessing a level of fitness that we can only dream about. How does the tournament play out? Japan is the sixth venue out of nine host countries on the world circuit and like all sevens tournaments, has four trophies on offer (in order of descending prestige): the Cup, the Plate, the Bowl and the Shield. At the tourney’s start, 16 teams are divided into four pools of four teams each playing in a round-robin format. The top two teams of each pool progress to the knock-out stage of the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Cup, when two teams advance to the final. The losing Cup semi-finalists will play for third and fourth place while the four losing quarter-finalists drop into the Plate competition. The Bowl competition is contested by the third- and fourth-placed teams in each pool and the losing quarter-finalists of the Bowl play for the Shield. With this system, it ensures no team walks away empty handed with a minimum of one point to a maximum of 22 points available. Current standings The 2013-14 season is already shaping up to be a tightly fought contest between two giants of world rugby vying for the top two spots: New Zealand with 99 points and their fiercest rival, South Africa, with 97 points. Battling for third position are Fiji (73), England (68) and Australia (59). The defending champion of the 2013 Japan Rugby Sevens is South Africa, who just just pipped New Zealand in the final, 24-19.
Dressing up for rugby Unlike other sports tournaments, the sevens encourage the fans to turn up in fancy dress. The idea originated at the Hong Kong sevens and exploded from there. Although Japanese spectators have not quite reached the same levels of commitment in designing their own “rugby costume” as demonstrated by other country’s fans, the craze is slowly catching on here—mainly with the foreign contingent. If the huge popularity of Halloween parties in Tokyo is anything to go by, then in time, the Japan sevens will surely follow suit. All it needs are some brave souls who don’t mind cheering on New Zealand (or any other team) dressed up as a penguin, for example (given the chilly temperatures we’ve already had to suffer through in March). Whatever your fancy, furry animals or popular Japanese anime characters seem to attract many fans—and it’s the sevens, so anything goes. Take your family, invite your friends, slap on a costume and soak up the excitement of the Japan Sevens.
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Mar 22-23.
