The Rugby Sevens - Thrilling Crowds For Forty Years

Having begun as a past time of a few expatriates during the 1960’s, the Dubai Rugby Sevens is an event not to be missed when visiting the country. This major crowd puller now features even international teams with each team playing games that last about 20 minutes each. It’s an exciting time in Dubai when the sevens are on and it’s no surprise that fanatics of the game even fly in from overseas.

This minature version of rugby, which saw its beginnings as the International Sevens in 1975 has come along way from what the games designers ever planned. Incidentally, it was the brain child of the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s then Chairman and a Marketing Executive. However, though many were apprehensive about the game since it began as a club game but was later taken seriously and then made into a national tour.

The Dubai part of the game which began with British expatriates in ’66 has now turned into an event the public voted as the country’s ‘Best Sporting Event’ which has been voted so for five years running. This ultimate sporting event in Dubai having been staged at the Al Awir grounds for 38 years saw it being accommodated at a new venue, due to the large crowds from all over the world that the event has attracted. The venue called the ‘Sevens’ features new pitches- six of them and accommodates more than a 100,000 people.

The ‘Sevens’ offers spectators a grand stand which has a seating capacity of about 4000. However, around the grand stand temporary structures have also been set up depending on the ever expanding number of crowds.
To go with the fun and the excitement is the food, and the Sevens have many stalls that offer not only facilities to purchase bites but also medical and broadcast facilities too. Changing rooms are available along with a huge rugby promenade; it is quite easy to see why the Sevens is fast becoming the home of rugby in the Emirates.

The Sevens is gearing to feature other sports commonly played in the region such as football, cricket and basketball. Aside from all the spectacular sporting entertainment the fans are further occupied by the popular concert known as ‘Rugby Rock’ which is held on the final evening and serves as a fitting finale to an amazing sporting event.

For visitors who are looking at some close and convenient accommodation in Dubai then such facilities could be found at a Dubai International airport hotel . The Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai is only minutes away from the airport and it takes approximately 10 minutes to get to the city centre. This Dubai airport hotel hosts the city’s legendary pub called Biggles which is a popular venue for expatriates to the country.

By: Pushpitha Wijesinghe

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Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.