How the Youth Olympic 7s will work

8 August 2014

The men’s and women’s rugby sevens competitions at Nanjing 2014 will be held at the city’s Youth Olympic Sports Park on 17-20 August, with 72 players taking part in each.

Both tournaments will be contested by six teams with players aged between 14-18 years of age. They will feature an initial round-robin phase, with teams playing twice a day. Games will consist of two halves of seven minutes, with a two-minute break for half-time. Three points will be awarded for a win, two for a draw and one for a defeat.

The top four teams in the group phase will go forward to the semi-finals, with the top team playing the fourth-placed side and second meeting third, while the teams finishing fifth and sixth in the group will meet in a play-off for fifth place.

The medal matches on 20 August will feature two halves of 10 minutes. The day’s programme will begin with the bronze-medal matches, followed by the women’s final and then the men’s gold medal match.

Therefore players who step onto the podium at the day’s end will take their place in Olympic history as rugby’s first medal winners of the 21st century, and some of them no doubt will be hoping to repeat the feat when the sport begins an exciting new Olympic era at Rio 2016. [with thanks to IOC website]

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Every day there is Rugby History 1 September 1928

Click to show The first All Black tour of South Africa is squared

The first All Black tour of South Africa is squared.
With South Africa leading the 4-match test series 2-1, NZ had to win this game in Cape Town. They did by 13-5.

A-Z of Rugby

Click to show GADNEY, CYRIL

GADNEY, CYRIL

The most accomplished referee of the 1930s who later became a powerful administrator of the game at an international level.

Gadney took charge of 15 internationals and six Oxford-Cambridge matches between 1936 and 1948. Among the major games he refereed were the New Zealand touring team of 1935–36 against Scotland and against Wales; France v Australia in 1948, and no fewer than 10 Five Nations games.

He later became a president of the Rugby Football Union and one of England’s representatives on the International Rugby Board (1965–71).

Gadney was a specialist in rugby law and played a major part in the rewriting of the rugby law book to change the wording from out-moded English to a concise, more modern version. He also wrote the updated version of The History of the Laws of Rugby sion of The History of the Laws of Rugby Football in 1972.

Cyril’s brother Bernard was also an accomplished player, who appeared 14 times (nine as captain) for England as a scrumhalf between 1932 and 1938.