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Bravo Canada Rugby! Your new Sevens event set new world standards!
Lovely playing surface; Roof closed to keep out the rain; Aging commentator happy - Well done Canada Rugby!
23 March 2016
In many ways it took the city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada to set several new standards for hosting and staging tournaments of the HSBC World Sevens series. Read on...
The players of the 16 competing international sevens rugby teams, and we of the following media, who had travelled up to Canada from the previous week’s activities at the 2016 Las Vegas sevens found a very warm welcome from the local officials of Vancouver. They were very excited about staging a sevens tour event for the first time.
Of course we kinda knew their welcome would be warm; Canadians are like that aren’t they? And we weren’t even put off from enjoying their new tournament by the local weather which was raining and pretty awful for the full week we were in town.
That’s because the first of the two key matters which will now mark the Canada tournament as distinct from every other in the event’s 16-season history were; 1) that the two days of action (45 games) was held on a flat even but full-sized artificial playing surface. That meant there was no excuse for sluggish play. Indeed the evenness of surface encouraged speedy, dynamic action which thrilled the crowds throughout.
The second exclusive factor was the superb BC Place stadium itself. It has a closed-roof design which has not been seen on any sevens tour tournament before. The locals had closed its roof days in advance of the playing action. That meant any outside elements were therefore shut out completely. That encouraged the crowds to come, umbrellas not required. In fact on day one so many fans turned up at the same time that there was early congestion at a number of the entry points. A nice problem to have I would have thought!
To be absolutely correct the artificial field was not exactly unique to the Vancouver event as part of the HSBC World Sevens Series. The previous week in Las Vegas the field there, in place at Sam Boyd Stadium had been synthetic too, but it had been widened from a previous American Football width of 59-metres so therefore was still not quite that of a full-sized rugby union field.
Canada’s conditions provided just that – the roof above was the bonus which made it unique, quite the best ever on the tour.
Speaking modestly I am one of the few who should know; I was there in Dubai in 1999 when the IRB sevens circuit made its tentative touring start. In about 110 stops which I have made since then the playing conditions for the sevens in Vancouver have never been bettered. I have to say it but new standards have been set.
To the point now where suddenly it might feel very strange for the best 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams when they set out in stern Olympic competition in Rio in August. Current photographs show that hard-working crews are in Rio trying to meet deadlines for constructing the simplest of fields set on the outskirts of town with marquees and temporary stands being manoeuvred into place. We are told teams might change to play in giant impermanent structures.
It will be at the very least a great contrast between the standards set in Vancouver and rugby’s newest and grandest showpiece event – the Olympic Games.
So bravo Canada!
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Every day there is Rugby History 1 June 1963
Click to show New Zealand wins a test by a now outlawed method.
The great DB Clarke kicks the last ever Goal From a Mark in a test for NZ and the England are denied a test win by 9-6 in Christchurch.
A-Z of Rugby
Click to show EALES, JOHN
EALES, JOHN
Queensland and Australia
86 internationals for Australia 1991-2001
One of Australian rugby’s most recognizable and powerful rugby personalities, the modest, lanky Queenslander John Eales had a career at the top which spanned more than a decade and included playing in three World Cups. That in itself is a superb achievement but when the winning of the World Cup twice, as well as being captain once, are added in, his world status is further elevated.
John Eales was a 21 year old in just his second season of senior football when he played his first test on his home ground of Ballymore in Brisbane, against Wales in July of 1991. The Wallabies won 63-6 and followed that with a 40-15 win six days later in the second test in Sydney. A fortnight later and young Eales had outjumped the fast-rising New Zealand lock forward Ian Jones as Australia stormed to a 21-12.
The speed of his rise continued. By November that year he had played a World Cup final and after only being an international player for just a week over three months he had shared in the 12-6 win over England at Twickenham.
In many respects his career never looked back from that heady start. His play, as a tall leaping lock forward was always strong and authoritative, his goal-kicking from the lock forward position was often a real bonus to his Queensland and Australian teams. One time, early in his career, in a Brisbane club game, he let fly with a dropped goal attempt from half way. The ball flew high and true between the posts. The modest Eales dismissed the kick as if it were nothing. When he took over the captaincy of his country he was almost as laconic in accepting the honour. Not that Eales wasn’t proud, he was quietly delighted. He took to leadership as if to the manner born. It brought out in himself an ability to also bring quiet influence, confidence and respect from his teammates. A number of seasoned Australian writers rate him among their very best captains of all time. Those same writers say he is the best forward that country has ever produced.
Certainly as a player Eales was a true utility, playing in more than one position in the forward pack, (lock and number eight forward) yet he was also a multi-skilled performer around the field. He had such talent that somewhere on one of his journeys one of his mates called him ‘Nobody’ but it was not a reference to his quiet and shy manner. The name was a shortened version of ‘nobody’s perfect.’ The name was a backhanded compliment to his rare gifts.
John Eales played everywhere in the rugby world and, as already listed, had probably more success than any other player. By the time he reached the 1999 Rugby World Cup he was one of the most familiar faces of the world game. But retirement was looming. He had only reached the final’s series after a long and careful buildup recovering from a shoulder injury. But he played the World Cup with more than his usual authority and vigour; at one point it the final against Wales in Cardiff he demanded of the referee; Andre Watson of South Africa, that he should look closely at the tactics of the French players; ‘if you do not look at their foul play I will take my team off the field.’ Coming from Eales it was absolute that something was going on.
When the Wallabies won by the resounding margin of 35-12 John Eales took the Cup from Queens Elizabeth II and held it high. Though he played on for one more season that was the summit of his superb career.
His total of 86 test matches was then a Wallaby record for a forward; only the winger David Campese had played more. (Only Tim Horan and Jason Little were also in two World Cup winning teams; but does Eales being captain in one final just lift him a little higher?)
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