With a third of the Olympic qualification season passed, and South Africa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia leading the way, we take a look at some of the highlights on and off the field from the Gold Coast, Dubai and Port Elizabeth.
As well as a live-stream on worldrugby.org/sevens fans were able to follow the most exciting season so far on a new live blog, and on the official social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, VINE as well as watching highlights and new in-match clips on YouTube.
The dream team continued, with Jerry Tuwai, Werner Kok, Kwagga Smith and Cecil Afrika being named in two of the three so far, and this season new infographs are being produced to highlight the future stars of the Olympics, including the top tacklers, top carriers, and top offloaders as well as the normal points and try scorers.
Series Launches In Style On Australia’s Gold Coast
The 16 captains launched the 2014/15 HSBC Sevens World Series in style, a top the tallest residential building in Australia — SkyPoint at Q1.
Fiji took an early lead in the series thanks to a Cup final win over Pacific neighbours Samoa in the final, but things did not always go to plan for Ben Ryan’s side. In their pool match with Scotland, Semi Kunatani looked to have given Fiji the lead, but for Lee Jones’ determination, and one of the most-spoken about events from the tournament.
Perry Baker was also one of the standout players, breaking on to the scene and being compared with teammate Carlin Isles, as the fastest man in the sport and here you can see why.
Blitzboks Storm To Title At 7he Sevens Stadium
In Dubai, South Africa came to the party and recorded victory over Australia who were appearing in their first-ever Dubai Cup final, with new coach Geraint John putting his touch on the side and improving after a disappointing seventh place on home soil.
For the first time, players and coaches alike were introduced to the Twitter Mirror which proved incredibly popular.
Senatla Steals The Show On Home Soil
Seabelo Senatla scored eight tries in Dubai and secured his second fans’ favourite try for his effrot in the final, having also won the award for his try in Dubai against Australia — another in the final — demonstrating his ability to perform at the highest level, although a number of his tries could have easily won the award.
There was also two interesting Sevens Re:LIVE clips that came from the event, as Gilles Kaka attempts to high-five referee Federico Anselmi, before realising he’s been left hanging by the Argentinean — a clip that received more than one million loops on VINE.
A similarly comical event involving a referee occured in Dubai when Rasta Rashivenghe decided to challenge New Zealand captain Sarah Goss to a footrace to the line.
With a third of the season over, video views have already exceeded those across all nine rounds from the 2013/14 series, and each round sees a reach of more than 2.5 million and 500,000 people engaging with content, demonstrating the continued growth of rugby sevens.
