Competition Is Fierce for Sevens Tournament
Considering the timing, the location and the price, this is one formidable rugby test.
And the test is: Can a two-day, seven-a-side international rugby tournament at the Home Depot Center, with adult single-day tickets going for $35 and $40, cut it while sharing a weekend schedule with Valentine’s Day and the NBA All-Star game?
The International Rugby Board World Sevens Series picked a curious time to make its North American debut. Sixteen nations, including reigning World Cup champion England and international powers New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and France, will compete in group play Saturday, Valentine’s Day, with Sunday’s knockout play going up against the NBA All-Star game at Staples Center.
Dan Lyle, manager of operations for USA Rugby and a former U.S. national team player, acknowledged the timing could have been better but said the federation had to “pull the trigger” if it wanted to bring the World Sevens tour to this country for the first time.
“It was very quick, a very short-notice, let’s-do-it type of a thing,” Lyle said. He said organizers considered the obstacles going in, “that the NBA All-Star game this year, God forbid, was going to be in L.A. and it is. Oh no. That it was going to be Valentine’s weekend and that people plan Christmas, Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July three years in advance. Oh no again.
“We’re up against it in those aspects. But let me be blunt. It was not a knee-jerk thing. USA Rugby had to create some synergy, a catalyst for us to build some tenure, to build some inventory in a lot of ways, so that people can say, ‘Look, these guys are trying to be legit in the eyes of the American public,’ with the American corporate model of $250 courtside tickets.
“And this venue, with the plaza levels, the restaurant levels, the corporate hospitality box, it was almost too good to pass up. We know we’re not going to make money the first year, we’re just hoping that the public comes this year and [the word] spreads.”
This weekend’s tournament is one of eight on the World Sevens Series global tour. The Home Depot Center has a three-year contract to play host to this tour stop through 2006.
Sevens rugby is a compact, frenetic version of the customary 15-man game. More emphasis is placed on offense and scoring, and the games are much shorter. In this tournament, group, quarterfinal and semifinal games will feature seven-minute halves and two-minute halftime breaks. Final-round games will have 10-minute halves.
Sixteen teams divided into four groups of four will each play three games Saturday. That’s a total of 24 games, the first beginning at 10 a.m., one game played immediately after another.
First- and second-place finishers in each group will advance to Sunday’s Cup and Plate quarterfinals. Third- and fourth-place finishers will move on to Sunday’s Shield and Bowl quarterfinals.
The United States has been grouped in Pool A with England, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago. Defending World Sevens champion New Zealand will compete in Pool B with 2003 World Cup runner-up Australia, Canada and Tonga. South Africa and France head Pool C, which also has Korea and Uruguay. Pool D consists of Fiji, Argentina, Kenya and Chile.
Adult ticket prices are $35 for Saturday, $40 for Sunday, or $60 for a two-day pass. Tickets for children under 16 are $15 a day or $25 for both days.