1,2,3,4,5,6… 7

this weekend was the new zealand sevens.

at the simplest level it is an international rugby league with teams from 16 countries that play a series of 8 tournaments around the world. the format of the matches is radically different than traditional rugby with only 7 players on each side and a match composed of two 7 minute halves. the result is a very fast paced match that is decided in under 15 minutes. the next match starts just minutes later with 24 matches played during the first day. the second (and final) day begins the playoffs with 20 matches to ultimately determine the tournament winner.

new zealand has won the sevens championship 7 of the 8 years it has been running, and the nz tournament is hosted here in wellington.

the format would make it a great event but the wellington crowd has decide to improve on it a bit.

take the best halloween customs you’ve ever seen and mix it with mardi gras and you start to get a sense of the nz sevens.

tickets are nearly impossible to get, but fortunately the celebration spills out of the stadium and into the city.

in keeping with the sevens theme tickets are sold in blocks of 7 and groups spend a ton of effort on the costumes.

during lunch on friday the cbd was packed with amazing outfits. on saturday the jboss and me walked around the city and had a great time.

next year we’ll make sure somehow we have tickets.

added bonus, nz won the tournament in a close final against samoa

Leave a Reply