On Saturday, Philadelphia will host a “cutting edge†game of sevens rugby which organisers hope could be a precursor to a professional North American league.
The IRB-approved game of “Super Sevensâ€, between the New York Rhinos and Toronto, will be played at the PPL Park Major League Soccer stadium, during the Collegiate Rugby Championship and under normal sevens rules. However, instead of two halves of seven minutes, two squads of 16 players will play four 12-minute quarters, operating rolling substitutions at dead-ball situations throughout.
Steve Lewis, a former West of Scotland and Glasgow scrum-half who is now head coach of New York Old Blue and the Northeast Rugby Olympic Development Academy, will coach a New York squad also featuring players from New England. The Ontario Blues provincial franchise will provide the Toronto team.
“It’s exciting, it’s in a terrific venue and we’re on the cutting edge of possibly something new,†Lewis told the Guardian.
The idea behind Super Sevens is to make a viable commercial proposition of the short form of the game, which with its inclusion in the 2016 Rio Olympics has achieved a boost in profile and funding in North America.
Matches – which were first trialled in Canada, under the name “Ultra Sevens†– last for 48 minutes, with three-minute breaks between quarters and a six-minute half-time. This one-hour format is intended to be more attractive to television and advertisers than traditional day or two-day tournaments between national, invitational or club sides.
Asked about the extraordinary physical demands a 48-minute game of sevens will place on players, Lewis said: “The downside, if there is one, is for player welfare – I think it will be born out that we will need less game time and a larger player roster.
“My main concern is the fourth quarter, which may deteriorate in quality given the length of the game and the number of players available.â€
United World Sports, the organiser of the CRC and the Las Vegas stop on the HSBC World Sevens circuit, will oversee the game, which has also been given approved exhibition status by USA Rugby. It will be filmed by NBC, though not broadcast live.
Lewis said: “At the end of the day, as they say north of the border, ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’. It’s what NBC want. But they’re very open to getting our opinions [and] the Canadians’ opinions, with a view to tweaking it.â€
One attempt to stage professional sevens on a traditional invitational model, the “million-dollar†Grand Prix Sevens, was scheduled for Los Angeles last June, under the auspices of William Tatham, one of the men behind the short-lived XFL gridiron league. The tournament was cancelled and no new date has yet been announced.
This June, USA Rugby will stage a 12-city tournament in Houston, in order to provide a second American World Club Sevens team (with New York, plate winners last year) for August events at Thomond Park and Twickenham.
The concurrent advent of Super Sevens suggests that a framework for an inter-city US professional league may be being made ready.
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Super Sevens set for Philadelphia bow as US rugby seeks professional league
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