Dubai - Event

The Sevens is the purpose-built sports venue that hosts the Dubai Rugby Sevens every November. This is the opening round of the IRB World Sevens Series, where 16 international teams battle for the trophy.

All matches are seven minutes each way, apart from the three finals, which are ten minutes per half. This bite-size type of rugby known as the International Sevens was born in 1975 as a result of an idea of the then-chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union and an imaginative marketing executive. Initially the Twickenham-based RFU were dismissive of the tournament, so it began life as a club competition, but was soon legitimised as a national tour and has grown in stature ever since, even appearing at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.

The Dubai leg of the tournament began with a small band of British expatriates in 1966 and has become a sell-out event with the general public voting it Dubai's Best Sporting Event five years running.

Not to be missed are the Aggreko Dynamos cheerleaders who put on very active shows throughout the three days, and Saba the Seven's mascot, a big hit with the kids. On the last night of the tournament Rugby Rock puts on a rock show and the whole thing literally ends with a bang - fireworks!