The IRB sevens series which is the South Africa Sevens is hosted at Outeniqua Park, George, South Africa.
It is considered the 'home tournament' of the South Africa sevens team, a nation with a proud history of both the seven and fifteen player codes of the game. The 'boks' or 'springboks' as they are often referred to, have been world champions in the full version of the game when they hosted the 1995 World Cup and are current World champions after beating England in the final of the 2008 World Cup hosted by France.
Although it has gone through a turbulent history, both sporting and politically, South Africa has always maintained a strong passion for rugby and rugby sevens in both playing and as fans. Rarely is there a poor South Africa rugby team.
This passion for rugby comes across in their tournaments as well. The Outeniqua Park, which is also the home stadium of the Eagles rugby team, which compete in the Curry cup - South Africa's domestic club competition, can hold 10,000 fans at any one time. With the South African love for sport in general and rugby in particular it is rare that this leg of the sevens circuit is not sold out.
The South African leg of the IRB world sevens series certainly benefits from its location in George. With the massive and popular Wilderness National Park just to the East of George, with large tree covered slopes and numerous lakes as well as the town of Knysna which is situated on a large lagoon, attending the sevens tournament can be just part of a varied and fun trip that many of the family can enjoy.
This leg follows the traditional format of the IRB word sevens series, in that it has sixteen teams competing in it, starting in round robin groups pf 4 and culminating in finals for four competitions, depending on what games teams lose. There are (in descending order of importance) the main Cup, the Plate the Bowl and the Shield all of which will be won by one of the 16 teams that start the tournament.
With South Africa's love of rugby and the huge growth of sevens, in general this tournament is likely to grow year on year. With such passionate fans, great rugby and beautiful surroundings it is certainly a great trip to make.
