Gold Coast replaces Adelaide as new venue of Rugby Sevens
Queensland’s Gold Coast has replaced Adelaide for next four years to host Rugby Sevens World Series.
Adelaide had been hosting the same series since five years but lost this year to Gold Coast. It was the joint decision of International Rugby Board and Australian Rugby Union to award the World Series to the beach city. The Gold Coast is also a strong candidate
to be the host of Commonwealth games in 2018.
The new venue would host the coming leg of World Series this year in November. The city has been preferred over Adelaide, Perth and Sydney for its splendid atmosphere.
Australian Rugby Union has welcomed the decision and said that it will help to promote rugby and image of the city around the globe.
Talking to media the ARU Managing Director and Chief Executive, John O'Neill said, “The Gold Coast is known around the world as a city of excitement and fun and that is exactly the atmosphere we want to permeate through to the sevens tournament.”
He added, “We know tournaments like Dubai, Hong Kong and Wellington all put on a show that attracts people from around the world and we are confident that the decision to host this tournament on the Gold Coast will deliver another exciting opportunity for
fans to enjoy international sevens.”
On the other hand, the South African Rugby has been disappointed by the decision and said that deprivation of Adelaide would hurt rugby in South Africa. The SA Rugby CEO Lachlan Clark argued that it would add to the difficulties of rugby to attract new countries.
Whereas the Tourism Minister of Australia Mr. John Rau declared the decision correct and said it would start a competition among the venues to attract IRB.
Adelaide hosted the last leg of Sevens Series in the current month of April. New Zealand won that series while remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament. This was the third consecutive win for New Zealand as they had already secured the series of Wellington
and Hong Kong.
The All Blacks defeated the South African team in the final. Last the two teams met in the final 2007-08 where South Africa remained the winner.
IRB has defended its decision of shifting the rugby sevens venue and said it was necessary for the promotion of rugby sevens. IRB has making all possible efforts to make this format of rugby successful. They have already achieved a milestone in this regard
as the format has made its place in the Olympics of 2016.
The World Series would kick off on 25th November in Gold Coast this year.
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