Big- time rugby 7s comes to San Jose
If you want to take a break from our, at times, sluggish local football teams and watch fastpaced, high- level, heavy- contact competition, you might want to head to Avaya Stadium this weekend.
The debut Silicon Valley Sevens International Rugby Tournament will take place in San Jose on Saturday and Sunday. The tournament features some of the top rugby sides in the world, including Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, England and Ireland.
The U. S. sevens team will also be there, coming off its best year in history, in which it finished fifth in theWorld Rugby Sevens Series, a 10- tournament series played around the world be-
tween December and June.
“It was quite a successful year,” said Madison Hughes, a scrum- half and team captain. “Still, we were disappointed. Except for a few mistakes we’d be in the top four, so we have things to work on.”
The desire to get better is one of the motivating factors behind the timing of the Silicon Valley tournament. The American team is always searching for more global competition and, without it, tends to start slowly in the world series competition.
“For the past few years, it’s been rare that we have any games before the start of the season, while other teams around the world have many,” Hughes said. “And it takes time to get into the flow of the games.”
Much of that issue is due to logistics and money: The Americans are on a continent with only one option, Canada, as competition. Even if the U. S. team ventured to South America, only Argentina offers elite rugby.
“We wanted to create an international event as close to the start of the world series as possible,” said tournament director Jon Hinkin. “The Bay Area location is perfect — usually beautiful weather at this time of year, and a traditional hotbed of rugby.”
Though there is a chance of heavy rain this weekend, that might not dampen the excitement of rugby enthusiasts. The Bay Area is home to top collegiate and club teams, with deep rugby roots. In addition, the large local population with ties to the South Pacific islands should make the addition of rugby powers Fiji, Tonga and Samoa a big draw.
There are some players with local ties on the U. S. team, including Folau Nua, who grew up in East Palo Alto and played for Golden Gate Rugby Club; Santa Rosa native Stephan Tomasin who played for Cardinal Newman in high school; and Matai Leuta, who is from San Jose.
Rugby sevens — a frenetic, speed- centered sport in which games only last 14 minutes — got a boost in this country last year when it was included at the Rio Olympics. Rugby had not been in the Olympics in any form since 1924, when the Americans repeated as gold medalists in traditional 15- a- side rugby union.
That was a high point for American rugby: While the sport thrives worldwide, it has struggled to stay on the national radar in the United States. The sevens game is considered more fan- friendly than traditional rugby union. It has fewer players, and is noteworthy for both its lightning- quick halves ( seven minutes as opposed to 40), and lightning- quick players, who have to cover more ground and be more versatile.
“Certainly Rio was very important, especially from the U. S. point of view,” Hinkin said. “Suddenly people here were playing attention, whereas, worldwide, people have always paid attention to rugby.”
Hughes was captain of the Rio squad, which finished ninth in Rio.
“I think it did raise the profile,” said Hughes, a dual citizen who grew up in England but played collegiately at Dartmouth. “We had more eyeballs watching rugby.”
Three of the top four Olympic teams will be at Avaya: gold medalists Fiji; England, which was part of the silver medalist Great Britain team; and Japan, which finished fourth.
The American team built on its Rio experience to have a successful world series last winter and spring. In addition to Hughes, standout Americans include Carlin Isles, considered “the fastest man in rugby,” and Perry Baker, a very fast former Arena Football League wide receiver who is nominated for World Sevens Player of the Year. However, neither Baker nor Isles, who is coming back from a knee injury, are on this weekend’s roster.
The 2017- 18World Rugby Sevens Series kicks off in Dubai in early December. The stops include Las Vegas in March, and the final stop is in Paris in June. The top finishers are determined by points. A separate event, the RugbyWorld Cup Sevens, will be held in July at AT& T Park.
Hughes also started playing 15- a- side rugby union with the United States last year. He hopes to play in the sevensWorld Cup, help the 15- a- side team qualify for the 2019World Cup in Japan and then play in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“That would be an absolute dream come true to be involved in all three,” Hughes said.
That would also be another piece to raising the profile of the sport in the United States.