The Commercial Appeal

Rugby league to debut at Autozone Park

- Claire Kuwana

Representa­tives from the City of Memphis and Autozone Park announced Wednesday the debut of Premier Rugby Sevens. The inaugural event for PR7S will be held on Saturday, Oct. 9 at Autozone Park.

PR7S also announced Memphis Inner City Rugby as the league’s official community partner, highlighti­ng its grassroot efforts in the city.

Founder and CEO Owen Scannell cited both the stadium itself and the surroundin­g community - particular­ly its proximity to Beale Street - as reasons for hosting the debut in Memphis.

“For our inaugural event, we wanted a market that would appeal as an exciting destinatio­n for American rugby fans with a great venue and vibrant local rugby community,” Scannell said.

The league is expected to feature athletes from the Tokyo Olympics. There are currently 10 Olympians - six men and four women -- signed with the league as part of their Preliminar­y 2021 Players and Ambassador­s. In addition, Mike Tolkin, former head coach of the U.S. National Rugby Team, has been named the league’s general manager.

The league, with both women’s and men’s teams housed “under one umbrella” and receiving equal pay, will be the first of its kind.

The inaugural men’s and women’s tournament­s, The PR7S Inaugural Championsh­ip, will be televised on Fox Sports this fall. There are expected to be six men’s teams and four women’s teams.

Many of the athletes that have signed with the league are from both the U.S. Men’s and U.S. Women’s National Sevens Teams. Sevens, which is the format the league will take, means that the teams are made up of seven players and play two seven-minute halves (instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves).

Tickets for the October event can be purchased at Prsevens.com/tickets.

Claire Kuwana is a sports reporting intern at the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Contact her at claire.kuwana@commercial­appeal.com or follow her on Twitter @clairekuwa­na.

 ?? COURTESY PHOTO ?? Franklin's Kristi Kirshe is a member of the U.S. women's rugby team competing at the Olympics. Pictured, she participat­es in a game in 2019.
COURTESY PHOTO Franklin's Kristi Kirshe is a member of the U.S. women's rugby team competing at the Olympics. Pictured, she participat­es in a game in 2019.

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