Las Vegas Weekly

February 9, 2012 · 10:55 AM

16 nations competing in 2012 USA Sevens Rugby at Sam Boyd

By Robin Leach

The USA Eagles at Blue Man Group in the Venetian on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012.

Photo: Courtesy

The high-speed, nonstop action of rugby is played without padding, timeouts or on-and-off player changes. It’s fast, brutal, raucous and physically challenging. The battering and bruises are for fun -- the broken bones get serious!

The Strip is now overrun by athletes from 16 nations competing in the USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament played for the first time over three days through Sunday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The excitement starts tonight downtown when players and coaches walk a red carpet along Fremont Street Experience for fan introductions at the 3rd Street Stage. PBR Rock Bar and Grill at Planet Hollywood serves as official party headquarters, and the first rugby party is there tonight after the parade of nations. Friday at Sunset Station, there’s an opening-night-of-play International Beer Festival with ales from all 16 nations.

The countries represented are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, the United States, Uruguay and Wales. New Zealand is the reigning series champion, and the introduction of Brazil to Las Vegas is noteworthy as Rugby Sevens makes its Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Members of our USA Eagles have already been enjoying our Strip attractions. First stop was Blue Man Group at the Venetian, and Wednesday night was “Vegas! The Show” at the David Saxe Theater in Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile. Members of the English, Welsh and Scottish teams have hosted team autograph sessions at Ri Ra Irish Pub in Mandalay Place and Todd English Pub in Crystals at CityCenter.

During the three days of the tournament, there are 44 matches, plus carnival activities and food from all the nations at the International Fan Festival complete with rugby clinics. The Las Vegas Invitational includes amateur tournaments for teams of all ages and skill levels and includes women. The men’s semifinals and finals will be played Sunday starting at 9 a.m., along with the women’s finals.

Las Vegas is the only U.S. stop -- the fifth of nine -- on the world series tour. Sevens is played on the same size field as traditional 15-player rugby but with only seven players per team. The matches have 7-minute halves, so it’s a very fast-paced, short-duration game.

I played rugby in school while growing up outside London. I think that I’ve still got the bruises -- certainly the memories of charging through mud, being tackled and having the wind knocked out of me. Tough? Yes! Brutal? Yes! Fun? No!

Go see for yourself during the nonstop rugby action and celebration weekend.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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