Singapore looks to extend Sevens status beyond 2019

I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Singapore Sevens this week, allowing me to catch up with World Series Director -Douglas Langley. He confirmed that the Singapore Rugby Union has sought to extend their status in World Sevens beyond the end of their current four-year deal -which runs out in 2019. And although he couldn’t share the details of other prospective bidders, he did acknowledge -as it was already widely known - that Fiji are seeking to host a leg of the tournament from 2020.

Singapore has been the venue of surprises for the past two seasons -producing Kenyan and Canadian winners. But it’s a venue that’s also been a commercial success, with ticket sales increasing year on year. Over fifty-two thousand have been sold in advance of the weekend, with a few busy days of sales ahead.

It also seemed pretty clear that Singapore is widely viewed as an important component of growing rugby in Asia. Doug told me “Asia is a very important market for us now, obviously with the World Cup next year and Toyko 2020 -where Rugby Sevens is now a big part of the Olympic Games”.

When I asked him about the prospect of an Ireland Sevens team playing in the World Series -I was pushing at an open door. Doug responded “we weren’t fortunate enough to have them (win) in Hong Kong” of course meaning that Ireland will have to go through another year in a lower tier before they get another bite at qualification.

But he added “We’ve also got them (Ireland) in Paris and London as they were the best performing team in the European Championship from last season. We’ll see both the men’s and women’s in San Francisco at the Rugby World Cup Sevens. They’re a very good rugby nation obviously, not just in fifteens but they’re showing that now with the Sevens. They’d have a lot to contribute to the Series if they were lucky enough to get into (it).” And lucky isn’t a problem for us Irish -so now it’s about building for next season.

I wasn’t able to resist getting my hands on the Seven Series trophy for the first time -it’s never a bad thing to give into temptation once in a while. Roll on the weekend.

Rugby Explorer Singapore

RugbyPass has 5 VIP passes to giveaway to the competition which includes tickets to both days of competition, free-flow beer and wine, lunch and dinner, access to AC lounge and a host of special guests including Scott Hastings, Micheal Cheika, Stephen Moore, DJ Forbes, Ben Gollings Peter Wheeler and Huriana Manuel. To be eligible to enter, you need to hold a valid monthly or annual RugbyPass.

Tickets for the event can be purchased right here