What to expect when rugby 7s travelling circus comes to Edmonton this fall
Canada's Nathan Hirayama, left, is tackled by Wales' Will Jones during the Canada Sevens rugby tournament in Vancouver, on Saturday, March 7, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Edmonton -
It's a two-day, all-day sporting spectacle, complete with cocktails and costumes, that will welcome some of the world's best rugby-playing nations to Edmonton this September.
The World Rugby Sevens Series is set to make its Alberta debut with the second of two Canadian stops on this year's pandemic-abbreviated tour.
Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium will host Sept. 25-26 with the event returning to BC Place in Vancouver for a sixth time the weekend prior.
Here's what to expect at the sevens.
WHAT IS RUGBY SEVENS?
Sevens is the faster relative of traditional 15-versus-15 rugby and is played on a pitch roughly the size of a Canadian Football League field.
The name sevens comes from the number of players on each team as well as the length of each half, seven minutes compared to the typical 40 for traditional rugby.
The combination of a small number of players and a big pitch leads to lots of scoring and turnovers.
Sevens is going into its second straight Olympics as a medal event with both Canada's men's and women's teams scheduled to compete in Tokyo.
Canada's women's team won a bronze medal at the Rio games in 2016.
Last season, the men got in six of 10 planned tournaments and the women five of eight before the schedule ground to a halt.
Edmonton replaces London on this year's men's tour. Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Cape Town are this year's other host cities.
HOW DOES THE TOURNAMENT WORK?
Edmonton's event will feature a 12-team format instead of the typical 16 squads.
In a usual year for the sevens series, the teams would be divided into four groups with each team playing the other three in its group on the first day of the tournament.
The top two finishers in each group advance to the next round played on the second day, while the bottom finishers move on to the consolation round.
In this March 8, 2020, file photo, New Zealand players perform the haka after defeating Australia during the final at the Canada Sevens rugby tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia. Participating countries in the past have included traditional rugby powerhouses New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, England and Fiji.
This year, it's not yet clear which countries will be travelling to Edmonton given both uncertainty over border rules as well as the United Kingdom countries competing as one team at the Olympics rather than as individual nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Games take about 20 minutes of real time from start to finish and are scheduled one after the other leaving little time between matches.
Play gets underway early in the morning and doesn't wrap up until early evening.
The Canadian men's team's best showing was sixth overall in the circuit's initial season in 1999-2000. They won one tournament event, the 2017 Singapore Sevens, and finished third in the most recent Canada Sevens.
WHAT IS THE ATMOSPHERE LIKE?
Fans are a big part of the sevens atmosphere.
The wearing of 'fancy dress' costumes has become a long-standing sevens traditions with fans encouraged to get creative in showing off their support or whimsical sense in dress.
Costumes range from the patriotic to the whimsical or impractical with group costumes often being not hard to find.
People in costumes wearing large water bottles on their heads drink beer on the concourse while attending the Canada Sevens rugby tournament in Vancouver, on Saturday, March 7, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Vancouver's event drew more than 70,000 fans to BC Place each of the last five times it's been held.
Under Alberta's reopening plan, it's expected some 31,000 fans will be allowed each day at Commonwealth Stadium.
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