Final prep underway for defending WUC Rugby Sevens champs

Rugby Sevens action from the 2018 World University Championship season 

The final preparations are being put in place for both event organisers and teams ahead of the highly-anticipated FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championships taking place in Namibia next week.

Over 200 athletes will descend upon the coastal town of Swakopmund for the 8^th edition of the championships, as 12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams battle it out for global Rugby Sevens glory.

The event, which takes place every two years, was lasted hosted in Swansea, Great Britain in July 2016, where the Australian men’s team bagged gold after beating defending champions and hosts Great Britain 24-20 in a pulsating final, while in the women’s event, France – who had lost the final of both previous editions – put those demons to bed with a convincing 31-5 final victory over Canada.

This year’s tournament will be the first FISU Rugby Sevens event to be hosted in Africa, and is also the first time a global university rugby sevens competition is being run following the sport’s debut at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Tournament organiser Werner Jeffrey, who gathered with his Local Organising Committee two weeks ago in Swakopmund, is looking forward to the event with great anticipation.

“We are very excited – we have a local organising committee that is working full out every day to get everything ready,” he said. “We are also working hand in hand with FISU who have helped us a lot, so now we must just pull it through.”

Apart from the action on the field, a unique Pop-Up Festival initiative will also be on show for the numerous fans expected to arrive at the Swakopmund Sports Grounds, where young entrepreneurs are able to sell their products and increase the fanfare and entertainment factor of the event.

“We had two Pop-Up festivals in Windhoek which were very successful, drawing about 2 000 people, and we thought it would be a good idea to take it to Swakopmund as well,” Jeffrey said.

Back to matters on the field, men’s defending champions Australia are cautious of their opponents ahead of the prestigious championships, with men’s team manager Christina Hickman acknowledging that her side cannot rest on their laurels as reigning champions.

“With the event being held in Namibia, we can expect the African countries to field strong teams, but many teams are currently performing well at the World Series events and the game is developing rapidly around the world,” she said.

“It’s a short game, if we take someone lightly even for a minute that could lose us vital positions. Obviously we’re going for gold, but any medal would be a great achievement.”

Australia have been drawn in a tough Group C alongside Botswana, China and South Africa, with Argentina, France, Uganda and Zambia making up Group B and Colombia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka joining hosts Namibia in Group A.

In the women’s draw, Australia, Canada, India and hosts Namibia make up Group A, while Group B sees defending champions France pitted against Belgium, Brazil and South Africa.

Teams have already started arriving in Swakopmund, with the Colombian men’s team the first side scheduled to make use of the training pitches on Saturday morning, followed by both Namibian teams and the women’s Belgian team in the early evening.

The tournament runs from Thursday, 12 July to Saturday, 14 July.