The South African Sevens rugby side beat a tenacious England 19-12 in the final of the IRB Sevens World Series, on Saturday. From here the Springboks travel to George this weekend (5-6th December) to play another two hard days of Sevens rugby.

Earlier on Saturday evening a sturdy looking England knocked out defending champions New Zealand; while South Africa played a hard semi-final themselves, after needing an extra-time drop-goal from star player and captain Mzwandile Stick to overcome Fiji 10-7.

Stick acknowledged the unbeaten UK tour by the 15 aside Springbok team as a great motivator for the SA Sevens team in Dubai. “South African rugby is doing very well at the moment. The Springboks won the World Cup last year and they returned unbeaten from their UK tour. They are our inspiration and we were determined to play well for our country.”

Ryno Benjamin described the win in Dubai as an amazing feeling. “We fought for every ball, especially against Fiji… Now we hope for a good performance in George in front of our own fans.”

Last month SA Sevens coach Paul Treu said his side were working towards winning the Sevens World Cup in March next year, “Our preparation was really good and the players all contributed superbly. Though this is a new-look team, we still have a couple of players who won here in 2006 and who were part of our success early this year in Adelaide.”

“It’s always a physical battle against the top teams such as England, New Zealand and Fiji and I told the players that if we want to be successful we are going to have to muscle up and retain our ball. It’s great to start with a win because it’s so important going into the new season.”

The victory in Dubai was the SA Sevens teams’ third success in the city (previous wins were in 2003 and 2006) and South Africa’s ninth IRB Series tournament title overall. SA ended second behind runway winners New Zealand on the 2007/08 Series log.

IRB Sevens World Series 2007/08 Schedule
Dubai, UAE - 28-29 November 2008
George, South Africa - 5-6 December 2008
Wellington, New Zealand - 6-7 February 2009
San Diego, USA - 14-15 February 2009
Hong Kong - 27-29 March 2009
Adelaide, Australia - 4-5 April 2009
London, England - 23-24 May 2009
Edinburgh, Scotland - 30-31 May 2009

A short history of Rugby Sevens

• Created by Ned Haig, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland as a fund-raising event for his local club in 1883.
• On 28 April 1883, seven clubs took part in the Melrose seven-a-side tournament, with the time of each match limited to 15 minutes. (Today, the World Sevens Series still follows the original rule that the first team to score in extra time is the winner of the match.)
• The first ever officially sanctioned international tournament occurred at Murrayfield as part of the "Scottish Rugby Union's celebration of rugby" centenary celebrations in 1973. Due to the success of the format, the ongoing Hong Kong Sevens was launched three years later.
• Currently the largest sevens tournament in the world is the Rosslyn Park Schools tournament, with an attendance of over 3,000 schoolchildren from around the world.
• In 1993, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, in which the Melrose Cup is contested, was launched.
• Rugby Sevens is played under largely the same rules, and on a field of the same dimensions, as the 15-player game.
• A Sevens match lasts approximately 15 minutes (allowing for the one-minute half-time break).