Rugby sevens is a scaled-down, super-charged version of 15-man Rugby Union. Matches last 14 minutes (seven minutes each half) with each team fielding seven players.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
Rugby sevens is a scaled-down, super-charged version of 15-man Rugby Union. Matches last 14 minutes (seven minutes each half) with each team fielding seven players.
Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images
Ned Haig, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland, invented sevens rugby in 1883. "Want of money made us rack our brains as to what was to be done to keep the Club from going to the wall, and the idea struck me that a football tournament might prove attractive but as it was hopeless to think of having several games in one afternoon with fifteen players on each side, the teams were reduced to seven men," Haig said.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
Ned Haig, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland, invented sevens rugby in 1883. "Want of money made us rack our brains as to what was to be done to keep the Club from going to the wall, and the idea struck me that a football tournament might prove attractive but as it was hopeless to think of having several games in one afternoon with fifteen players on each side, the teams were reduced to seven men," Haig said.
Courtesy of Melrose RFC
Fiji's Waisale Serevi is regarded as one of the greatest rugby sevens players of all time. He led his country to a first World Cup Sevens title in 1997.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
Fiji's Waisale Serevi is regarded as one of the greatest rugby sevens players of all time. He led his country to a first World Cup Sevens title in 1997.
David Rogers /Allsport/file
A familiar site at rugby sevens tournaments around the world, but especially in Hong Kong which has hosted a tournament since 1976. A party atmosphere takes hold of the Hong Kong Stadium for the duration of the three-day event.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
A familiar site at rugby sevens tournaments around the world, but especially in Hong Kong which has hosted a tournament since 1976. A party atmosphere takes hold of the Hong Kong Stadium for the duration of the three-day event.
MN Chan/Getty Images/file
Fiji players celebrate after winning the final against Wales at the 2013 Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
Fiji players celebrate after winning the final against Wales at the 2013 Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Colin Hawley (left) in action for the U.S. Rugby is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. with more than one million people (a third of them women) playing the sport at some level.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
Colin Hawley (left) in action for the U.S. Rugby is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. with more than one million people (a third of them women) playing the sport at some level.
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
New Zealand's sevens team perform the haka in celebration of their victory over England in the final of the 2103 World Cup Sevens final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
New Zealand's sevens team perform the haka in celebration of their victory over England in the final of the 2103 World Cup Sevens final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images
England players celebrate 1993's victory at the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens at Murrayfield.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
England players celebrate 1993's victory at the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens at Murrayfield.
Mike Hewitt/Allsport/file
(From left to right) New Zealand rugby legend Jonah Lomu, International Rugby Board president Bernard Lapasset, Argentina's rugby chief Porfirio Carreras and French counterpart Pierre Camou celebrate after sevens was included as a sport for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Sevens: Fast, furious and fun —
(From left to right) New Zealand rugby legend Jonah Lomu, International Rugby Board president Bernard Lapasset, Argentina's rugby chief Porfirio Carreras and French counterpart Pierre Camou celebrate after sevens was included as a sport for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Jens Nørgaard Larsen/AFP/Getty Images/file