In the United States, in San Francisco, the World Cup ofRugby Sevens is being contested this weekend. The governing agency prefers to call this the Rugby World Cup Sevens,not sure why. It is the premierstand-alone international rugby sevens competition outside the Olympic Gamesandis contested every four years. It is organised by World Rugby, the sport'sgoverning body. This is the firstcompetition held since Rugby Sevens was integrated into Olympic Sports at the2016 Rio games. It was last held in2013, and henceforth will be held every four years, two years after and beforethe Summer Olympics. New Zealand andFiji have both won two of the titles, leading the several nations who have wonone each. The competition began Friday at AT&T Park, and consists of 24men’s teams and 16 women’s teams vying for a world championship in thewide-open, high-octane, seven-player version of the sport. It is expected todraw about 100,000 fans. NBC Sports Network will televise the event, one of thebiggest gatherings for rugby sevens. Thetournament comes at a crucial moment for rugby in America, where the sport’sadvocates have been promising a rugby boom for a generation. Next year will seethe (normal) Rugby World Cup contested. A total of 84 matches are played in the three days, 52 men's and 32women's. More tomorrow. In Australia, in Aussie Rules Football, the inimitable SydneySwans, fresh from a dramatic last-gasp win over North Melbourne, host the GoldCoast Broncos on Saturday as they bid to extend an incredible record of making thefinals in 14 of the past 15 seasons. Thecurrent standings indicate that the Suns represent Sydney's best chance to banka percentage-boosting win before September. 1.7 percentage points separate 3rd place Collingwood from fifth-placePort Adelaide, with the Swans sandwiched in the middle. The season's Swans, while protecting their incredible legacy, sometimeshave a problem with consistency. Standout phenom Tom Papley returns to the Swans, aftermissing two games because of injury, and although young, adds some experienceto the lineup. Most of the lineup isyounger, and he enjoys teaching them, along with a few of the longtimeSwans. "It's good for the club thatthe young boys are going really well," Papley said. Saturday will be the first game that Sunsmentor Stuart Dew coaches against Sydney, the club where he honed his craft asJohn Longmire's right-hand man. In other Saturday action, North Melbourne takes onCollingwood, Essendon takes on the Fremantle Dockers, the Brisbane Lions takeon Adelaide, and the Geelong Cats take on Melbourne at Kardinia Park, SouthGeelong, aka the GMHBA Stadium. Some of our bros may have trouble telling the difference between the Aussie Rules Boys and the international Rugby Bros. All have long balls, oblong, but the Rugby balls are made by Gilbert, the Aussie Rules balls by Sherrin. When they are not hugging each other, Aussie Rules players can be distinguished by their AFL patch on the right breast. Their kit is also usually more form fitting and lighter. We are thankful for that. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
