Rugby se7ens

Rugby. What better way to spend the weekend than to watch 14 burly men wrestle for that 'ol pigskin ball.

Here's the seven's game: 7 men per side, 14 minutes to get as many 'tries' (touchdowns) as possible. After scoring the 5pt try, they can kick for a 2pt 'conversion' (field goal). (There are a few other nuances that Kylie might have covered.)

I've never seen this pace of action. The tournament featured 16 international finalist teams that played back to back. The field was empty for no more than ~30 mins from 1pm-10pm for non-stop rugby. During said hiatuses, shameless half-time shows featuring Austin Power look alikes, NZ idol finalists, The Village-people dancers and dodgeball contests kept the party going. And by 'party' I mean people dancing in their seats and metabolizing 11 litres of alcohol a minute. For us, the audience was just as entertaining as the game.

Aside from the game, the entire city of Wellington celebrated the event in costume. At any given street corner one could find a dozen Fred Flintstones, the Justice League, Smurfs...And yes, we found Waldo, all 30 of them. We joined in on the fun with our inexpensive impromptu costumes which included bedsheets, face-paint and feather's plucked from the nearest Kakehe and kiwis. We paraded the city as Ceasar, various unknown superheroes, fairies, cross-dressers and parrots. With these costumes it's funny to see what American pop-culture is to the rest of the world.

Look forward to finding some Sevens coming to America.

happy valentines day,
zach and asa