6th December 2009
Well the dubai 7s is done and dusted for another year. New Zealand crowned champions, beating Samoa in the final of the cup. Taizo Hirabayashi took charge of that game and did extremely well!
Day 2 started with France vs Russia for me. France were under pressure for the whole game and it took a late score in the last play of the game to beat them 22-21. Only one issue in that game was one of the French players was cited for a stamp on an opponent in an off the ball incident which I didn't fully see. In the subsequent disciplinary hearing he received a 4 match ban.
A gap of 8 hours before my next game was a little bit of an irritation however this was to accommodate all the different finals of the invitational tournaments which were going on on the back pitches around the main arena from the Thursday.
New Zealand vs Fiji was my last game of the tournament in the cup semi final. Played in front of a capacity crowd of 50,000 people the atmosphere was awesome! This was my first cup semi final and to say I was a little nervous would be an understatement. All went well though and New Zealand obviously going through and on to win the cup. It was an excellent game to be involved in, high intensity and lots of pressure! All went well and I received an excellent report back from the performance reviewer. After that is was time to relax and enjoy the party atmosphere in the run up to the finals!
Once the tournament was finished it was into the clubhouse for a bit of a party with all the referees from the weekend who we had been mingling with over the week. Food and drink were plentiful and a good night was had by all.
Sunday morning was a 7am start to get to the airport for our flight to Joburg. All went well however I'm sitting on our plane which is due to take us to George and have been for about 2.5 hours! Seemingly they've lost our luggage!
Never mind, I'm thoroughly looking forward to the South African leg of the circuit and then it'll be back home.
Speak to you during the week.
Andrew
4th December 2009
Hello from my hotel room in the beautiful Crowne Plaza Hotel, Festival City, Dubai.
Tournament day one got off to an early start with breakfast at 6.50am and on the bus to the ground by 7.30am. A half hour bus journey, basically to the middle of the desert, and we had arrived at the ground.
My first game was Samoa vs Zimbabwe at 9.20am the second match of the day. Samoa ran out convincing winners by 40-5 and it was a nice warm up for the rest of the day.
Game 2 was USA vs Kenya. USA racing to a 21 point lead in the first 5 minutes and it was all looking too easy! However the Kenyans fought back to with 5 points at the break. 2 tries from Kenya and 1 from USA tied the match at 26 all with only a minute to go until the Kenyans run over the try line in the last play of the match to seal an uncomfortable victory by 5 points.
Game 3 was played under the lights at 7.15pm between New Zealand and Argentina. At 10-10 at half time things were looking very tight in a closely contested first half however the kiwis showed there superior pace and power and raced to a 38-10 victory by full time.
Today has been thoroughly enjoyable in 30 degree heat and the atmosphere around the stadium is immense. Its just a massive party all around the ground which motivates you to work hard on the pitch.
Tomorrow so far only one appointment which is France vs Russia in the quarter final of the bowl which is a little disappointing considering the positive feedback I've had about my performances today, however there is a very good chance of a cup semi final in the rounds after that so fingers crossed all goes well!
More updates tomorrow and i'll speak soon.
Andrew
3rd December 2009
Well hello from Dubai.
On the eve of the tournament we're all just relaxing a little bit until out early start tomorrow. Breakfast is at 6.50am and we're leaving the hotel at 7.30am to arrive in time to prepare for our first games. The tournament kicks off at 9.20am with Taizo Hirabayashi taking charge of Fiji vs Scotland.
The week so far has been quite relaxed but very busy at the same time. Early morning meetings with team coaches, training matches at mid morning as well as referee specific sessions has meant that there is little time to sight see and do your own thing. However all these sessions are geared towards being the best we can be on the field.
I was first to arrive on Monday morning after a 7 hour flight from heathrow. I was met by Stan Wright who is our local liaison manager. That night we went out for a meal at an excellent Pakistani restaurant and after it was back for a good nights sleep. On the Tuesday it was a run out with the South Africans against a local school team which has been a tradition over the past few years but a quiet afternoon as the remainder of the other referees arrived.
A 7am meeting on Wednesday morning with team coaches was followed by another run out with the USA and Australian squads at Dubai college in 30 degree heat.
Thursday was a very quiet morning however we travelled to the magnificent stadium called The Sevens for our familiarisation tour. A brand new stadium first used for the 2009 rugby world cup 7's is purpose built for a sevens tournament with excellent facilities. Imaculate pitch which wouldn't look out of place on a bowling green.
Our first appointments for day one are out.
Samoa vs Zimbabwe
USA vs Kenya
New Zealand vs Argentina
3 completely different styles of game but I'm really looking forward to the experience of running out in front of a capacity crowd. Even some local faces will be there as Davie Dods and Anne are here on holiday so looking forward to meeting up with them at some stage.
So its time for our evening meal and an early night to prepare ourselves for a long hard weekend.
Speak soon
Andrew