In his latest column for irbsevens.com, TV commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith reflects on an enthralling 2011 Dubai Sevens.
I think this year’s Dubai Sevens was one of the best tournaments I have seen.
Firstly, one of the reasons was the crowd. They watched every single game, even through the inaugural IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup – which was a great success I thought – and with the sport also going around the world, it was a wonderful display for people who might not have seen much Sevens before.
It was exciting and there were two main stories for me. One was the rise of France into the elite group of teams at the top, and also of Argentina.
It's an extraordinary thing that France hadn’t been in a final since they won in 2005, their only previous final, but they were fantastic all weekend and they were in the hunt right until the end, equally with Argentina.
On the other side, there were disappointing displays from the likes of New Zealand, and equally what on earth were Samoa doing in the Shield, although they won it, and South Africa even faded away.
But what it has done is open up the competition as we have always been saying for a long time.
The last three Cup finals have yielded six different finalists which is exceptional and it looks set to be one of the closest Series to date.
Special crowd
England, of course, were able to win back-to-back Dubai Sevens titles and it brings me back to my earlier point about the crowd.
For Ben Ryan's side there is also something special about this crowd. I think they look at it as their second home equally with Hong Kong. They won Dubai in 2004 and 2005, and have now won back-to-back tournaments here. You think back to the end of last season and they were unrecognisable from what we saw then.
There were two key players for them in this tournament and one was the return of Iosa Damu. No longer playing as a forward, but now breaking through from the midfield as a centre, as he did in the semi-final and final with vital tries because he has the power and the strength and he did that wonderfully well.
The other person who stepped up is the one who has switched to the scrum half position. Mat Turner was outstanding. His awareness, particularly when he scored a vital try against New Zealand which killed them off as he did against France too in the final and he was tremendously good.
Alongside that a useful outfit of forwards, and credit too to Marcus Watson who came in from the wing into the fly half position and he just grew in confidence. England now have a real strength in depth.
I think, unlike last season, when they peaked when they came to Dubai and then faded away, I think this year will be completely different as they will take a lot of confidence into Port Elizabeth next week.
Women's comp wonderfully exciting
The talent in the men's competition was outstanding but so too in the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup.
It is the start of something for the women, the inaugural IRB competition, and we know already there will be a similar one in Hong Kong. I thought the quality would have amazed people watching in the stadium or on TV.
It was extraordinary, the quality, the fitness, the skills were riveting and Canada, what a season they have had. They haven’t lost a game and they look a classy side.
Overall it was wonderfully exciting, and that again is going to be something people will relish and find something new in, not only for those watching, but also for those thinking I could play rugby. I think there will be a considerable growth for the women’s game around the world and it is yet another exciting part of Sevens.
