Dubai Rugby Sevens kicks off

Dubai: There were 148 reasons to head for Al Awir and enjoy the first day of action at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens.

That's the number of games that took place on the four pitches, from 8am and continuing all the way through to 9pm.

The IRB World Series got underway on Thursday and continues on Friday.

In addition there is the International Invitation event, which often features players who have just missed out on representing their country, or more experienced campaigners who have stepped down a level.

As well as plenty of action on the pitch, there were some star names in the stands. New Zealand fly-half Daniel Carter and South Africa's double World Cup winning prop Os du Randt are already in town for the event while England are holding a front row reunion with props Jason Leonard, Victor Ubogu and Gareth Chilcott due to attend, too.