Top teams eye Sevens success

Eleven of the 16 teams competing in the 2005 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens have an extra incentive for wanting to kick-off the IRB World Series in style.

The award-winning annual event, due to be staged at the Dubai Exiles from November 30-December 2, is the crucially important first of eight tournaments which combine to make up the global series.

And the great majority of the competing teams will also be using Dubai as a vital opening step on a road which also leads to the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March. Wales, for example, have specifically reformed their sevens team with the aim of winning a medal in Australia.

And a brand-new squad will be keen to impress in Dubai and put down solid foundations ahead of mounting a serious challenge against current gold medallists New Zealand as well as England, South Africa, Fiji and Scotland.

"The fact that the Commonwealth Games are just over the horizon will certainly add plenty of spice to this season's Dubai Sevens," said Gary Chapman, president of Dnata and Associated Companies, Emirates Group.

"Teams will want to be right on song for the start of the season and that means the level of competition in Dubai will be even more intense than usual."

New Zealand, who have won all of the six IRB World Series to date, begin the season as favourites to make it seven in-a-row and clinch a third successive Commonwealth Games gold medal. But Australia are determined to make a bigger impact in Sevens this year and launch a bid for glory on home soil, despite facing a tough match early on against England.

Coach Glen Ella said: "Given the Australia-England rivalry, we will be looking forward to an old-fashioned Ashes-style showdown come the Commonwealth Games."

Scotland are another side eager to take big steps forward this season at the Sevens. Coach Rob Moffat said: "On the IRB circuit last season every time we were seeded in the top eight, we finished within the top eight. We were six times in quarterfinals without managing to win one, so we know the progression we want to achieve this year." Kenya are set to compete in the Commonwealth Games Sevens for the first time.

Sponsors of the Dubai Rugby Sevens include Aggreko, Airbus, MMI, Air BP, Roll-Royce, BBC World, Morgan Stanley, Prosport, HSBC, Towers Rotana Hotel, Dnata, Dubai Duty Free, Al Futtaim Willis Faber, Motivate, Coca Cola, Al Hammad, DHL, Dubai Ports Authority, Meed Projects, Nivea, Gulfa Water, Avis, Welcare Hospital, IBM/GBM, DRN, Mercator, Playstation, Pocari Sweat and Xerox.