South African referee Stuart Berry has been officiating in the IRB Sevens in Wellington and sends us his report before flying to Las Vegas, in the USA.

What a Tournament!

The Wellington Sevens, the third stop on the IRB Sevens circuit, can only be described as one of the biggest rugby parties and fancy dress experiences in the world. The Westpac Stadium in Wellington plays host to 35,000 fans over two days of Sevens rugby, of which around 95% are largely intoxicated and in attendance for the party and social gatherings. That however, leads to one of the most electric party and rugby atmospheres I have ever experienced before.

This tournament was the first of my four appointments, with Las Vegas (this coming weekend) and
London/Edinburgh (end of May) the other three to come. I see the Sevens as an opportunity to expose my abilities as a referee to the IRB, and in doing so, add claim to a possible elevation in refereeing ranks. In addition, the ability to travel, referee at an international level and in front of big crowds, is a process of maturing as a referee, with the hope of making it further in the 15’s game one day.

I arrived at Wellington with no huge expectations aside from experiencing the circuit for the 1st time and getting into the Sevens mode. I arrived on Tuesday, February 2 and checked into the James Cook Hotel in central Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The circuit is great in that all the teams and referees stay in the same hotel, so there is a great atmosphere. You get to spend time with all the players and coaches, and build up a really good relationship with all of them. The James Cook Hotel was particularly good, as they had a full internet room, as well as a large games room with darts, snooker and table tennis. JP Doyle and I enjoyed the challenge of the table tennis, and managed to keep the table for a few games before losing to the English team.

On the days leading up to the tournament, most teams have warm up games against each other which they arrange between themselves, and we generally get one or two games to referee as well. These games can get quite tense as well, as I found out when doing the Wales vs France warm up game and found out that the countries don't exactly share too much love for each other.

Day 1 was great... I had the second game of the tournament, Canada vs Argentina, and I think that most people underestimated the Canadians. In a surprise result, they beat the Argentineans and set themselves up for a Cup quarterfinal. My last game of Day One was Australia vs Scotland, which ended in a one team affair with the Aussies booking their spot in the Cup quarterfinals. I was very happy with my performance on Day One, and not having had any expectations for this tournament, was pleased to find out that I had a cup quarterfinal the next day, Australia vs hosts New Zealand. It was great... to referee New Zealand in front of their home crowd was really superb, and the game was a tight one as well, with New Zealand securing the win only late in the second half.

I was then really chuffed to learn that I had been given the Cup semifinal, between defending champions England and form favourites Fiji, and what a game it was! Fiji with their big forwards and super Sevens style against a structured and well coached English team. England scored first, but Fiji was up for the game and their speedsters came through for them in the end.

The tournament was a great experience, and having done a semifinal was a wonderful honour, and one that I really enjoyed.

So, tomorrow we (and in that I mean all the teams and refs) all hop in a plane and fly to Las Vegas for the next leg of the series, and what a stop it should be!