Heard of Super 7s? If not, you're about to. Super 7s, also known as Ultra 7s or Marathon 7s, is going to debut in front of fans in the U.S. at this year's Collegiate Rugby Championship as an exhibition to see whether the format of the game can be marketable to fans. Super 7s is an elongated version of 7s that originated in Canada and sees teams play four quarters of sustained played, larger squads, and higher scores. The idea is that you keep the high scoring of 7s but make it a longer match that fits well with television and gives fans a true home town team to support.
United World Sports is the main driver behind the exhibition. UWS runs the CRC, the Las Vegas 7s, and is involved in the Varsity Cup. They have invited New York (the Northeast ODA) and the Ontario Blues as the first two teams to participate in the exhibition. Each squad will have 16 players with players able to sub in and sub out unlimited times during dead ball situations. The match is set to be played over four 12 minute quarters. There will be no timeouts with three minutes between each quarter and six minutes between each half.
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The match is going to be held on the Saturday of the CRC at 12:30 p.m. et/9:30 a.m. et. According to multiple sources, UWS is going to tape the event and shop it around to investors and to major networks. The idea is then to create an 8-12 team league. By creating one off matches cities can now have a home team that has several home fixtures. In a traditional 7s model a home team may one play at home once.
One of the biggest obstacles to the match evolving into a league was approval by U.S.A. Rugby and the IRB. However, according to our sources both entities have signed on to the match as an exhibition. Prior to that agreement UWS was prepared to play the match under the authorization of international rugby league.
The Northeast ODA will be lead by Steve Lewis and feature the bulk of their regular squad. They will announce the team for the tournament next week. Several players on the Ontario team have played the version before having the version already have exposure in Canada.
It still has to be seen how the match will shake out. The idea behind the project is solid as it mixes marketable elements of both 15s and 7s. However, it does have some draw backs. Basically players will be asked to play a whole day plus of 7s in an hour and half or less. It's safe to assume that the fourth quarter might not be the best rugby. Then again, that's the point of the exhibition in the first place.
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What do you make of the format? Think it can lead to a professional league?