WELLINGTON – For the first time in the event’s history, the Wellington Sevens will be held in January and brought into line with the rest of the series’ by occurring on a Saturday and Sunday.
These are significant changes for one of the more colourful legs of the Sevens series with it previously held on a Friday and Saturday as well as on the Waitangi Day long weekend which is the first weekend in February.
Once a guaranteed sell-out, these changes have been prompted by poor sales in 2014 as well as the new arrival of the Auckland Nines – a nine a side rugby league tournament held on the second weekend in February.
General Manager of the Wellington Sevens Steve Dunbar suggests that the changes were to ‘freshen things up a bit’.
“We think having a tournament on Saturday and Sunday will make it more accessible, to families, rugby goers and party goers.”
There’s possibilities that these changes could see the end of the success of Wellington Sevens. Thought of among the New Zealand rugby community as unrivalled in party atmosphere and rated one of the players’ favourites out of the whole World Series, the small stadium and reputation of becoming an alcohol fuelled raucous has consistently driven rumours of the Wellington Sevens leg making a move to Auckland.
If the changes lead to lower crowd numbers in 2016 then it’s very much a possibility with the contract for the event coming up for tender next year.