THE BOYS AREBACK INTOWN

THE BOYS AREBACK INTOWN

Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2011

Sponsors’ Report

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Contents

2 Introduction

4 Results

10 Sponsorship

12 Sponsor awards and activities

14 Advertising campaign

18 Public relations campaign

21 Website

22 Media relations

26 Accredited media

28 TV distribution

30 Official functions

32 On site at the tournament

The 2011 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens was once again a spectacular event, combining incredible on-pitch action with top-class off-pitch entertainment to produce a weekend to remember.

Over 100,000 fans descended on The Sevens stadium for the three-day festival of rugby which coincided with the 40th anniversary celebrations of UAE National Day. And they witnessed a piece of history in the making as the UAE fielded its own national side for the first time.

Also, not only did the event attract a record number of Invitation sides but for the first time in the tournament’s history, it included an IRB-sanctioned women’s event which saw the best women’s teams in the world taking each other on in the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup.

And while the world’s finest men’s and women’s Sevens stars battled it out on pitch, the rugby village was packed with even more sponsor stands and fun activities than ever before with exciting activities to keep all ages entertained.

The Air BP Family Stand meant families could enjoy the weekend together in a family-friendly environment, and the fans certainly got their money’s worth in terms of excitement on the pitch.

Tournament mascots Saba’a and Scrummy were once again a huge hit with the kids while the new troupe of Aggreko Dynamos proved immensely popular with their acrobatic routines in between matches.

The thrilling rugby action certainly had the fans cheering throughout the weekend with England securing top honours in the Cup competition for a second consecutive year, with a 29-12 victory over final new-comers France.

Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2011 -story of success

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Introduction

It was the Canadian women who took the Cup title in the women’s competition, with a 26-7 victory over England in their final.

Australia claimed the men’s Plate, with a last-gasp 17-14 victory over South Africa, while Scotland powered their way to top honours in the Bowl final with a 26-0 victory over the USA. And it was Samoa who had to settle for the Shield with a 31-17 win over Kenya.

The celebrations continued well into the night as the Million Dollar Band kept the crowds singing along at the Rugby Rock concert, bringing the curtain down on a fantastic tournament, which broke a world record for the number of live hours of TV coverage broadcast to an incredible 149 countries across the globe.

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Results (Men)

Pool tables and scores

Pool A W D L F A + PTS

Fiji 3 0 0 114 21 93 9

Argentina 1 1 1 108 75 33 6

Samoa 1 1 1 97 71 26 6

UAE 0 0 3 19 171 -152 3

Fiji 31 14 Samoa

Argentina 73 7 UAE

Samoa 28 28 Argentina

Fiji 43 0 UAE

Samoa 55 12 UAE

Fiji 40 7 Argentina

New Zealand 5 21 South Africa

United States 10 12 Portugal

South Africa 36 7 United States

New Zealand 31 7 Portugal

South Africa 17 5 Portugal

New Zealand 40 0 United States

Pool B W D L F A + PTS

South Africa 3 0 0 74 17 57 9

New Zealand 2 0 1 76 28 48 7

Portugal 1 0 2 24 58 -34 5

United States 0 0 3 17 88 -71 3

Pool C W D L F A + PTS

England 3 0 0 91 24 67 9

France 2 0 1 65 34 31 7

Zimbabwe 1 0 2 21 74 -53 5

Kenya 0 0 3 22 67 -45 3

France 12 29 England

Kenya 5 21 Zimbabwe

England 19 12 Kenya

France 26 0 Zimbabwe

England 43 0 Zimbabwe

France 27 5 Kenya

Wales 33 14 Australia

Scotland 19 14 Canada

Australia 24 12 Scotland

Wales 15 12 Canada

Australia 40 7 Canada

Wales 14 7 Scotland

Pool D W D L F A + PTS

Wales 3 0 0 62 33 29 9

Australia 2 0 1 78 52 26 7

Scotland 1 0 2 38 52 -14 5

Canada 0 0 3 33 74 -41 3

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Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield Competitions

Bowl Winner

Shield Winner

Shield Final

Shield Semi Final Shield Semi Final

Bowl

Bowl Quarter Finals

Final

Bowl Semi Final Bowl Semi Final

Scotland

Samoa

ScotlandUSA 0 - 26

KenyaSamoa 26 - 0

USACanada 17 - 33 PortugalScotland 19 - 17

Zimbabwe Samoa 21 - 12

CanadaSamoa 17 - 26 USAZimbabwe 7 - 41

KenyaUAE 5 - 35

UAEScotland 40 - 5 KenyaPortugal 24 - 12

Cup Winner

Plate Winner

Plate Final

Plate Semi Final Plate Semi Final

Cup

Cup Quarter Finals

Final

Cup Semi Final Cup Semi Final

France

England

Australia

England 29 - 12

South AfricaAustralia 17 - 14

EnglandFiji 12 - 19 FranceArgentina 5 - 24

AustraliaFiji 34 - 7 New ZealandEngland 10 - 7 ArgentinaWales 5 - 7 FranceSouth Africa 5 - 19

New ZealandAustralia 26 - 12 South AfricaWales 7 - 22

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Result (Women)

IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge CupPool tables and scores

Pool A

Australia

Canada

Spain

Brazil

Australia 12 5 Spain

Canada 31 0 Brazil

Australia 40 0 Brazil

Canada 19 14 Spain

Australia 7 14 Canada

Spain 19 0 Brazil

Pool B

USA

England

South Africa

China

USA 22 10 South Africa

England 26 15 China

USA 14 7 China

England 22 19 South Africa

South Africa 28 14 China

USA 0 31 England

Cup and Plate Competitions

Cup Winner

Plate Winner

Plate Final

Plate Semi Final Plate Semi Final

Cup Final

Cup Semi Final Cup Semi Final

England

Canada

Spain

Canada 26 - 7

South AfricaSpain 28 - 0

USACanada 36 - 0 AustraliaEngland 12 - 10

ChinaSpain 22 - 14 BrazilSouth Africa 19 - 5

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International Social Trophy HLG Larrikins 17 – 21 Hollywood Sevens

International Social Plate Wyvern Harlequins 33 - 7 Moscow Dragons

International Open Men Trophy Reservoir Group Pyrenees 7s 29 - 0 Move One Rhinos

International Open Men Plate RAF Spitfires 14 - 7 Black Stallions

International Open Women Trophy Olimp 14 - 5 Moody Cows

International Open Women Plate RSA Expat Old Girls 17 - 19 Burevestnik

International Invitation Men's Trophy Dubai Samurai 29 - 21 HFW Wailers

International Invitation Men's Plate GAC Stockholm Exiles 5 - 27 Enisey - STM

International Invitational Women Trophy Maple Leafs 5 - 17 Netherlands

International Invitational Women Plate Tuks Ladies Rugby 26 - 21 Kenya Lionesses

International Veterans Trophy CNCF Vets 28 - 0 Xodus Steelers

International Veterans Plate BHC Slammers Exiles 0 - 21 Racing Vets

Gulf Veterans Trophy Doha Dogs 0 - 12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins Vets

Gulf Veterans Plate Muscat Vets 10 - 12 Dubai Exiles Vets

Gulf Men's Social Trophy Dubai Dingoes 31 - 19 Emirates Flying Muppets

Gulf Men's Social Plate Barasti 38 - 0 Beaver Nomads

Invitation Tournaments

International Invitation Men Trophy: Dubai Samurai 29 - 21 HFW Wailers

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Gulf Men's Open Trophy Jeddah 0 - 29 Multiplex Marauders

Gulf Men's Open Trophy Plate Muscat 2 5 - 29 Damascus Zenobians

Gulf Under 18 Boys Trophy British School Al-Khubairat 0 - 26 Dubai College

Gulf Under 18 Boys Plate Muscat Pirates 22 - 5 Dubai Exiles

Gulf Women's Trophy Jebel Ali Dragons Ladies 29 - 19 Abu Dhabi Harlequins Women

Gulf Women's Plate Sharjah Wanderers Ladies 14 - 0 Doha Ladies

Gulf Men's Trophy Jebel Ali Dragons 1 29 - 7 Abu Dhabi Harlequins 1

Gulf Men's Plate Dubai Wasps 10 - 31 Jebel Ali Dragons 2

Gulf Under 18 Girls Trophy English College 15 - 14 Dubai Exiles

Gulf Under 18 Girls Trophy: English College 15 - 14 Dubai Exiles

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Sponsorship

Sponsors and partners behind the success of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2011:

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Sponsor awards and activities

Crowne Plaza / 7 DAYS – Star of the Tournament

Matt Turner who scored two tries in the final as the England team claimed their second consecutive Dubai victory was named as the Crowne Plaza / 7 DAYS Star of the Tournament. The winner was selected by the crowd via an SMS promotion and the award was presented to Turner by Mark Rix CEO of 7 DAYS and Tom Lord, acting General Manager of Intercontinental Hotels Group, Crowne Plaza.

Airbus – Top Try-scorer Award

Scotland’s Andrew Turnbull was awarded the top try-scorer award by Alexandra Kaoukji from Airbus. Turnbull notched up an impressive total of 10 tries over two days, two clear of his nearest rival, helping Scotland to victory in the Bowl competition.

Emirates Airline - Best and Fairest Team Award

Gary Chapman, President Group Services and dnata, Emirates Group presented the Zimbabwean side with the Best and Fairest Team Award for proving to be the team that displayed the highest level of sportsmanship throughout the course of the tournament.

Rugby Village

The activation in the village was better than ever with more sponsors recognising the numerous benefits of an interactive stand in the village in generating public interest and boosting brand awareness.

Their activations offered a variety of activities to keep spectators interested and entertained by offering giveaways as well as enticing the crowd to enter an assortment of competitions with plenty of fabulous prizes on offer.

Many of these activations were also extended into the stands and onto the pitch.

The children enjoyed the usual hugely popular array of jumping castles and inflatable games and also found plenty on offer from the sponsor stands in the village.

• The 7 DAYS front page photograph stand, which encour-aged the public to pose for photos in front of a mock-up of the newspaper’s front page, was particularly striking, as was their folded paper hat competition. This promotion also involved the 7 DAYS sofa which provided VIP seating for their readers.

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• Meanwhile Coca-Cola made plenty of noise with their Dubai Drums initiative while also encouraging the public to be environmentally friendly with a unique recycling device.

• DHL activated a rugby passing challenge and distributed their usual brightly coloured cheersticks which have become a wonderfully popular addition to the tournament over the years.

• dnata hosted an interactive rugby challenge in the village as well as running a popular ‘scream for your team’ competition in the stands throughout the tournament. This involved selecting the best dressed supporters to enjoy a bit of pampering on the dnata VIP couch.

• Once again HSBC hosted their always-impressive Premier Suite in the village area which offered VIP hospitality to their valued customers while also catering for children with fun sporting activities.

HSBC also sponsored the mini tag rugby event on pitch 1 which took place on the Saturday of the tournament and involved promising young talent from the region.

• Land Rover returned to the village with their fun scrum competition and this year also sponsored a seating area overlooking Pitch 2 to highlight the Range Rover Evoke cars.

Land Rover also held a Big Boot competition on pitch 1 during the course of the weekend which pitted selected club rugby players against each other in a kicking competition.

• Heineken offered a popular new shaded wine bar overlooking pitch 2 where picnics were served and spectators could relax to enjoy the rugby. They also introduced a Cider extreme bar behind the BP stand and of course served up the usual Heineken tent that is ever popular with the crowds.

• The Xerox stand ran the ‘Seen at the Sevens’ fancy dress competition, encouraging the public to attend the tournament in fancy dress and have their photos taken at the stand to have the chance to win great prizes, while also offering some fun activities for the children

• The inflatable Emirates ‘Tryline Tussle’ was again a favourite with aspiring young rugby players while Dubai Duty Free conducted a raffle to win a luxury car. The Scottish team were on hand to conduct the draw and select a winner.

• The Times partnered with Dubai Eye to run a ‘Face in the Crowd’ competition featuring all the best fancy dress outfits on the big screen.

• What’s on had their colourfully branded booths selling official programmes and also ran the ever-popular big ball crowd surfing competition. Crowne Plaza built a Golf Green in the village for the public to try their luck at attempting a hole in one. OSN displayed some of the new television series coming to the Middle East.

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Advertising Campaign

Print advertising

As a follow-on from 2010’s film-themed advertising, the 2011 campaign focused on song titles with the lead advertisement entitled “The Boys are Back in Town” – so highlighting the fun, social side of the tournament. The campaign began with the start of ticket sales on October 2 and the theme was featured prominently in partner media publications, online and on radio and TV.

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Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Launch by 7 DAYS

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A mini tournament pocket guide was produced in the weeks preceding the tournament, highlighting key information on the event such as, location map, participating teams, where to purchase tickets, transport details, frequently asked questions and a site map highlighting cash points, food and beverage outlets, restrooms, first aid and merchandise.

Pocket guides were distributed through participating ticket outlets, rugby clubs, sport bars and during the event.

A concerted effort was also put into a five-week Facebook advertising campaign leading up to the tournament which was targeted to users in the UAE alone. As a direct result, the number of visitors to the tournament website that were referred from Facebook increased to 12,189 (compared to 2906 referrals during the same period in 2010 when no Facebook advertising was employed).

Referrals to www.dubairugby7s.com:

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Media Amount

Local Newspaper - 7 DAYS Dh 1,500,000

International Newspaper - The Times Dh 750,000

Publisher - Motivate Dh 367,000

Radio - ARN Dh 1,100,000

TV - OSN Dh 2,000,000

TOTAL Dh 5,717,000

Local newspaper partner: 7 DAYS

7 DAYS provided higher than agreed coverage for the event in terms of advertising space. They also provided strong editorial coverage with their specially produced Sevens supplement which received excellent feedback. This was distributed before and during the Sevens.

International newspaper partner: The Times

This publication provided the tournament with International appeal and the coverage in advertising and editorial reached a segmented target market.

Local publisher: Motivate

What’s On provided strong editorial coverage and the advertising was carried through a number of the Motivate lifestyle magazines. Motivate also provided match planners to keep the spectators informed.

Radio Partner: ARN

Apart from airing regular 30 seconds advertisements for the tournament, official radio partner Arabian Radio Network (ARN) successfully promoted ticket sales and created excitement in the build-up to the event through running numerous competitions across Dubai Eye, Virgin and Dubai 92. Stations also aired live and pre-recorded interviews in the preceding weeks and then broadcast live during the tournament from the new and improved corporate hospitality village.

TV partner: OSN

New tournament partner OSN provided the tournament with excellent advertising coverage during the IRB Rugby World Cup and in the weeks prior to the tournament.

Leaflets, posters and rugby cut outs

Tournament collateral was printed and distributed to key points such as rugby clubs, bars, restaurants and ticket outlets including Emirates Headquarters, dnata Travel Centres, 7he Sevens, Costa outlets, Virgin Megastores, Enoc petrol stations and MMI stores across Dubai.

Total media partner value:

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Public Relations Campaign

Community Activities

Promotional activities were arranged to coincide with major Rugby World Cup matches, when hostesses handed out flyers to promote the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens in popular bars across the city such as Bidi Bondi, Irish Village and Nezesaussi.

Both Barasti and Nezesaussi also ran food promotions during this period where patrons could win tickets to the tournament and the inflatable passing challenge was used in further promotions at Barasti and Irish Village.

Tournament mascot Saba’a took a tour on the Big Bus around Dubai to raise awareness of the event. This was followed up with another city tour with the new Aggreko Dynamos who attracted great interest on the bus, also handing out flyers and mini-cards to the public.

The new Aggreko Dynamos also conducted several radio interviews promoting the tournament (one of which was a live appearance on Dubai Eye’s The Grill live at Barasti) and also participated in a photo shoot at iFly Dubai. These photos were then distributed to both local and international press as well as being posted on the Facebook page.

Other pre-tournament photo shoot promotions involved the Kenyan team visiting Ski Dubai and the Australian women’s team paying a visit to the Dubai Creek Dolphinarium.

The public relations campaign was launched on October 3, when tickets went on sale. This saw PR activities taking place every weekend up to the tournament to promote the event.

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Schools Activities

Over 20 Dubai schools took part in various exciting activities in the build-up to the tournament. These included a fun activity sheet for juniors and a song title-themed competition for the seniors. The primary school winner came from Horizon School and the secondary winner from Emirates International School. Many of these schools also hosted the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens passing challenge for the day, accompanied by promoters handing out flyers, mini-cards and prizes of caps, and t-shirts.

Other Activities

The Passing Challenge drew sizable crowds at Sunset Beach in Jumeirah on the weekends preceding the tournament. Saba’a and Scrummy also made sure the kids were entertained while hostesses made sure the public were informed about the tournament.

Saba’a and Scrummy also took part in the JESS Night Market which proved to be a resounding success in terms of promoting the tournament to a key target market.

Tournament anthem

For the first time in tournament history, an official anthem was commissioned. Popular locally-based band, Juliana Down were brought on board to write the anthem which was then released on partner radio stations. This was widely promoted in the build-up to the tournament with regular air-play as well as being used in radio and TV advertisements. A music video was also created which was distributed on YouTube and was also used during the Opening Ceremony. The anthem was well-received and was played live by the band at Rugby Rock on the Friday night.

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Malls

Both Virgin Megastore and Costa were used frequently throughout the build-up to the tournament as bases from which to promote the event within Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates. Hostesses were employed to hand out flyers and mini-cards while tournament mascots Saba’a and Scrummy also got in on the fun – making regular appearances at both malls to raise awareness and build excitement.

Facebook campaign

In addition to the five-week Facebook advertising campaign, the tournament Facebook page was developed even further in 2011 to become more interactive than ever before with photos, video clips, competitions and promotions running throughout the promotional campaign. This also became a valuable platform to immediately disseminate information and for the public to ask questions regarding the tournament which were immediately answered by the social media team.

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Website

The tournament website www.dubairugby7s.com continued to attract a growing number of visitors with 158,735 visits in the period between September and December 2011. This was an increase of 25,450 visits during the same period in 2010.

158,735 visits from 188 countries

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Media Relations

Press Conference

As in previous years, the pre-tournament press conference was held on the Wednesday before the start of the tournament. This was held at Crowne Plaza, Dubai Festival City and was attended by over 50 members of the media. Speaking at the press conference were representatives from the IRB, Emirates, UAE Rugby and several coaches of the leading sides.

Organisers worked closely with both local and international media to promote and publicise the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens as widely as possible. This resulted in extensive coverage across print, radio, TV and online with an even stronger presence in social media, thanks to a constantly updated interactive Facebook page.

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International media

Once again the tournament received strong global coverage thanks to the invitation extended by Emirates Airline to a number of international journalists who travelled to Dubai from England, Scotland, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Kenya.

Media centre and photographers room

A crucial part of the favourable coverage of the tournament depends on the smooth running of the Media Centre and Photographers Room. These centres provided a base from which the local and international journalists and photographers could work and receive up to date information, match sheets, results and other details. A team of media liaisons and volunteers ensured the seamless dissemination of this information while also taking care of any media enquiries and interview requests.

Editorial campaign

The editorial campaign for the 2011 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens began in August with the announcement of the tournament dates. This began a regular flow of press releases, both English and Arabic, which were distributed locally and internationally, so ensuring a huge press coverage in print, radio and TV and online.

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Accredited Media

Local:

7 Days

Africa Media Online/ Fujairah

Observer

Ahlan English/ITP

Al Bayan

Al Emarat Al Youm

Al Ittihad

Al Khaleej

Alrroya Aleqtissadiya

ANP

Arabian Business

City 7 TV

City Times

Connector

Cosmopolitan

Discover Dubai

Dubai 92

Dubai One TV

Dubai Sport Channel

DXBPICS

Emirates 24|7

Ertebat Magazine

Eye of Dubai

Grazia Magazine

Gulf News

Gulf News Tabloid

Harpers Bazaar Arabia

ITP

Kanoo World Traveller

Khaleej Times

Live Work Explore

MOJEH Magazine

Motivate Publishing

My Dubai My City

NPI

OK! Middle East Magazine

Outdoor UAE

Radio 1 - Gulf News Broadcasting

Read (Dubai Metro)

Safar Magazine

Sport360

Sportdxb

Stuff Magazine

Style Middle East

Talkaboutmedia

The Gulf Today

The National

Over 200 members of the media were accredited to cover the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2011. These included the following publications and organisations:

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Time Out Dubai

Total Sport magazine

TTN (Travel and Tourism News )

UAE Sport Guide

What’s On/ Hello!

Women's Health & Fitness

Xpress

International:

Aigle Sport

AFP

Al Jarida Newspaper

Al Watan

Arab News (Saudi)

Asia Business Channel

Associated Press

Bayt Lothan

Buenos Aires Herald

Eye of Riyadh

Getty Images

Hindustan Samachar

Kawalis Magazine

Le Mag Du Golfe

Media 24 (South Africa)

New Television of Kuban

Novoe Business channel

Press Association

ProRugby magazine (Russia)

Radio Sport (New Zealand)

Rugby Ecosse

Rugby Magazine

Samurai International

Sky Sports

Sports News Arena

Sunday Times

SuperSport.com (South Africa)

Supersport International TV

Telegraph Media Group

The Times

The World of Sensations

Thomson Reuters

Time Out Bahrain

Total Rugby

www.rugby15.co.za

www.arfu.com

XINHUA News Agency

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TV Distribution

Country / Region Broadcaster Notes

Middle East Dubai Sports Channel Took all matches Live on DSCH2 from the 2 days. This is for their Terrestrial and Satellite channel

Middle East OSN Took Both days live and giving 103 ad spots during the whole coverage

SA and Pan Africa MNET + Supersport Took all matches 1 to 45 over the 2 days including the Women’s coverage plus the 26 mins highlights programme

New Zealand Sky NZ Took all matches 1 to 45 over the 2 days including the Women’s coverage

New Zealand TV NZ Took all matches 1 to 45 over the 2 days including the Women’s coverage and making their own highlights programme

UK Sky Sports Dubai - Friday: 0900-1600, Saturday: 0700-1700. Also 2 hour Finals Day Highlights Sunday 4th 1800-2000 + 3 repeats

Wales S4C Took 26 mins highlights tape

USA NBC Universal Took from IWCSF 1- Match 45 Live

Pan Asia ESPN STAR Took Live matches 41-45 + highlights tape (New Live takers this year)

Hong Kong TVB Took 26 mins highlights tape

Australia Fox Australia Took Day 2 Live

Russia Sport TV Took the 26 mins highlights

Croatia CRU Took the 26 mins highlights

Worldwide Transworld Sport 3-5 mins news –3rd Dec

Worldwide BBC Worldwide 3-5 mins news –3rd Dec

Worldwide SNTV 3 mins news – 3rd Dec

UK News 24 3-5 mins news – 3rd Dec

Worldwide Reuters 3-5 mins news – 3rd Dec

TV coverage of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens – and the HSBC Sevens World Series continues to grow. 2011

saw an unprecedented number of viewers tuning in to catch all the action in Dubai. In 2011 there was an increase over

2010 of 64 hours that reached an extra 30 countries and 74million homes which broke a world record for the number of

live hours of TV coverage broadcast to an incredible 149 countries across the globe.

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Country / Region Broadcaster Notes

Worldwide EBU 3 mins news – 3rd Dec

UK Sky News 3 mins news – 3rd Dec

Brazil Band Sport Took Matches IWC1 – Match 18 Match 20-IWC10 Match 29- Minis and 39-45 LIVE (New Live takers this year)

Mexico TDN Took Live Matches 32-45 (New Live takers this year)

Portugal Sport TV Took live matches 5-8 13-16 17-19 20 -24 Plus Portuguese matches on day 2 and 41-45 plus the highlights tape

Latin America ESPN Sur Took all Argentinean matches plus 39-45 + 26 mins highlights tape

Japan Jsports Took 26 mins highlights programme

Canada Rogers Sports Net Took Both Days Live plus half hour highlights (New Live takers this year)

Tonga Digicel Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Fiji Fiji TV Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

American Samoa PCS Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Samoa SBC Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Solomon Islands Solomon Telekom Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Papua New Guinea PNG Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Cook Islands Cook Islands TV Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Fiji Fiji Radio Taking all match commentary Live

Niue Niue Broadcasting Took all matches 1-45 LIVE

Israel Ananey Took 26 mins highlights tape

Romania Sportklub Live Matches 41-45 (New Live takers this year)

Poland Sportklub Live Matches 41-45 (New Live takers this year)

Hungary Sportklub Live Matches 41-45 (New Live takers this year)

In-flight Emirates Took half hour highlights show

India,Pakistan Ten sports Took half hour highlights show (New taker this year)

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Official Function

Players Party

The official pre-tournament players party was once again a huge success. Over 400 guests gathered on the lawns at the Skyy-line Bar at Crowne Plaza. The event was attended by the 16 IRB teams and officials taking part in the tournament and for the first time also, the eight teams participating in the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup. Part of the evening’s entertainment included a performance by the new Aggreko Dynamos as well as a striking performance by the Tannura dancer

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Function

Emirates Airline Rugby Long Lunch

Emirates Airline hosted its annual gathering of rugby faithfuls with the Emirates Airline Rugby Long Lunch taking place on November 10.

The hugely popular event once again proved to be a resounding success with rugby stars Matt Giteau and Scott Quinnell keeping the 700-strong audience enthralled with rugby anecdotes and opinions.

This annual event consistently proves to be a highlight of the rugby calendar in Dubai and 2011 was no differ-ent as the duo had the crowd hanging on every word.

Giteau talked about growing up in a Rugby League-crazy family and his experiences as part of the Australian squad, while also touching on his disappointment at being omitted from the team for Rugby World Cup 2011 and giving his take on the recently competed IRB World Cup tournament.

Giteau, who hails from Sydney, has represented Australia in 92 Tests and two previous World Cups. Having made his debut against England in 2002, he was named as one of the five best players in the world in 2004.

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Onsite at the tournament

Corporate Hospitality

The completely-transformed corporate hospitality area was hugely popular with VIP guests who enjoyed the new layout of the tented area. Sponsors and corporate guests could enjoy the rugby action in style while also entertaining their guests in the new communal garden areas.

On-pitch Entertainment

2011 saw the introduction of a new Aggreko Dynamos group of entertainers from Scotland who brought a fresh approach to the on-pitch entertainment with a troupe of eight women and four men. Once again MC Dave Crane and his highly experienced team kept the party going and there were plenty of fun activities in the stands and on the big screen to keep the crowds entertained. The opening ceremony was once again a true celebration of the game with locally-based children involved in the spectacle which also included a local flavour – to celebrate the 40th anniversary of UAE National Day. Both the men’s and women’s international teams were joined by families who had earned their spots representing the teams through a radio promotion on Dubai 92. They all paraded as the new tournament anthem ‘Your Time is Now’ rang out across the stadium.

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Rugby Rock

Fans were once again treated to some top-class entertainment once the matches had come to an end with the ever-popular Rugby Rock keeping the party going on both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday, Dubai-based rockers Juliana Down performed the first ever official tournament anthem – ‘Your Time is Now’ – live before Kiwi band CVE took to the stage for the rest of the evening. Saturday saw Dubai diva Salha and her Million Dollar Band serving up another fantastic performance to keep the crowds partying well into the night.

Transport

Once all the action and entertainment came to an end, hundreds of free buses were on hand to transport fans from 7he Sevens back to several convenient locations across Dubai. These location were: Dubai Media City, Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City (family drop-off points), Barasti, Nezesaussi (Old Town), Irish Village and Chi @ The Lodge.