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Rugby Union
Sevens |
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The first Sevens Tournament was played in
Melrose, Scotland, on the 28th April 1883. It was proposed by the local Butchers
Apprentice as a way to raise money as the staging of a full (then) 20 a side
tournament was impractical. The tournament is still played today.
The first series outside Scotland was played
in Argentina but now is played all over the world. The IRB in 2000 sanctioned an
international series with and tournaments are played on all continents. New
Zealand has dominated the series.
Probably the most famous sevens tournament
is the Hong Kong Sevens. It was first played in 1976. Initially it was played by
club sides but quickly moved to international sides. New Zealand teams have
dominated the tournament.
On the 25th February 2004 New Zealand
and Hong Kong issued a set of stamps to commemorate the tournament. The joint
cover issued by NZ is shown below. |
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Four Stamps
and a
Miniature Sheet
were also issued and are shown on covers. They were also available as a
Presentation pack.
Hong Kong issued a
joint
FD cover,
a
single FD cover
for its stamps alone, a
joint presentation pack
and
single presentation pack as well as a
16 stamp sheetlet. It also issued 4
post cards showing the
Hong Kong Stadium,
Wellington Stadium,
NZ players and
other sevens players.
NZ Post also released a
Miniature Sheet and
Cover
with one of the Sevens Stamps and two of the 100th Anniv. of Test Rugby Stamps
for the Le Salon du Timbres 2004 exhibition in Paris. Sevens Rugby was also introduced for the
first time to the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and was retained in
Manchester. New Zealand won Gold in both Games. |
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Football shaped stamps issued by Tonga on July 27 2002 to commemorate the Rugby Sevens at the Commonwealth Games, Manchester. |
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