Plans were announced for an "ambitious" professional rugby sevens competition "featuring 48-minute matches," kicking off in the U.S. next year, according to Martin Pengelly of the London GUARDIAN. The super sevens format was trialed in Philadelphia in '14 with a game between teams from N.Y. and Canada. The concept announced on Monday, "designed to broaden the appeal of sevens rugby union" to U.S. TV audiences away from the traditional one- or two-day tournament model, "involves interchangeable squads of 16 to 21 players playing four 12-minute quarters." Organizers said that there will be "three-minute breaks between quarters, a six-minute halftime and, in a distinctly American twist, no ties." Any game level at the end of regular play will be decided by "a tie-breaking two-on-one skills competition" called "The Gauntlet." According to a statement, United World Sports, the N.Y. company that runs the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, the seven-a-side Collegiate Rugby Championships and the 15-a-side Varsity Cup, Super sevens will "launch with a barnstorming six city 'Pro Tour'" across the U.S. next July following the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco, "prior to league play beginning with city-based teams" in '19 (GUARDIAN, 5/30).
