Women’s 7s quiet explosion in 2010

However, despite the lack of headlines, the game has been far from quiet.Eighty nations played over 275 sevens internationals in 21 tournaments or one-off fixtures making it the third busiest year ever.In comparison in the 15-a-side game including the World Cup there were only 76 tests, with just 26 nations being represented. Three teams finished with 100% records European champions Spain ( African champions Tunisia, and the winner of the European B tournament (the third division of European womens sevens),Ukraine. The Ukraine only joined the womens7s circuit in 2009, and now with a record of nine successive victories they gain promotion the second division where their main rivals will be Belgium and Finland. Can they make it two successive promotions in 2011?

Moldova were the winners of the European A tournament, regaining the place at the top table that they lost last year but they cut it desperately close, beating Switzerland by only two points in the final after earlier having being held to a draw by Belgium and beating Andorra by a single try.

But if the A tournament was close, when it came to Europes Top 10 there was really only one team in it. With champions England sending only a weakened team to Moscow (for fairly obvious reasons!), 2009 runners-up Spain ran out winners at a canter, scoring over 160 points while conceding only four tries two in the final against Netherlands. It completed a remarkable double for the Spanish, who had already lifted Europes 15-a-side crown, and won them praise in the Spanish Parliament and a high profile meeting with their sports minister.

Financial limitations ensured that Africas championship was even more one-sided. Sevens specialist Tunisias win was not unexpected, but with most none of southern or eastern Africas teams able to make it to Burkina Faso, it was not a win that stretched them. Later in the year Tunisia had a far closer game when they took on Malta, who had just been relegated from Europes A division, winning 19-7 in a one-off game in Tunis. In southern Africa the two major tournaments both ended in finals between Zambia and Zimbabwe, with much rejoicing in the latter when they took their chance to finally beat their rivals from over the Limpopo in theBancABC7s in Harare.

Brazil were again far too strong for any of their rivals in South America, but they proved remarkably uncompetitive at the Dubai sevens at the end of the year, brushed aside by France 35-0 before finishing runner-up in the plate. As hosts for 2016 Olympics it is clear that they must find ways of entering more tournaments outside their continent if they are to avoid slipping behind the rest of the world. Similarly isolated from the rest of the world, Guyana retained their NACRA title and remain the stand-out side in the Caribbean, but again this will count for little unless they can find ways of playing elsewhere, and more often. However, it was in Asia that much of the years action took place. From the headline-grabbing Iranian team to the first appearance of womens 7s at a multi-sport games, much of the continent had an amazingly busy year Singapore played a remarkable 23 internationals (plus a couple more games against unofficial selections) in five tournaments between the Hong Kong Sevens in March and the Asian Games in November. And they were not alone - India racked up 20 games, Japan 19, and Hong Kong 18. The worlds busiest international women's rugby players began with the 13th edition of the oldest womens sevens tournament.Twelve teams entered nine official national teams (all from Asia), alongside three unofficial selections from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. When the dust settled the final was the effectively the same as in 2009 except that it was the unofficial Australia team that beat the otherwise all-conquering Chinese, who strolled past every other Asian side,conceding only a single try against Kazakhstan in the semi-final.

Because this was to be Chinas year. There was no doubt about it the script had been written. The season would build to a climax, and that climax was to be the Chinese receiving their gold medals in front on a home crowd at the Asian Games. Only Australia the World Champions had beaten them since the World Cup, and they had never lost at home to, well, anyone. With the Hong Kong final under their belts the Asian Championship soon followed. Effectively a dress-rehearsal for the Asian Games, China dominated. Their closest game was the final a 26-10 win over (perhaps inevitably) Kazakhstan.

As the Games approached the Kazakhs finally picked up a title at Asia-Pacific title in Borneo, but the Chinese were not there. Both were missing from the final warm-up tournament in Singapore won by Japan before the continents leading teams finally made their way to Guangzhou. Without conceding a point, the Chinese reached the final, their opponents were Kazakhstan and they lost, 17-14. The international sevens year ended with possibly the biggest shock result of the year!

South America (Mar del Plata, Argentina) - BRAZILUSA (Las Vegas) - CHINAHong Kong - AUSSIE AMAZONSGuadeloupe in St Lucia - ST LUCIAEuropean B Division (Odense, Denmark) - UKRAINEEuropean A Division (Bucharest, Romania) - MOLDOVAAmsterdam - WOP (Netherlands)Africa (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) - TUNISIACarcassonne - PORTUGALEuropean Top Ten (Moscow) - SPAINAsia (Guangzhou, China) - CHINANACRA (Georgetown, Guyana) - GUYANACastle (Lusaka, Zambia) - ZAMBIAFriendly Cup (Lviv, Ukraine) - UKRAINEAsia-Pacific (Kota Kinabalu, Borneo) - KAZAKHSTANBancABC Sevens (Harare, Zimbabwe) - ZIMBABWE Singapore - JAPANMalta in Tunisia - TUNISIAAsian Games (Guangzhou, China) - KAZAKHSTANDubai - SAMURUI DUBAI

Success rate100% -Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia94% - China93% -Moldova, Guyana89% - Kazakhstan86% - Hungary, Switzerland80% - Columbia, Senegal79% - Belgium77% - France73% - Thailand71% - Brazil, Norway69% - Italy68% - Japan67% - England, Jamaica, Netherlands, Philippines