Sevens can be rugby’s T20 cricket, says England captain Tom Mitchell ahead of Twickenham tournament
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Every year tens of thousands descend upon Twickenham.
However for one weekend at the beginning of the summer, it's not for one of England's gladiatorial Six Nations battles.
Instead they visit the RFU's HQ for a two-day fancy dress rugby festival. Punters young and old come in their numbers kitted out in costumes from smurfs to snow white to enjoy the sun and watch some of the best international sevens players on the planet.
Although this doesn’t sound like the ideal atmosphere for a fiercely competitive international sport to thrive in, England Captain Tom Mitchell sees it differently.
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
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“I think the main thing for us players, what we feed off, is just the buzz. If people are there to enjoy themselves then as far as I’m concerned that’s a brilliant thing. I love the fancy dress, the more creative the better and that certainly adds to it”.
Double Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams and South African speedster Bryan Habana are just two in a long list of greats to have graced the Twickenham turf for the London Sevens.
Despite the appreciation for the Sevens within the rugby community, the sport still has a lot of catching up to do. The England captain feels that growth should be expected.
“We’ll end up with other Sevens tournaments, whether they are international or professional leagues being developed. It might be an avenue where both things [Sevens and fifteens] can work together. A bit like Test cricket and T20.”
The way England player and all-time leading Sevens try scorer Dan Norton describes the game you can see the similarities to T20 Cricket.
He says fans can expect "a lot of exciting rugby, a lot of exciting sport, high octane. Generally the games only last 14 minutes and are quite short chunks of excitement. A lot of tackles and a lot of tries.
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(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
The first time Sevens truly gripped the nation was during the 2016 Rio Olympics where England lost in the final to Fiji.
Despite only taking home a silver Dan Norton “to see the small teams doing well is obviously pretty special, the whole thing about Sevens is, you see teams like Kenya and Spain doing really well in the Sevens world and it’s competitive throughout, and there’s quite a few shake-ups on a weekend”
The HSBC London Sevens takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday and Sunday 3 June. Get your tickets here .