It has been 11 years since Tokyo has been part of the international 7s junket, however inclusion in this seasons HSBC World Sevens Tournament was a great success. While the early spring in Japan was a little cooler than the week before in Hong Kong, Sunday's blue skies & huge crowds made up for Saturday's somewhat inclement whether.

This ex-pat rugby club in Tokyo, of predominately French players with a smattering of other nationalities thrown in, will celebrate their 25th Anniversary with several days of festivities and events from March 28th-April 1st. La L?gion ?trang?r? will commence the celebrations with a gala dinner at Le Petit Bedon on Wednesday March 28, 2012 in Tokyo with members of the French Rugby 7s team, including star player Jean Claude SKRELA, in town for the inaugural IRB Tokyo 7s series.

Today, Australia’s party capital, the Gold Coast, is this season’s starting point for the International Rugby Board’s 7-a-side rugby jaunt. A nine venue carnival from Australia, through Dubai (2-3 Dec)& South Africa (9-10 Dec), then back to the Pacific in the New Year where Wellington, New Zealand, plays host 3rd & 4th of February. The caravan then heads east across the Pacific to Las Vegas, USA (10-12 Feb), before the famous Hong Kong 7s (23-25 March), where this party began 35 years ago.

Led by Brisbane born half-back, Tim Usasz, the USA tried to disrupt an already jilted Australian line-up on Friday at the 2011 RWC Pool C encounter in Wellington. Coming off a shocking loss 15-6 to Ireland the Wallabies were keen to erase that memory of the previous weekend with a solid performance against an aggressive American Eagles outfit.

The infectious glint in Irish talisman, Brian O’Driscoll’s, eyes when interviewed after their historic 15-6 victory over Australia at Eden Park, Auckland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C match last Saturday, was overwhelming. “I know there’s, you know, about 58-odd thousand people here and it felt like 57 of them were shouting for us”, the Irish captain said. Some dubious refereeing, that has become part and parcel of the modern game, has resulted in the first major upset of the tournament.

The 13th game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC), exactly one week from the opening, has eventuated in the first major blowout in the score line with the hosts, New Zealand, running in 13 tries to 1 over the Japanese Brave Blossoms side with a dominating 83-7 point victory. Not quite the 145-17 massacre of Japan at the 1995 RWC in South Africa, but significant enough especially when you consider Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Mils Muliaina nor Israel Dagg were available. The fact that Sonny Bill Williams was offside for his second try matters little in the wash-up.

Last Friday, September 9, saw the start of the 7th Edition of the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. It has been 24 years since the “City of Sails” has opened a Rugby World Cup (RWC) which precedes six weeks of international rugby throughout the country, concluding with the final on October 23 to decide the winner of the Webb Ellis Cup.

Less than a month out from the 3rd biggest sporting event on the planet, i.e. the Rugby World Cup, the weekend action provided some excellent examples of what to expect from the leading contenders, as well as some of the emerging rugby nations. South Africa hosted the Wallabies at Kings Park, Durban; Millennium Stadium, saw a spirited Welsh side, in black, overpower the English; Ireland suffered at that hands of the French in Bordeaux; the Italians, at home, upset an aggressive Japan outfit; and Fiji were too strong for their Polynesian rivals Tonga.

Despite his New Zealand heritage, the Wallabies coach, Robbie Deans, has his sights set firmly on winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup on October 23. When his nemesis, Graham Henry decided on fielding his strongest and most experienced team out on Eden Park last weekend, the quietly spoken Deans continued to experiment with one of the youngest teams Australia has lead into battle for the annual Holy Grail trophy between these Tasman cousins.