The venue - The Sevens
Getting to The Sevens
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The Sevens venue is situated around a half hour drive from Dubai. If you do not have your own car (and are not planning to hire one for your stay in Dubai) the best option to get to the ground is to take a taxi from Dubai. It's easy to catch a taxi in the busy parts of the city, otherwise you can call (04) 2080808 and have one come and collect you.
These are relatively cheap and if you direct the driver to the Al Ain Road, just look out for The Sevens which is well sign-posted, some 10km beyond the Outlet Mall.
Once the day's action is over, there will be plenty of buses transporting fans from The Sevens venue to five convenient locations across Dubai. These buses are free of charge.
'The Sevens'
Built by Emirates Airline, with the suppot of the Government of Dubai, The Sevens features a permanent grandstand with 4,500 seats and temporary stands, which will be erected around this permanent structure to increase the capacity to 50,000.
Hospitality areas, broadcast and medical facilities and changing rooms also feature, as well as a 30-metre wide rugby promenade, featuring cafes and food outlets.
The second pitch is in a bowl and enclosed on three sides by a grass embankment enabling a crowd of 15,000 to enjoy the action, while a nearby sports complex and clubhouse includes provision for tennis, squash, basketball and badminton as well as a gymnasium and swimming pool.
The remaining four rugby pitches are located close to a two-storey 80-metre long clubhouse that features the offices of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union - the governing body of rugby in the region.
The Sevens is about more than just rugby, as a venue it also caters for the popular sports played in the region, including cricket, football, basketball and netball.
'The Sevens' : Facts and Figures
Below are some interesting facts and figures on the Middle East's new home of rugby ...
* The complete area of the site is 3,698,914.86m²
* There were around 1,250 people working on the site each day
* 6,972,100 hours is the estimated number of hours worked on the new site. * The amount of sand used was 1,900,000m³ and road base was 204,412m³
* The water comes from a combination of three sources: DEWA, Dubai Municipality and ground wells dug specifically for the venue
* The local rugby club was the first structure to be built
* The overall timeline for construction was 423 days
* The amount of concrete, bricks and cement that used was: Concrete - 5046m³; Bricks - 135,000; Cement - 220 MT
* The total square metres of grass at The Sevens is 64,000m²
* There are six rugby pitches at the new venue
* There are 15,000 car parking spaces available
* The Sevens will eventually cater for popular sports played in the region, including cricket, football, basketball and netball
