The European qualifying final for next year's Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai takes place in Hanover, Germany next weekend with interest in the event outstripping all expectations.
So far over 30,000 tickets have been sold, mostly to fans within Germany, and the DRV (Germany's Rugby union) expects that number to rise before the start of the event, from which five of the 12 teams will qualify for the World Cup.
The teams set to compete are: Top seeds Portugal, Wales, Ireland, Spain, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, the hosts Germany, Romania, Poland, Belgium and Georgia.
Germany's own national Sevens team is building in confidence and is benefitting from the recent addition of new coach Philip 'Lofty' Stevenson. The New Zealander recently took over from George Simpkin at the SC 1880 Frankfurt club and has also teamed up with Rainer Kumm to guide the fortunes of the national side.
Stevenson was not sure what to expect of the German rugby scene before he made the long trip over but has been hugely impressed by the organisation in Hanover, which is headed up by Achim Behring-Scheil.
Hanover embracing the Sevens ethos
"It's crazy. He's told the German federation 'I can do this', and he's got so much energy that he's got 30,000 supporters from Hanover, better than most of the tournaments worldwide on the IRB Sevens World Series," Stevenson told Total Rugby.
"They've just embraced it and Hanover's such a good town, I'm sure that everyone who goes there will have a wonderful time."
Germany have already played two events on the IRB Sevens World Series and the fifteen-a-side team was recently promoted to the top tier of European competition under the RBS Six Nations alongside the likes of Rugby World Cup veterans like Georgia, Romania and Portugal.
That success, combined with the exposure gained from last year's World Cup being shown live on German television for the first time, means that interest in the sport has reached an all time high - something Stevenson and all involved in German rugby are keen to capitalise on.
A hunger for the game
"People seem very hungry for the game here at the moment. 'What is this game?' 'How do you play it?' 'You must be mad!' are the kinds of comments we get, but I'm treated very well," Stevenson added.
"We won the Bundesliga with [his club] 1880 and there's a lot of respect in the community for what we've done. A lot of people have even come up to me and asked if I'll train them in their own sports.
"They're also hungry to support Germany in rugby, which isn't something that the German people would really have done in the past, but they are now."
Stevenson's optimism is no flight of fancy. As has already been shown by the likes of Kenya, Portugal, Tunisia and the Cook Islands on the World Series, Sevens allows a country with limited playing numbers to live with the rugby playing nations, and even win.
Tunisia memorably overcame South Africa at the last Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, Portugal have beaten the likes of France and Australia and Kenya have risen to the top six side in the world order.
Sevens rugby's leading role
"It's very much a leadership role that Sevens plays in the developing rugby nations and before they know it these countries realise that they can play fifteens as well because they've grown a larger pool of players with different skills," said Stevenson."
"Our goal is to win because if we don’t go in to win it, we have lost already. We need to be a unit, a strong team and I am excited to be able to have the chance to do it, to do it for Germany, for German rugby and the German rugby people.
"It is really a showcase for the sport and a giant leap onto the European rugby stage."
For more information on the Hanover Sevens go to www.hannover-sevens.de
