Emirates takes rugby sevens fever south

Following the excitement of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, the action now moves to the Southern Hemisphere for the second leg of the IRB Sevens World Series, the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

The city of George is playing host to the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens, which gets underway on Friday, for the ninth consecutive year.

After landing the opening round of the series in Dubai last weekend, beating Fiji 31-21, New Zealand will be looking to keep up their winning streak. The All Blacks will be facing a tough task with South Africa eager to add the sevens title to their team's 2007 Rugby World Cup triumph.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide, said: "The Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens is always eagerly anticipated and Emirates is proud of its long association with the event. Emirates has always had a great affinity with the sport of rugby and following last weekend's successful Dubai Sevens, this is the second of the tournaments which we sponsor during the IRB Sevens World Series."

South Africa faces a touch draw with Wales, Argentina and Uganda in their pool, while New Zealand is up against England, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Emirates has been an avid supporter of sevens rugby for the past 20 years and together with the IRB have built the tournament's global profile. This year's event is set to receive the largest television audience and spectator figures in it's history. In addition to the sponsorship of the Dubai, South Africa, London and Edinburgh Sevens, Emirates is the sponsor of the IRB referees, the England and Samoa Sevens squads and was the Official Airline of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.