Singapore Rugby Union's (SRU) Low Teng Ping has planned to create a "festival of rugby" during the Singapore leg of World Rugby Sevens Series in 2017, according to the Straits Times.
The Seven Series returned to the Southeast Asian country after a decade in 2016, and the tournament was a tremendous success, having witnessed 50,000 fans at the National Stadium. Also the stadium and accommodation provided in Singapore were ranked among the top in a post-tournament review, a report on The New Paper read.
Banking on this year's success, Low wants to make it more grander in 2017, in which the event will be held over 15 and 16 April. The Easter weekend will allow the organisers to add more variety and come up with additional attractions, the SRU president believes.
There are plans to slot in a "Midnight 7s" tournament in which local women's teams will reportedly participate in the lead up to the Singapore Sevens from 12 to 16 April. The matches are expected to be played between 9pm to 3am (SGT) but the venues are yet to be decided.
Low also opined that the players were like "Hollywood Stars" and they just need a proper script, ambience and properties to perform their best. Notably, top teams, including 2016 Series winners Fiji 7s, were involved in high-octane clashes in Singapore earlier this year.
"The players are like Hollywood stars. You don't tell Hollywood stars how to act. You just give them the script and they will act accordingly," Low was quoted as saying by The New Paper.
"What is needed is for us to provide the whole ambience with the props, music and everything else.
"We were basically just scratching the surface at this year's event. There are even more things we can do to definitely build on what has previously been done.
"It's so much more than just having a rugby event and we want people to come and watch it, and then go home wanting to return again because they had a fantastic weekend."
