As omens go, starting a professional tournament in February 2020 might have proven a disaster as after only three games the world shut-down, teams had to be dismembered, and the future looked ominous.
It was the French who caught the eye in round one with six of their eight teams winning, including Stade Rochelais and Toulon away from home.
Whether you’re new to sevens or a seasoned fan, here are the seven names you need to look out for during the Dubai Sevens.
Japan overcame a second-half red card to secure a 36-20 victory over Uruguay at Chambéry Savoie Stadium on Saturday.
Ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, head coach Pablo Bouza has selected his 42-man Spain squad for their upcoming fixtures against Uruguay, Fiji and the United States of America.
The Fijians ultimately paid a heavy price for card trouble, suffering three yellows and one red over the course of an exhausting 93 minutes of play.
It's semi-finals Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship and following last Tuesday’s weather-affected schedule, the hope will be that all six matches will be played to an 80-minute conclusion unlike on match day three when there were just four and a half matches completed due to the heavy rain making pitches unplayable.
Three matches are scheduled for Stellenbosch: Ireland vs Georgia (kick-off 2pm local), France vs New Zealand (4:30pm) and South Africa vs Argentina (7pm). Over in Athlone, Wales vs Spain is the opening match (2pm) followed by England vs Fiji (4:30pm) and Australia vs Italy (7pm).
We stand at the start of another huge week of international age-grade rugby, and you can watch it all live and for free on RugbyPass TV.
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.