Ahead of Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 3-5 this year, Paul Radley breaks down everything you need to know about one of the UAE’s most highly-anticipated annual sporting events.
What is it?
The Dubai Rugby Sevens has been the centre-piece of the UAE sporting landscape for over 40 years.
It is three days of rugby in the seven-a-side format, for players of all ages and abilities and from all over the world.
Over the course of the National Day weekend, more than 100,000 people will go through the gates at The Sevens grounds, on the Dubai to Al Ain Road.
Who plays?
In the main competition, which takes place on Pitch 1, there are 16 teams from leading rugby nations, led by the world series champions Fiji, and defending Dubai champions South Africa.
There is more to it than that, though, with over 250 teams set to play in the social and invitational tournaments which take place at the same time as the international competition.
Who will win it?
England are the perennial crowd favourites, and have enjoyed great success here over the years, winning it four times since 2004.
Defending champions South Africa have also benefit from sizable expatriate support, and have tasted victory a number of times. Fiji and New Zealand will start as the teams to beat, though.
Who will be there?
Some World Cup winning players, possibly. And not just international players from years past, whiling away the weekend in the veterans tournaments on the outside fields.
Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam, who have been playing for the All Blacks at the World Cup in England, are committed to New Zealand sevens, too.
They want to be selected for the debut of rugby sevens at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year, and Gordon Tietjens will want to get them involved as soon as possible.
What is the World Sevens Series?
Dubai is the first leg of the extended 10 tournament HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with Cape Town, Sydney, Singapore, Vancouver and Paris as new additions to the circuit.
Wellington, Hong Kong and Las Vegas continue from the previous four-year Series, with the final round being played in London in May 2016.
What is new?
A netball tournament, with 32 teams confirmed from the Gulf region, will run at the same time as the rugby tournaments.
Dubai Exiles, the club who first hosted the Dubai Rugby Sevens in 1970, will be among the teams competing for the first title.
Where is it?
http://www.thesevens.ae/location/
Ticket information
Tickets are available online at www.dubairugby7s.com or at selected Costa, MMI, Go Sport and dnata outlets, Bidi Bondi, The Sevens and Park n Shop.
Reserved Seating, Premium Seating and Corporate Hospitality packages are also available through the official website.
Ticket prices
Thursday, December 3 - free
Friday, December 4 - in advance Dh300, on the day Dh400
Saturday, December 5 - in advance Dh300, on the day Dh400
Season tickets (Friday and Saturday) - in advance Dh500, on the day Dh600
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
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Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
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