Plate success as Scotland secure Delhi sevens spot

SCOTLAND produced a bristling display to land the IRB World Sevens Series Plate at Murrayfield yesterday and deliver a major confidence boost to rugby's hopes of competing in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The team was under pressure after failing to reach the quarter-finals in any of the preceding seven tournaments of 2009-10, the Commonwealth Games Scotland demanding a top-eight finish as proof that they could compete in Delhi this autumn. the

Though they lost to England in a nail-biting cup quarter-final, by going on to beat South Africa and Argentina to win the Plate they effectively finished fifth in the final leg.

Samoa were crowned the IRB Sevens World Champions for the first time after an enthralling performance, but Stevie Gemmell, who now moves to another SRU role in player development after five years as sevens coach, was delighted.

He said: "It was unbelievable really. The boys were very disappointed to lose to England, but they showed real character and some great skills out there to end up winning five ties from six over the weekend, and beat top sides Fiji, USA, Wales, South Africa and Argentina.

"Their work-rate was immense and it was an outstanding effort against countries with far greater resources than ours. Scottish teams are too often knocked but this squad has provided a great lift to Scottish rugby and I hope these players can take the confidence from this into their XVs careers."

With the same Samoa squad expected to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, coach Stephen Betham said he believed they would provide new inspiration for young players in the Pacific Islands.

NZ offer SBW Commonwealth Games lure

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS has been offered the opportunity to compete at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games if he returns to New Zealand to push his claims for next year's Rugby World Cup.

All but incumbent All Blacks will be available for Commonwealth Games selection in October, and the Herald understands that the possibility of Williams representing New Zealand in India has been raised during negotiations with his manager, Khoder Nasser.

If he turns his back on a lucrative three-year deal with French club Toulon, worth $2 million a season, Williams's aim would be to make the All Blacks side for the October 30 Bledisloe Cup clash in Hong Kong, ahead of New Zealand's end-of-season tour to Europe.

But New Zealand's Sunday-Star Times reported that Williams's first rugby appearance in the national jersey could be before then, at the Commonwealth Games. He would also be eligible to represent NZ when Sevens rugby is introduced to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The 24-year-old has already played seven rugby league Tests for the Kiwis and if he plays for the All Blacks will be the first New Zealand league international to do so.

He has never played Sevens rugby but media commentators believe the temptation to pick him for the Commonwealth Games would prove difficult to resist.

All Blacks great Jonah Lomu, who also had a league background but played rugby at senior level, was introduced to the game at international level in Sevens, and New Zealand officials have told Williams he ''could be the next Jonah Lomu'' if he accepts their offer.

According to French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique, the NZRU's deal is worth $550,000 a year and only behind those of All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and star five-eighth Dan Carter but Williams would have opportunities to earn more through third-party endorsements.

Coincidentally, the Crusaders are using the lure of playing alongside McCaw and Carter to try to get Williams to play for the Christchurch Super Rugby franchise.

Delhi gets its latest architectural marvel

Delhi will soon have a new tourist spot, just in time for the Commonwealth Games.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial, an architectural marvel that promises to give an insight into the life and teachings of the Ninth Guru of Sikhs, is ready and likely to be inaugurated soon.

Constructed along National Highway 1 (GT Karnal Road) near Singh Border by Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), the memorial would be known for his architecture, design and world-class illumination.

“It has a unique concept. The central pylon represents Guru Tegh Bahadur while the three semi-arches represent his three disciples. Ten monoliths around it represents ten Sikh Gurus and disseminate their teachings,” chief engineer Jose Kurian said.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who also has the charge of the tourism department, visited the memorial on Saturday evening and commented that this architectural marvel would also be known for its greenery and soothing landscape.

Celebrities to endorse traffic drives

Soon, you might be looking at Akshay Kumar, or even Shah Rukh Khan, asking you to use public transport during Commonwealth Games. Delhi Traffic Police have decided to rope in celebrities of Delhi origin to endorse its awareness drives during the Games.

“We are in the process of identifying the celebrities,” Ajay Chadha, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said. “We hope they will have a great impact. They will appeal to the people to follow lane driving, give precedence to emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire brigade and police vans and also create awareness against drink driving.”

The special drives are likely to start in June and will continue till October. The traffic police have also joined hands with some social organisations to run the special drives, said Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Traffic).

The Automobile Association of Upper India has been asked to help impart behaviour training to bus drivers, while the Society of Indian Automobiles will conduct educational activities such as seminars, debates and quiz, officials said.

For the first time in 44 years, UK Queen to skip Commonwealth Games

A packed appointments schedule has led Britain’s Queen Elizabeth to skip the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. This will be the first time in 44 years that the monarch will be absent from the signature event.

Her heir, Prince Charles, will represent the British royal family.

“Prince Charles will represent the Royal Family in India and a message of support from the Monarch to the athletes will be read out,” the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “It is correct to say that the Queen will not be attending the Commonwealth Games this year. The sheer volume of engagements this autumn, coupled with other overseas visits, means she would not be able to attend.”

“The British High Commission in Delhi said it was delighted that Prince Charles would represent Her Majesty at the opening ceremony on October 3,” he added.

At previous edition of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006, the Queen had described the event as a “great sporting celebration”.

“The Commonwealth Games are both a product of our unique organisation as well as a tangible example of the value of this partnership of peoples,” she had said.

Scottish seven under pressure to do it for Delhi

THE world of sevens rugby was savoured in all of its glory in Melrose last month, but when the leading 16 nations do battle for the Ned Haig Cup this weekend there will be little similarity to what supporters enjoyed in the small Borders town.
The ball will be the same shape and the rules the same, but from about that point on, the Emirates Airlines Edinburgh Sevens moves into a different world. Melrose Sevens remains a world leader for club tournaments and maintains all that is good about the feeling of "a day out at sevens", but this is a very different prospect.

Scotland are under serious pressure to perform today with the nation's place in the Commonwealth Games later this year partly dependent upon their ability to prove they can hold realistic ambitions of reaching the latter stages of the cup in Delhi.

Coach Stevie Gemmell has struggled for continuity and consistency this season with players coming into his squad and departing, dependent on injuries and call-ups from the professional teams. He has fielded veteran sevens caps like Mike Adamson and club stars such as John Dalziel of Melrose and Selkirk's Lee Jones, but the unavailability of Colin Gregor, one of Scotland's best sevens performers for many years, has been a severe handicap.

Jones is part of the squad this afternoon and he will use this tournament to mark the end of his amateur career and what he hopes will be the start of a lengthy one with Edinburgh as he makes the step-up to the pro ranks this summer.

A strong winger just as comfortable playing scrum-half in XVs, Jones blends the sevens nous learned over many years and countless tournaments with Selkirk Youth Club and Selkirk in the Borders with the professional attributes of real strength, power, aggression and pace.

And that is where this two-day tournament differs most significantly from even the best club event. Where a player with pace such as South African Alshaun Bock stood out at the Greenyards this year, he was not considered quick enough any more to be part of the South African team that will this weekend seek to rekindle the celebrations they enjoyed in winning the IRB world crown at Murrayfield last year, even if they cannot catch leaders Samoa or chasers New Zealand this time around.

Put simply, each team aspiring to reach even the quarter-finals of the main cup competition at Murrayfield must have at least seven fast players in its squad of 12. The other five have to be just quick. They must also have the brawn one expects with XV-a-side forwards to survive the mighty impact from tackles, the kind the South Sea Islanders are famed for, and they must also have the movement, balance and handling skills that set apart those attackers who light up XVs rugby by beating a man one-on-one.

It is hard to judge who the top performers will be now. Russia are refining their game and beginning to emerge as a serious pool threat, while Kenya continue to claim top scalps with a regularity that explains their current eighth place in the world standings.

Scotland have managed to pull together their strongest squad of the series and are intent on finishing on a high, and Gemmell hopes the Murrayfield crowd can again help them in the same way that they roared them into the semi-finals last year.

"The last three years the crowd has been magnificent," he said. "They've cheered us from game one until the very last game that we've played in.

"We need to make sure that the crowd are behind us because of how we are performing. When games are tight, the public help us – the atmosphere last year was unbelievable. If we can replicate that in terms of the public support this year, and we can replicate those types of performances, then this will be a special weekend for everyone involved in Scotland Sevens."

Their pool is tough, but more open than last week's, with Fiji and the USA the top seeds, and Wales, like Scotland, capable of beating both of them on their day. The Fijians have lost their mantle as the world's leading sevens nation, but are still third in the rankings.

The size of Scotland's challenge cannot be under-estimated in an ever-improving sevens arena, but on home soil hopes are high that, while a colourful, social carnival goes on across the back pitches and around the stadium from dawn to dusk, the difference on the field this weekend will lie in the results.

Delhi Metro to set up new shopping outlets

In about a month from now, commuters at Delhi Metro railway's Rajiv Chowk station in Connaught Place will have more options to indulge in some retail therapy. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has readied kiosks to be set up on the concourse of the station to sell hand-crafted products.

The Delhi Metro has tied up with the Union Ministry of Textiles to showcase Indian handicrafts at select stations of its network and make them commercially available. Aimed at promoting handicraft items from across the country, the tie-up entails setting up of 160 kiosks for display and sale of handicrafts at metro stations.

40 kiosks in first phase

In the first phase, the Delhi Metro has awarded the contract for setting up 40 kiosks to M/s Basics for a period of six years. Thirty per cent of these kiosks will be reserved for select categories of artisans such as Shilp Gurus, National and State award winners. etc.

“The Agency has already installed a prototype of the kiosk at Rajiv Chowk metro station. The design of the prototype kiosk has been approved by the Ministry and it is expected to start commercial operations in June,” said a Delhi Metro spokesperson.

The scheme is part of the “Marketing Support and Services Scheme” of the Ministry's Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts). “The Office of the Development Commissioner is a nodal body for handicrafts sector. This office implements six Central sector schemes for development of the sector and one of such schemes is the Marketing Support and Services scheme, under which there is a component called ‘setting up of marketing hubs in Metros',” said a Delhi Metro official.

A financial assistance of up to 25 per cent of the project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs.10 crore is made available for the hubs. “The Delhi Metro's mandate was to create these kiosks. Accordingly a Rs.41crore scheme was formulated by the Corporation and the Union Ministry of Textiles, for which the latter has sanctioned Rs.10 crore,” said the official.

The kiosks which will be set up at stations attracting huge footfalls, are expected to fetch good returns for the investors. “Since they will be set up at stations with a high commuter turnout, the kiosks are expected to earn healthy returns. Showcasing the best of Indian handicrafts, they will also prove to be popular shopping destinations for foreign buyers, expected in large numbers during the Commonwealth Games,” said a Delhi Metro spokesperson.

Food items to be available too

“Two kiosks, each 9 X 12 square metres in size, will be installed at every selected Metro station. Besides handicrafts and textiles, local food items will also be sold at these kiosks which will provide an ideal marketing platform to wholesalers and retailers. The food items will however be packed and consumers will not be allowed to eat at these kiosks,” the spokesperson said.

Listing the advantages of the proposal, the spokesperson said the benefits are twofold: “Since the shops will be located at places where visibility in terms of foot falls is high, they will not be required to advertise. Secondly, all the kiosks will be linked by the Delhi Metro network and it will be possible to project the entire range of handicrafts through this network for the buyers.”