Questions around RWC Sevens format will receive governing body's attention: 'It's not fixed'

"I've been here since 12pm, and the Springbok [Sevens] only play at 22:33," quipped one spectator as he guzzled the remaining bits of his beer, in a direct jab at the Rugby World Cup Sevens format. 

Said format is both cumbersome and brutal in that both men's and women's teams play a straight knockout.

The winner takes all elimination format was first introduced at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, but, as the days of play proved to be long, many a spectator's ire was raised, but that isn't to say spectators didn't show up.

According to organisers, some 150 000 people were expected to turn up at the Cape Town Stadium over the three days - a record-breaking in terms of a Rugby World Cup Sevens.

When the general sentiment of the tournament was put to World Rugby's top brass, they responded positively, saying their inquest of the tournament will provide them an opportunity to look into the matter.

"This event is unique given the number of teams (40 in total) and we'll look at the feedback we get from players and spectators, but certainly, it's not fixed in stone for the future," World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin replied.

He didn't stop there: 

Gilpin, of course, pointed to the number of spectators turning in through the turnstiles to highlight the fact that it's probably not the storm in a teacup that members of the media were making it out to be, but that people's reservations were duly noted.

"Given the numbers we've seen over the weekend, there's clearly an appetite for this. It's been a successful, vibrant event. It provides something different."

World Rugby chairperson Bill Beaumont was also singing from the same hymn sheet.

"We continually look at the format of every tournament and we have a debrief and