As the countdown continues to the new IRB Sevens World Series and the opening event this weekend, the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, TV commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith gives seven good reasons for making the trip.

This is a Sevens season not to be missed - not only is it the 10th anniversary of the start of the IRB's World Series, it is also capped by the World Cup for both men and women in Dubai on 5-7 March next year.

So there's an extra edge to the regular Series tournaments that happen between now and then, particularly here in Dubai where the action gets underway at the brand new 'Sevens' Stadium a few short months before the same venue hosts that World Cup.

Once again the leading contenders - South Africa, Samoa, Fiji, Argentina, England, Kenya and Australia - will be trying to stop the reigning champions New Zealand in their tracks. Winners of six of the eight tournaments last season, the kiwis were a class apart and I was so pleased and proud to present their captain DJ Forbes with the Player of the Year trophy at the IRB Awards last Sunday - much deserved.

Here are seven good reasons to be in Dubai over the next week or so, and to return for that World Cup next year!

1. The 'Sevens' - a new home for rugby in Dubai

This 10th Anniversary season kicks off in Dubai, just as it did in year one back in November 1999. But for the first time the action will take place away from the quaint old Dubai Exiles ground at Al Awir, redolent of so many magical moments and where the original Dubai Sevens was staged in 1970 on a pitch marked out on the desert sands.

Befitting of its growing status, and that of the sport of Sevens, the tournament now moves to a magnificent new setting and a new stadium aptly named 'The Sevens'. In the space of just one year a superb complex has been built - the principal pitch has a permanent grandstand with 4,000 seats, to which room for another 36,000 will be added with temporary stands to cater for over 40,000, which is once again a sell-out.

The adjacent second pitch - there are six in all - is built in a bowl shape with banking all around and can accommodate 15,000 spectators, while, together with a large two-storey clubhouse, there is a vast state-of-the-art multi-sport facility for cricket, football, basketball, netball, tennis, squash, basketball, a gymnasium and swimming pool. What else would you expect from funding sponsors Emirates Airline and the support of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and the Government of Dubai?

With this remarkable new facility the whole festival of Sevens that comprises this greatest sporting weekend in the Middle East is able to continue as strongly as ever. Nine tournaments will again run alongside the IRB's principle competition, from top quality International Invitation and overseas men's and women's events to Under 19s, social, veterans, you name it. It all adds up to a long, noisy and colourful weekend of cheerleaders, couscous, camels and commentary, and a worldwide television audience getting bigger by the season.  
 
2. Dubai - the modern miracle
 
Dubai is one Emirate of the seven, which combined in 1971 to form the United Arab Emirates. Dubai itself is the second largest behind Abu Dhabi and was first recorded as a place of habitation in 1095 in the Book of Geography of Abu Abdullah al Baleri.

Centuries later it was remarked upon as a centre of pearl fishing. The Al Makhtoum dynasty took over government in 1833 but the transformation of the Emirate into one of the most vibrant places on earth, with a skyline that changes by the day, came with the discovery of oil in 1966. However, contrary to popular belief, oil accounts for less than 10% of Dubai's income.
 
3. Seven star luxury

A unique accolade accorded to the sail-like structure that is the Burj al Arab hotel on the Jumeira Beach Road, a superb, iconic edifice that is about to be upstaged, literally, by...
 
4. The Burj Dubai

Not yet completed but already the world's tallest building. Designed by American architect Adrian Smith from Chicago and built to an estimated cost of US$4.1 billion, the final height of this structure (expected to be complete in September 2009) remains a guarded secret whilst other 'rival' buildings are still under construction.

The likely final measurement is 818 metres (2684 feet), with 162 floors, exceeding by some distance the present official tallest and completed building, Taipei 101 at 1474 feet. The  Burj Dubai is already the tallest man-made 'structure' on earth, has the most floors and has involved the highest vertical concrete pumping operation ever known!
 
5. The Rugby

So what of the rugby? New Zealand are still under the guiding hand of Gordon 'Titch' Tietjens and remain the dominant force in the IRB Sevens, overall champions for eight of the nine Series played to date.

But despite their remarkable trail of success, and an unbeaten run of 47 games last season, no one team is invincible in Sevens. Still smarting after losing to Fiji in the Final of the last World Cup Sevens in 2005, NZ lost to both England and South Africa in the latter stages of last season. Note also that the last three Dubai Cup titles have gone to three different countries.
 
6. 77th and counting..

To keep up the '7s' theme, this tournament in Dubai will be the 77th all time on the IRB World Series. For those rugby anoraks out there - and for those who believe that the emphasis in rugby should be on scoring tries - here are a few other 'points' to ponder: NZ have scored 2147 tries in the 76 tournaments, just a fraction less than five tries per match. Fiji are second on 1938 and then follow South Africa (1658), Australia (1487), Samoa (1484), Argentina (1313), and Canada (1109).

All credit also to Tonga, Wales, Korea and Ireland, who have played far fewer tournaments by comparison but are the only other teams to have scored an average of more than three tries per game in their entire Sevens experience. I should add that the statistical anorak in this instance is not me - it's the Series statistician Sean Glover of Hour Glass Vision!
 
7. A global feast

Fifty-four nations have so far taken part in the IRB Sevens World Series, 33 last season. Can you identify any from the following nations who have NOT taken part in the last nine years? Brazil, China, Croatia, Germany, Madagascar, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia. No? Well you're absolutely right because they ALL have, along with Georgia, Zimbabwe, the Arabian Gulf and Portugal, who again line up again with the 12 'core' teams in Dubai this time.

Can anyone give me a good reason for not including Sevens in the Olympics?..