Outgoing director of rugby Jim Dixon (left) with Ian Squires of main sponsor Skilz

INTERNATIONAL rugby stars will play at Down Grange this summer to help Basingstoke Rugby Football Club celebrate its 60th anniversary in style.

Several members of the Fijian sevens side, in addition to a number of players currently plying their trade in the Premiership, are expected to line up for the club's International Diamond 7s tournament.

The competition will take place on August 2, and is one of several events being organised to mark 'Stoke's Diamond Jubilee, the club having been formed in 1948.

In an effort to attract some of the top sevens sides to the tournament, there is a prize fund of £10,000 - and it seems to have done the trick, as teams already signed up for the event include the Army sevens, the Navy Sharks and invitational sides the Marauders and Samurai International.

In addition, the Kaiviti Crusaders, who are likely to feature Fijians playing in the Premiership and National League One, have signed up for the tournament. They will be joined at Down Grange by two further outfits from the South Pacific, with one of these expected to field current Fiji sevens internationals.

On the international scene, Fiji are one of the most popular and successful nations in the world, having won the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens a record nine times since its inception in 1978.

They have also won the Sevens World Cup twice, in 1997 and 2005.

Jim Dixon, the club's outgoing director of rugby, said: "We have never really had a high-profile event at the club and we thought we could draw some really good players if we had a sevens tournament.

"We chose to hold the event two weeks before the Middlesex Sevens, which is a big tournament, and several of the teams plan to use the International Diamond 7s as a warm-up for that."

The teams will be split into four pools of three for the morning session of round-robin games. The top two sides from each pool will progress to the quarter-finals in the afternoon, when the competition will then switch to knock-out.

The matches will be seven minutes each way and the final is scheduled for around 6.30pm.

"People like to watch sevens rugby because it is exciting and entertaining," said Dixon.

"It will be great to have so many good sides coming to the club. The people of Basingstoke won't have seen anything like it in terms of intensity and fitness levels.

"There is a lot of work to be done, but we are all really excited about it."

The tournament's main sponsor is Skilz, a Basingstoke-based commercial building refurbishment and maintenance company.

Ian Squires, managing director of Skilz, said: "The event will bring high-quality sport to Basingstoke and it is great to help the club celebrate its anniversary."

The day after the elite event, the club is organising a social tournament, with teams from across Hampshire and Surrey invited to take part.

People will have the opportunity to watch the Saturday tournament, enjoy a disco in the evening and then camp out overnight before playing on the Sunday.

Away from the rugby, there will be plenty of other attractions, including a funfair.

Tickets, which can be purchased in person or by calling the club on 01256 323308, cost £10 for entrance to the ground, with a seat in the stand costing £15. A family ticket for two adults and two under-16s is priced at £20.

A variety of sponsorship packages are available, with perks including advertising space in the event programme, tickets to the tournament and places at the corporate lunch, details of which are all available from the club.

For more information about the tournament, log on to www.basingstokerfc-sevens.com

3:07pm Thursday 5th June 2008

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