Sevens could be here to stay

People enjoy the Bayleys National Sevens tournament in Rotorua last weekend. Photo / Ben Fraser

A decision is still to be made on whether the Bayleys National Sevens tournament will stay put in Rotorua, but the early feedback looks good for keeping it in the city.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) will make the decision on whether the event stays in Rotorua next year after it completes a formal review of the 2015 tournament, which is a normal process.

The NZRU could not say yesterday when the review would be completed.

The event attracted thousands of spectators to the Rotorua International Stadium last weekend, with the top 26 provincial sevens teams on display.

Crowd numbers were up on the year before in Rotorua.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers said the feedback he had received - from all the teams - had been very positive this year.

"I thought it went really well. From our point of view we made progress on last year so it is all positive," he said.

The Bay union won a bid to host the event at the Rotorua International Stadium for at least two years, starting in 2014.

Mr Rogers said the NZRU were very happy with the organisation and quality of the event in Rotorua this year. He added the Rotorua Lakes Council had got behind the event as well, which showed the council was serious about hosting it here.

"To have the mayor [Steve Chadwick] there for both days, I think it shows how much the council cares about the event," he said.

"I think it is a fantastic event for Rotorua. I don't think it has reached its potential yet ... and that is our goal to continue to grow this event."

The Otago Daily Times reported this week that the event was almost certainly not going back to Queenstown in the near future, where it was held for 10 years before moving to Rotorua.

While the atmosphere and crowd numbers have come under fire - with plenty of empty seats around the Rotorua International Stadium - the crowds were up this year with about 3000 to 4000 coming through the gate on both days.