South Africa Men's Team and Australia Women's Team Win Gold at the record-breaking 2022 Emirates Dubai 7s

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 12 December 2022 – The exciting Emirates Dubai 7s, part of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, saw South Africa defeat Ireland 21-5 to win the men’s event while Australia won over New Zealand 26-19 in the women’s event. 

Taking place on 1st - 3rd December 2022, 18 nations participated in the 2022 edition of the Emirate Dubai 7 with a 16-team men’s competition and a 12-team women’s event.  

The Emirates Dubai 7s has grown with the airline’s ongoing support to become a major event on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series circuit. The long-running Sevens tournament completed its 52nd edition in Dubai, and Emirates has been instrumental in growing its international status from when the airline first began its support in 1987, in cooperation with World Rugby. 
Over 100,000 fans attended this year’s festival for an exciting weekend of music alongside the rugby action on Pitch 1 and 2, in addition to world-renowned superstar DJs - Cuban Brothers, Gorgon City, and Craig David presents TS5 – headlining Frequency on 8, a visual and audio experience and Beats on Two, a unique bar concept which overlooks all the action on Pitch 2.

The festival introduced new luxury experiences for guests to enjoy the biggest sports and entertainment festival in the Middle East in style with an exclusive VIP package that includes access to a VIP table alongside the world’s best DJs on Beats on Two. The House offered guests a throwback experience with 70s disco tunes and a unique all-day party experience that brought the festival to life. 

During the 3-day festival, children of all ages were in for a treat with a series of fun activities across three Kids Zones available throughout the festival, which included arts and crafts, meet and greets with cartoon characters, bumper cars, face-painting, go-karting car racing, inflatable parks, and more. From entertainment crews roaming around the venue to interactive setups and different genres of music playing from popular DJs across all zones at the festival, the entertainment options were endless for each member of the family. 

The Emirates Dubai 7s surpassed themselves with a vast array of F&B favourites from across Dubai and around the world including Pickl, Pizza Express, The Acai Spot, Candylicious, and Shawarma Station. Inspired by the world’s best brew markets, Brewfest was brought to life with various craft offerings from globally acclaimed hops creators. 

This year saw the introduction of a new inclusive fitness competition, WODON3, for fitness elites as well as novice athletes looking to push their limits with over 200 athletes participating in the inaugural competition. In addition, the Invitational Tournament favourites of Rugby 7s, 10s, Netball presented by Nakheel Community Management and Cricket presented by Dulsco, included male and female participants from 32 countries.