До свидания Ковентри Здравствуйте Москве! Goodbye Coventry Hello Moscow! - Elena & Catalin

Greetings from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow from the Romanian correspondents at the Rugby World Cup 7’s in Russia.

Let us introduce ourselves a bit:

Catalin Boier - first year Sport Management student from Coventry University

 Elena Vasile - second year Event Management student at Coventry University

Day 1

All suited and booted in our new TEAM SEM uniforms we arrived on a lovely summer’s day in Russia all excited about our stay here, eager to know what our roles will be over the course of the tournament.

We were speechless as we got to see the first glimpse of the city, with massive historical buildings that somehow reminded us of our capital, Bucharest.

Staying at the Landmark Hostel in central Moscow has its perks, one of this is being very close to the Red Square, which Catalin totally took advantage of today as you were able to see in the above photo.
Even if Moscow is a great place to visit at least once in your life, we had to get down to business and do what we came here to do, volunteer for the Rugby World Cup 7’s. We took our accreditations that provide us with great access inside the stadium and we got to the fixtures during the last minute preparations. We are happy to say that they look great and we are excited to see how the rest of the week will continue.

Keep an eye on this blog for daily updates from #RWC7s

Day 2

Добрый вечер! (Good evening)

The weather is very hot here in Moscow, 32 degrees Celsius, and our excitement is growing along with it!

Today we got to meet the captains of all the men’s and women’s Rugby teams when they came to Red Square for the official photo shoot. I got to take a picture with my favourite team of the tournament New Zealand’s All Blacks and myself and Catalin managed to take some photos with the World Cup 7’s Trophies.

The day gave us a bit of taste of what is to come, the excitement is growing about the day we actually startworking. We finally know our roles; I get to be a Match Tracker and Catalin a RNS, which we will be trained on tomorrow morning. Exciting!

Having the afternoon off we had quite a lot of time to do some sight-seeing, so we visited the Kremlin and finally got to take photos of St Basil’s Cathedral, the most touristy thing you can do in Moscow.

2 more days to the tournament and only just 4 days until we find out who the winners will be, keep reading our blog for more updates! 

Day 3 – Moscow’s hottest day in the last 100 years

Today was the last day before the tournament starts and the organisers did the final touch-ups before the first match kicks off.

We found out our roles during an official meeting with the organisers and we have also received training. I will work as Commentator Assistant and Elena will work as a Match Tracker. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

We also got to see the main stadium, Luzhniki, as the last coats of paint were applied. We had the stadium to ourselves to familiarise ourselves with it and, of course, take some pictures.

Finally, we had the exclusive opportunity to watch the England men’s team last training session before their debut at the tournament.

After finishing the day quite early, we had a last chance to look around Moscow’s sights. I chose to relax in the Gorkogo Park, even though it was the hottest day in the last 100 years in Moscow! Elena chose to visit the Saint Basil’s Cathedral, which, by the way, looks amazing during the night. Fun fact: Basil is the English translation of Elena’s surname, Vasile, the saint, not the spice!

Day 4 - We declare the games officially open

Preparations done! Sightseeing completed! Late nights over! Work is starting today!

The time of the first match, Samoa versus Zimbabwe, was 3 o’clock and everything had to be up and running for kick off. Myself and Elena viewed the matches from two opposite positions. I worked as a Commentators Assistant, which meant I spent most of my time in the commentators’ boxes, right on the fifth floor of Luzhniki Stadium. My duty was to liaise between the commentators and other IRB officials. This position gave me the opportunity to meet people like Scott Hastings, a former Lions player who is currently working as a commentator for the International Rugby Board.

Elena is working as a Match Tracker, which basically means that she is staying at the referee’s table by the pitch and records all player substitutions and keeps record of all of the match sin bins. The highlight of her day was watching the All Blacks New Zealand’s Team and receiving the ball they played with. I am very jealous of her , to be honest!  And also having her photo taken with the tournament’s mascot!

The view from Elena’s position

The opening ceremony also took place today and we got to see a beautiful choreography performed by Russian dancers! As you can see from the picture, my view of the opening ceremony was amazing. Lucky me!

Tomorrow will be a very long day for us, as the Women’s tournament starts, too. However, we are very excited to be part this event and it will be a great experience for us, even though we have to work hard. Keep checking the blog for further updates from Moscow!

Day 5 – The hard work continues

After having a chance to get the hang of our roles during the first day of the tournament, we woke up nice and fresh, ready for the 36 games waiting to be played.

   

Catalin:

At 8 o’clock sharp  I was in the commentators’ box preparing the team sheets for the first match of the day. It was a long work day, from 8am until 9pm, but a very productive day at the same time. I had the opportunity to watch and learn from the IRB commentators, Scott Hastings, Keith Quinn, Karl Te Nana and Melodie Robson.

I have to say that after this experience my perception of this profession has changed. It requires much more preparation, skills and sport knowledge than I previously thought to deliver a top quality commentary. Watching those people working not only changed my perception about their jobs, but also made this profession more appealing to me – I would definitely love a career in sport media.

Elena:

My day started equally early as Catalin’s with the first match of the day starting at 9am, however many preparations are needed before that. My role became more intensive during the second day, keeping records of all substitutions and filling the appropriate paperwork for the referees. Many games later, a few yellow cards were issued, and I got to see how the games are monitored and what sort of paperwork needs to be filled in for any change in the match.  I must say I appreciate the referees and their supporting staff much more than before, they run as much as the players, they have to pay attention all the time and last but not least to be objective.

It’s been a long shift and the sun kept on shinning the whole day, which made it difficult for players as well as everyone else on or around the pitch, however everyone had a great time and enjoyed the rugby.

We are  very excited right now knowing that the final is tomorrow, so in less than 24 hours we will know the winners of the World Cup 7’s.

Day 6 - And the winners are…

While writing this last entry we already know the winner and you probably do too, however let us tell you all the other great things that happened  on the last day at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

The day started early and the tournament was in the knock-out stage, with semi-finals, Bowl finals, Plate finals and the most important Cup finals to be played.

After a nice morning, the afternoon brought a heavy thunderstorm that stopped the games for about 45 minutes, right at the beginning of the first men’s semi-final between New Zealand and Fiji. The play was continued as the rain got lighter, and not even  an umbrella and waterproofs kept us dry on the pitch. However it was great fun trying to keep all the papers dry and usable.

The rest of the afternoon it kept on raining so the matches got more difficult for the players and very interesting to watch for the audience.

The women’s final was played between New Zealand and Canada and the men’s final between New Zealand and England, ending in a double victory for New Zealand, which made their fans very happy.

TEAM SEM was there from beginning to help support the IRB and the organisers, from the top floor media boxes to the referees table on the side of the pitch, we were everywhere delivering great customer service, quality work and building a great reputation for future opportunities. 

#TeamSEM in Moscow - Matteo

TeamSEM in Moscow – Day 1

It was an early start for TeamSEM students on our first day in Moscow. We slept no more than 5-6 hours but we were all (some more than others) ready to start our adventure in Russia working in the Rugby Sevens World Cup. Obviously wearing our TeamSEM branded clothing.

The planned schedule today was to visit the area of the location where the players will fight for the title of the best National Rugby Sevens team in the world: the Luzhniki Stadium.

We all had the accreditation at the start of the day and they gave us the red uniforms to wear during our work time. The sun was shining over Moscow and we had a walk to go and visit the rugby pitch where the female National Teams will play in the next few days. The stadium was not too big, but looked very nice and we took some group pictures that would make the whole department of SEM proud!

Coming back we had the opportunity to see the players from the USA National Team and the Springboks training on the pitches surrounding the area of the main stadium. It was impressive to see those players close up and hearing them motivate each other to work better as a team.

After no dinner the day before and a small breakfast we really needed to have a proper lunch today and most of us decided to try some Russian meals and to drink a fantastic and fresh strawberry juice called ‘Компот’ (highly recommended!).

Even if we haven’t really worked, we decided to come back to our accommodation and relax due to the tiredness of the day before, we need to restore all our energy to give the best for this world tournament!

Once we have seen our ‘workplace’ we cannot wait to start!

Day 2

Today was first day of work for some of the students. Most of the TeamSEM has been involved in a photo shoot in the Red Square. But not me, I was picked to do medical service with the students from Sports Therapy.

We had a free morning that I spent sleeping and started our shift at 2pm at the Luzhniki Sport Complex. Here we had the amazing opportunity to watch some players and the coach of the New Zealand’s All Blacks, practising ahead of the rugby sevens. Luckily, during our time on the training pitches there were no injuries and so not much to do.  So we spent our time talking with a doctor from Georgia and watching the national teams training for the tournament.

We have seen the players from the women’s teams of Tunisia, Ireland, South Africa and Spain and the men’s teams of Tonga (funny guys), Japan and Australia working hard to be in the perfect shape the day of their debut.

Me and Edoardo talked a lot with  Spain’s management about rugby in Italy and about football, seen that Italy will face Spain on Thursday for the Confederations Cup semi-final!

Moreover we had a surprise, one of the Wallabies’ staff members, the coaching coordinator and former captain of Australia Sevens Tim Walsh, finished his career playing for Petrarca Padova and so we had fun speaking Italian with him. What a legend!

Tomorrow I’ll be again on the pitches of the Sport Complex hoping to make other experiences!

Day 3

There is only one day left before the beginning of the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

All the teams were focused on the training grounds where I was working in the morning.

Today I've seen for the first time the England men national team. They looked confident and ready for their debut.  I watched the training of New Zealand’s All Blacks women’s team in their maroon shirts, the USA and Canadians women’s teams , Samoa men’s team and Fiji (both men’s and women’s teams).

But the team that impressed me the most were the Argentineans. Me and my friend Edoardo met the head coach Andres Romagnoli (who played also in Italy) when he was unable to find the pitch where his team had to train. He invited us to their training ground where the atmosphere was very friendly and all the players looked relaxed. They were making lots of jokes and having fun before and during the training session. I think this is how sport should be, even at the highest level and the day before a world cup.

At 2pm I finished my shift and due to the high temperature (the hottest day in Russia for the last 100 years!) I went to relax in Gorki Park with other SEM students. Here I met some members of the Australian women’s team that told me they will try to do their best to win the trophy and suggested to bet on their team!

Want some tips for betting on RWC7s? In the female tournament New Zealand and England are the favourites and probably the winner would be one of these two.

In the male tournament New Zealand’s All Blacks will have a great contender in the Australian team.

Day 4

Today was the day of the tournament. Finally the Rugby World Cup Sevens begun! The Coventry University students were all excited about starting their jobs at Luzhniki Stadium.

For the first time in my life I watched a rugby sevens match and I loved it. I am not a rugby lover, and even if my brother plays rugby in Italy, I do not usually watch it.

But rugby sevens is different; faster, more exciting and last less than 20 minutes per match. I really enjoyed it!

I also watched the Opening Ceremony that consisted of dance performances, presentation of the teams and speeches from authorities.

Day 5

It was the second day of the tournament. Today the men’s teams had their 2^nd and 3^rd match and the women’s teams had their debut. Watching the women play I realised that they are amazing athletes!

After I spent the first half of the day at the small arena watching the women, I started my new job helping with Anti-Doping. For this role I had to watch the matches and stay with the players randomly chosen to take the test till they completed the procedure. I had the opportunity to talk with players and go in the players’ village and in the changing rooms! One of the players I had to look after was a Spanish guy and we talked a lot even if he was not in the mood after the defeat against Tunisia.

As I did yesterday I enjoyed the matches and now I cannot wait to see who is going to be the new world champion!

Day 6

Last day of the World Cup, last day of work in Russia. My job in the anti-doping department allowed me to enjoy all the matches at Luzhniki stadium. It was really emotional to see the faces of the players once they lost a match and to see the smiles of the players when they have won a match,  hugging their friends or parents who were in Moscow to support them.

After having hot and sunny weather for the whole week, during the men’s semi-finals thunder storms brought rain and some fresh air (and stopped the competition for 45 minutes)

In the women’s tournament, the USA won the bronze medal after beating Spain 10-5 and New Zealand won the final against Canada 29-15 showing their superiority on the pitch.

In the men’s tournament semi-finals Fiji lost against New Zealand’s All Blacks and Kenya was beaten by England due to the wet pitch.

This resulted in New Zealand and England competing in the final, England was dominated by New Zealand who scored 33 points and the English team unable to score.

An historical double for the All Blacks, where both the men’s and women’s team were world champions in both tournaments! After the ceremony both teams finally did the Haka, the moment we were all waiting for! Incredible!

The player chosen for the anti-doping control was Gillies Kaka (also nominated best player of the tournament) and so I had the chance to spend some time with him and the team, even in the changing room where all the players were dancing and singing. I had lots of fun with them! I couldn’t ask more from that experience than to have fun with the world champions!

This week has been a fantastic and I will never forget it, as nobody involved in the world cup would ever forget the work done by TeamSEM from Coventry University!

SEM go to Moscow – Alexandra Smith

Day 1: We arrived...alive!

Despite the 6am early start I have discovered, much to my friends delight that I am a morning person! Although this is not the case for many other students who were travelling to Moscow with us, surprising as it may seem, students don’t like mornings, especially not early mornings!

We started our day collecting our SEM branded clothing from Tom, to which we discovered that the medium size is more like a large, so with t-shirts that looked more like dresses we set off on the coach to Manchester airport. A journey which was surprisingly quick!

There fortunately wasn’t much waiting around to do at the airport, quickly getting through check in, luggage, security (fortunately I didn’t set off any security alarms) and eventually the gate from which we would board our plane from Manchester to Moscow! Which unfortunately was delayed due to a previous plane having technical difficulties, but with the cheery Easy Jet staff and pilots we were soon on our way to Moscow.

The instant that we stepped out of the plane a wave of warm, humid air hit us, which caused a few cheers from some of the students (mainly the girls) as we were excited to be somewhere warm (even at 9.30pm!!!).

This heat continued throughout the night and into the next day! It is safe to say that as soon as lights were switched out, and those heads hit the pillows, every student was sound asleep.... well we are students and we do treasure our sleep!

Students need their sleep!

Us after check in and luggage

#TeamSEM

Day 2: Accreditations, Tours and Thunder storms!

Today, we had another be ready for 9am start, which meant a lot of early morning dashes for the two showers that we are sharing between 32 of us! So with ,multiple alarms going off from 6.30am onwards we once again saw how little sleep effect students! Especially when they are hungry!

In order to solve the hunger issue, we ventured out into Moscow to find a supermarket in order to find some sort of breakfast of food!

Upon returning to the hostel we were taken to the Metro where we were then taken onto the luzhniki stadium. The Metro, very similar to the London underground with lots of bustling Russian workers. The Metro ever as eventful as always with the train driver putting his (or hers) foot down and flying through the Metro system. This although always caused someone to fall over, did allow for a bit of fun, seeing who wouldn’t fall over when then train started/stopped without holding onto anything! Always a bit of fun!

The stadium had another security check once we were through this, we were led to the ‘Players Village’ where we would get our accreditations.

After we received our accreditation we were given a tour of the grounds, which are very big and in 32^oC seemed like a tour that lasted a very long time! We were shown the woman’s arena first, where we had a group photo, and then were taken to see the South African team having a practice in one of the practice areas. After a brief tour of the inside of the Men’s area (as the inside stadium was on ‘lock down’) we ventured back onto the Metro to go and grab a long anticipated lunch!

 After returning to the hostel, three of us decided to venture out into the city and take a look at red square, less than a minute down the street we saw a bolt of lightning strike... the thunder storm was coming! We quickly hurried to shelter, which happened to be the Moscow state Library, a very tall and powerful looking building; here we witnessed an almighty thunder and lightning storm... with A LOT of rain! Unfortunately the rain put a dampener on our plans so we returned to the hostel.

Our accreditation, excuse the tired looking photo (we weren't warned that they were being taken today!!)

One of the many group photos.

The glorious rain! Even in Russia, us British cannot escape its wrath!

Day 3: Photos, Photos and more Photos.

We got a lie in today! A well needed rest for the majority of students, even if the Russian Police car sirens woke us up a few times during the early hours of this morning!

After our lie in, we got the opportunity to venture over to Red Square, where the media people from the Rugby World Sevens were taking the rugby captain’s official photos to put on the website. This meant that we got to help stop tourists and other passers-by from wondering into and around the photos, which was harder than it sounds! After all their photos were taken we got to have a group photo with the trophies!

After lunch, along with a group of students we ventured out to the Moscow Kremlin, which we thought would be rather expensive to get into, but with our Coventry Phoenix Cards we managed to get in with the small fee of 100 roubles or in English terms… £2!! Which is extremely cheap!

The Kremlin was amazing, the colours that each of the different Cathedrals were painted with and the detailed paintings of multiple saints were so well preserved that they didn’t seem very old at all! Fortunately in two of the Cathedrals they had tourist information sheets in English, which meant that we were able to learn small nuggets of information about the tombs or shines in the Cathedrals.

After we went in the Kremlin, we took a wonder into Red Square, where we were doing the general touristy things… taking photos! We saw the Lenin Mausoleum, Saint Basils Cathedral… it feels like that Cathedrals should belong in Disneyland, it’s just so colourful! While we were in Red Square we heard thunder, which echoes around the square which just sounded awesome! Along with the lightning bolts that we saw! Was such an epic experience!

Day 4: Walking, being a Tourist and Training.

No lie in today, up for 8am, which isn’t too bad (until you realise its 5am in England). Travelled on the Metro to Luzhniki Stadium without our lovely volunteer liaisons, and surprising didn’t get lost on the way! Really starting to feel like I’m getting to know my way around Moscow, and feeling more confident about travelling on the Metro (even if we can’t understand the signs!).

While at Luzhniki stadium we had a briefing in the conference room, which meant that we were treated to air conditioning! Which was so lush.  In the briefing we were told what roles we will be undertaking in the next three days, my role is ‘changing rooms’, from which I understand I will be ensuring that the teams are in and out of the changing rooms in their allotted times. This means that will meet all the teams! This could be a lot of fun!

After our meeting while we were waiting for our accreditation to be changed and updated, along with a few others, we went for a stroll around the Luzhniki grounds (which are absolutely huge!!) and stumbled across some of the teams practising. Luckily one of these teams was the England’s men’s team! They looked on form and certainly looked as though they are ready and raring to compete this weekend! They were also more than happy to talk to us especially when they kicked the rugby ball over the fence (sure they were trying to hit us!)

This afternoon we took a trip into Red Square, this time to go and take a look at St Basil’s Cathedrals, which looked even more stunning from the inside! The Paintings in there were absolutely amazing, so intricate and detailed! Even the painted flowers on the ceiling were not duplicated and so each individual flower was truly unique. Like the Moscow Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral is definitely a place to go and see in Moscow, and with a student card it is not an opportunity to be missed!

Day 5 – Warm ups, Stretches and Team Hugs.

Today was the day that we’ve all been waiting for, the start of the Rugby Sevens World Cup! Another early start, but with an early night’s sleep the night before, the majority of the students were ready to go and excited, even though we are still fairly apprehensive about travelling around on the metro without our lovely liaison officers!

Once arriving at Luzhniki stadium we got to watch the practice opening ceremony, which was really energetic and crazy! While we were watching we got a group photo in our volunteer tops, even though we did slightly interrupt the procession of rugby balls representing each nation competing at the games. This made taking the photos very funny as we only had seconds between each giant rugby ball to take photos.

Today I had the role of looking after the warm up area for the men’s rugby teams; this meant stopping the players from walking onto the athletics track in their studs, because the track is going to be used soon for the Athletics World Championships. Which although seems a simple task, the players often didn’t listen and kept on warming up on the track! Although the Fijian team respected what was asked of them and often played little jokes on me, pretending to step on it.

Today I saw how a team is truly one and everyone plays an equal role. Whilst walking back to the changing rooms the New Zealand team they had their hands on each other shoulders, which seemed really symbolic. Also the Fijian team all held each other’s hands and held their hands up towards the sky whilst doing their team huddle, which also represented their union. The noise that the spectators in the stadium made was incredible! Especially the Russians when their team were about to score a try (even though they didn’t). The Fijian supporters sang for their team when they came out to warm up and play, their voices could be heard all over the stadium and were absolutely amazing at singing songs from Fiji.

Although today was absolutely tiring, it was very fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Fijian Team warming up.        

Team USA

Team New Zealand

Team Wales

 Team England, Group huddle        

Team France

Team Scotland

Team South Africa

Team Kenya        

Team Samoa

Day 6

Second day of play at the Rugby Sevens World Cup, up bright and early, and ready for a full day! Fortunately this morning the Metro wasn’t too busy, and so we had a lovely seat on the train! Although early, the stadium was already busy with people running around doing their jobs and a few spectators getting an early look at the stadium!

Same role as yesterday, looking after the athletics track and watching the training pitches run smoothly! Pretty much making sure that the teams went to the right pitches. Team Fiji  were as always in a fantastic mood, still playing their little jokes with pretending to step on the track, constantly keeping me entertained!

Many teams ended up coming back to the warm up area to cool down, including the Scottish team who decided to cool down and do their stretches around where I was sitting, where the captain led their stretches.

The day, although long was lots of fun!

Team Georgia warming up!

Team Tonga warming up, which looked more like they were playing a game of hot potato!

Day 7 – Play Suspended!

Third and final day of play today! Bowl, Plate and Cup finals were played today! England woman’s in the Woman’s Plate final and England Men’s in the Men’s Cup Final (the Cup being ranked higher than Bowl or Plate). Unfortunately we didn’t win either the Cup or Plate Finals but both teams played exceptionally well, especially under the circumstances! Congratulations Team New Zealand (both woman’s and men’s)

I have to say, fair dos to the teams that lost their matches today, many of who thanked their supporters and although clearly saddened by the defeat remained calm and respectful but yet showed face in front of their supporters.

The day looked as though it was going to be another boiling hot day, around 4pm claps of thunder could be heard around the stadium, and then coupled with lightening a lightning/thunder/rain storm started! The weather was so bad and torrential that play had to be suspended, and it ended up being suspended for nearly 45 minutes! The rain at which time was pouring in all directions, causing the people in the stands to move higher and higher!

Once the lightning had stopped, and the rain had eased off slightly play was allowed to resume             , making the field

Almost dangerous to play on, but allowed teams to show what they were made of! The pitch was so sodden that the ball couldn’t bounce on it and the term ‘butter fingers’ could be used for many of the players as they struggled to catch the ball!

Although play was suspended, with good and effective organisational skills from the IRB, the lost time was caught up very quickly with the last game only running 25 minutes behind schedule!

Team Tunisia warming up for the first game of the last day!

Oh the rain, theres so much rain! 

Wet and wild tackles!                                              

More wet fun!

Day 8 – Homeward Bound we go!

Day started off with a bit of a lie in! A well needed lie in! For breakfast… or well lunch, a group of us went to the Hard Rock Café Moscow! I had a beef cheeseburger, which was extremely yummy (although I seriously struggled to finish it)! After lunch we went on a shopping trip, where I brought some fridge magnets for my family! These weren’t too expensive, but they were very colourful!

After checking out at the hostel, the long (14 hour trip back to Coventry started!), which went rather smoothly no one got lost or left behind!

I had an amazing week in Moscow, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so a massive thank you to our lecturers who organised and took us on this trip and to the IRB for letting us come and volunteer!

My Lunch!