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.
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
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?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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