The Saturday pool games ensure that the teams go into the right competition on Sunday to meet teams of a similar level, the Silver Pier for the top teams, the SCP Trophy for the teams finishing third in the pools and the Integer Plate for the teams finishing fourth. The Saturday pool games also allow lower level teams to play against top players and teams from around the world.
We try to fit in as many teams as possible and only very rarely have to disappoint teams so it is always worth applying using the on-line application form on this web site. When we have too many teams there is a selection process. For 2007 we are aiming for at least 48 "Foreign" teams.
Dutch teams cannot apply. The Dutch teams are invited to play.
Can my team combine the Heineken Amsterdam Sevens with other tournaments?
Some top teams travel to Europe for more than one tournament. The Benidorm tournament is held the weekend after the Heineken Amsterdam Sevens. Teams such as the Zambezi Cheetahs (the Zimbabwe national Sevens team) play in Amsterdam and Benidorm on their annual trip to Europe in preparation for their international tournaments. If you want to enter both competitions please make this clear on your entry form and we will forward this to Benidorm. The Benidorm Sevens can be contacted via www.benidormsevens.com.
How do you select which International teams get a place?
The two main selection criteria are the quality of the team and the geography. If you can bring a top quality team we will confirm a place straight away. We do try to check out teams that claim to be top class. Teams that have played in the tournament before and have performed well get preferential treatment. If you come from a country or area that is not well represented you will stand a much higher chance of being selected. Because it is easy to get to Amsterdam from the London area the number of applications from that area is very high.
Because of the pressure on places we normally do not allow "second teams" to enter.
The selection is a continuous process and, especially for top teams, the process can carry on until the last minute with teams dropping out at the last minute and teams applying.
How do you select which Dutch Teams are invited?
Some teams receive an invitation every year.
The chairman of the Sevens Committee invites one Dutch team who would not normally get into the tournament any other way. Usually it is from a club celebrating an anniversary. Teams such as Den Helder and Alkmaar have benefited from the generosity of the Chairman in previous years.
If a Dutch Representative team is available these will often be invited. The Dutch National Team plays some years under the Dutch Impalas name. The Dutch Students and Dutch Under 21s have played before.
There is then the very grey area of Dutch Teams bringing in quality players from abroad to boost the team such as 't Gooi Caledonians. We try to encourage such combinations if the quality of the team is high. They normally apply like any other international team. But are they Dutch Teams or International? It depends. But it is unfair on teams who do not get to play if one club has two teams in the tournament, one "international" team and one Dutch Team. Therefore, if a Dutch club enters an international team, we do not invite a second team from that club. Whether the "Dutch International" team is classed as Dutch or International depends on the situation in the run up to the tournament.
The Dutch National Sevens Championships are held shortly before the Heineken Amsterdam Sevens; usually the weekend before and teams performing well who have not already been invited will normally get an invite.
How much is the entry fee and how do we pay it?
The entry fee is €300 for a team. This includes entry to the tournament for 15 people, a match ball, packed lunches for Saturday and Sunday, a hot dinner on Saturday evening, a team photograph and much more. Note, if you are bringing more than 15 people on the touring party you will need to purchase extra Passe Partouts for these people.
The only method is by international bank transfer to:
Stichting Rugby Promotie Amsterdam ABN/AMRO account number 42.88.58.945.The bank address is:
Houtplein, Haarlem, Nederland. The Swiftcode (a.k.a. BIC) for ABN-AMRO is: ABNANL2A IBAN = NL46ABNA0428858945
Please make sure you include the name of the team with the payment.
Please make sure you pay all bank charges.
How many players can I bring?
Currently you can register 12 players for the Men's Sevens tournament at any one time. We will also allow one additional replacement player to be registered to replace one of the 12 registered players in case of injury. If you get through to the later stages of the tournament you will certainly need 12 players to cover the inevitable injuries and general wear and tear. Our experience is that all teams need a minimum of 10 players. We often get players trying to find a team to play for and can help to supplement teams who are short of players.
For health and safety reasons there is a restriction that all players need to be at least 18 years old unless explicitly allowed by the Organising Committee.
When should I travel?
Arriving in Amsterdam
Certainly be there for the reception. The reception is normally held from around 6 o'clock until around 9 o'clock on Friday in Amsterdam City Centre. The reception is certainly one of the highlights of the weekend with rugby players from all over the world singing their traditional rugby songs and drinking large volumes of free beer before heading off for more last minute training in the Red Light District. It is also the opportunity to get some of the administration done, handing out information to the teams. If you do not make the reception then you need to be at the Tournament before 09:30 on Saturday to sort out the administration.
Leaving Amsterdam
The final game finishes around 4:30 on Sunday. This is followed by the prize giving followed by a few hours of very sociable winding down. If you are booking a flight, try to get one as late as possible on Sunday or, even better, wait until Monday. Leaving early and missing the final is bad. Missing the plane is also not good. Late planes avoid having to make the choice. Warning: booking a taxi to the airport is no guarantee it will arrive or that someone else will not steal it. The party moves to the Corso and Susies Saloon in the Red Light District until late. Well worth staying on for.
When are the games?
The first games are at 10:00 sharp on Saturday. On Saturday the last games can finish as late as 18:00. The draw for Sunday is made when all games are finished on Saturday so most teams wait around to find out who they are playing and how late their first game is. The draw is usually available about one hour after the last game finishes.
Sunday also starts at 10:00 sharp. From lunch onwards the business end of the competition (Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals) begin, culminating in the Final starting around 16:00.
Where is the tournament held and how do I get there?
The Heineken Amsterdam Sevens is held at
National Rugby Centre Amsterdam Sportpark de Eendracht Bok de Korverweg 1067 HR Amsterdam
Getting there
By Public Transport
Bus 21 from Amsterdam Central Station takes you directly to the NRCA. The buses leave approximately every half hour. It takes more than half an hour to get to NRCA.
Bus 192 goes from Sloterdijk Station to Schiphol P40 and gets you to the ground (Freule Wttewaalpad) in approximately 10 minutes, twice an hour.
By Taxi or Minibus
There are Taxi ranks on the Leidseplein and at the Central Station. You can also book a taxi or minibus to pick you up. The number of the biggest taxi company is +31 20 7777777.
A number of teams have asked about booking a taxi/minibus to travel to and from the tournament. I think this is an excellent idea removing the rush to get to the bus and also avoids the need to travel with the poor people. I have found the following site (unfortunately only in Dutch) who have 12 minibuses with space for up to 8 people each. If you have more than 8 they send 2 buses. The cost is (according to their site) €25 per single trip from Amsterdam Centre to Amsterdam West. It certainly should not be more than €30. Booking the return in advance costs €50.
Go to www.taxideboer.nl
National Rugby Centre Amsterdam Sportpark de Eendracht Bok de Korverweg 1067 HR Amsterdam No Dutch Telephone therefore cannot ring 0900 6464287 to confirm. Please ring above mobile number to confirm.
They ask you to ring the 0900 number 30 minutes before your pick up to confirm the time but I do not think you can ring an 0900 number from a foreign mobile.
By Road
Don't get lost. The route description below is now the way you get to the National Rugby Centre Amsterdam if you come via Haarlemmerweg (N200), the easiest way for most people coming by road. Follow the signposts to Geuzenveld. Turn left if you are coming from Amsterdam and then turn right at the T Junction about 200 meters further. Immediately after the enforced left turn, turn right onto Cornelis Outshoornstraat which becomes JM den Uylstraat. A little more than a kilometer further there is a bend to the left into the car park. Allow at least half an hour from Central Amsterdam.
How does the tournament work?
The Tournament is split into two parts: The Saturday Pool Games and the Sunday Competitions.
The purpose of the Saturday Pools is to make sure the teams are playing in the right competition on Sunday and to give the seeding for the draw for each of the Sunday tournaments. Based upon the information we receive about the strength of the teams we allocate teams to pools to ensure each pool has a mix of strong teams and social teams. This is why we need information on the team's strength. In allocating teams to the pools we also try to mix up the nationalities, for example spreading the Dutch clubs over the pools. Traditionally we have played with 12 pools of 5 teams. This can change, depending upon the number of teams. We are currently looking at the possibility of having 16 pools of 4 for 2007. The Saturday Pools also give the chance for the more limited players and teams to play against top players and teams and to play against teams from other countries, an important part of the Heineken Amsterdam Sevens Experience and a valuable source of stories to be told in bar for years to come.
The top two teams in each pool go through to the main Sevens competition, the Silver Pier, the main tournament, on Sunday. The third team in each pool goes through to the Heineken Boot competition. The fourth place team in each pool goes through to the Integer Plate. The draw for the Sunday morning matches is made on Saturday immediately after the games finish and is a combination of statistics and fiddling. The teams are first ranked, based upon the performance on Saturday using the points total and number of tries scored. The fiddling may be required to keep two related teams apart, e.g. Susie's Exiles against Susie's Saloon, to try to keep teams from the same country apart or to ensure two teams who played against each other in the Saturday pools do not meet in the first games on Sunday Morning.
On Sunday we have three Men's Sevens tournaments. If we play with 16 pools on Saturday we will go straight into the knock-out phase with 32 teams in the Silver Pier, 16 teams in the Heineken Boot and 16 teams in the Integer Plate. If we play with 12 pools on Saturday we will need to play Pools of 3 teams on Sunday morning to reduce the 24 Silver Pier teams down to 8 teams for the Quarter Finals and to reduce the 12 teams in the Heineken Boot and Integer Plate down to 4 teams for the Semi-Finals.
Where should I stay?
The Heineken Amsterdam Sevens takes place on the outskirts of Amsterdam at the National Rugby Stadium in Geuzenveld. All sensible people stay in the centre of Amsterdam.
The best places to stay are:
Among the many web sites are :
Can I camp at the tournament site?
No. The local council gets very upset about this and there are also security staff who patrol overnight who will ask you to move on if you try to camp there. There are many camping sites around Amsterdam. Possibly the closest to central Amsterdam and the Central Station is Camping Vliegenbos. This is in Amsterdam North, just over the water from the back of Amsterdam Central Station. They claim it is 15 minutes walk from Central Station but I do not intend to test this claim. Address Details are
Camping Vliegenbos, Meeuwenlaan 138, Amsterdam-Noord. Tel. 020 - 6368855, fax 020 - 6322723. www.vliegenbos.com
Do we need Visas to come to the tournament?
In 2003 we had one team who had to leave a Fijian player at Heathrow because he did not have a visa to enter the Netherlands. We have had problems in the past getting visas for Nigerian teams because they applied too late. In 2004 a Serbian team and two South Africans based in UK failed to get visas as the earliest appointment they could get was after the tournament. If you want to avoid problems, read this section carefully and apply as early as you can. The reference site for this is the official web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken). The site is www.minbuza.nl. Once on the home page you can switch the language to English (or French, German or Spanish) in the top left. Enter "Visa" (or "Visum" for other languages) in the Search box to get to the relevant information.
Under "When you require a Visa" is much of the information required, including, under "Who requires a visa?" the nationalities that need a visa and those who do not need a visa. The web address for this list is http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/comingtoNL,visas_x_consular_services/when_you_require_a_visa.html
The countries where you do not need a visa are basically:
The countries where you do need a visa are:
Applying for a Visa.
The process for getting a visa is explained under "Applying for a Visa", the web address for the English version is:
http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/comingtoNL,visas_x_consular_services/applying_for_a_visa.html
To find your nearest Embassy or Consulate click on "Missions" in the heading (or go directly to the following web address) and fill in your country and city.
http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/comingtoNL,visas_x_consular_services/when_you_require_a_visa.html
If you, or one of your players, needs a visa you will need to contact me as the Embassy or Consulate will need proof of your invitation to the tournament and insist on a formal letter with headed paper etc. Some embassies and consulates will allow a fax, but not all. You will need to check beforehand with the embassy/consulate exactly what you need to bring as it can be a real bummer as well as a waste of everyone's time if you are missing one item.
If you need a visa this can take up to two months (usually it is less but in three attempts in Nigeria we have never yet managed to get a visa, whereas in Moldova it was considerably less than two months. For three Fijians playing with Marauders in 2005 who were already in the UK it was a matter of days).