Rugby sevens on upward curve towards Olympics

by Luke Phillips

RUGBY SEVENS: DUBAI, Dec 11 (AFP) - Rugby sevens is on an upward curve towards its Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, players and coaches said after the first leg of the IRB Sevens World Series here.

Some 80,000 people packed into “The Sevens” venue 40km (25 miles) out of downtown Dubai for two days of action of the abbreviated, high-octane version of rugby union, with the seven other stages of the global series promising equally big audiences. Already a success at multi-sport events such as the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, sevens can only move from strength to strength, according to long-time New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens.

“Sevens is a great spectacle,” Tietjens said. “It’s a sport that is fast and furious, and also very entertaining. It’s going to the crowds.

“It’s to be an Olympic sport, is already a Commonwealth Games sport and also has its own World Series. I don’t think you can really challenge that.” He added: “The Olympics has given the series a major boost. More players will want to be involved in the game with an eye on having a chance to competing at the Olympics at 2016.” Speaking after his England side beat Samoa 29-21 to claim victory in Dubai, coach Ben Ryan said the party atmosphere in the desert state had also been enjoyable for the players.

“The exposure of sevens has been upped generally,” Ryan said. “We want sell-outs and we want it bouncing.

“I like the instant results — all over in 14 minutes, and whether the result is good or bad, we move on.”

No longer can sevens be regarded as an exhibition sport, a lesser cousin to the full 15-a-side version, said England captain Ben Gollings. Gollings, the all-time leading points scorer in IRB sevens history, even said that the success of sevens would end up with rugby players now having to choose where their careers lay. “If you look at the programme, you can’t physically do the both. You can’t double up,” said Gollings.

“Sevens has been a development tool, with players going on to represent England and win a full cap. But it can also be a full-time job.”

“The rugby World Cup 15s is huge, as are Commonwealth or Olympic gold. Both are very attractive.

“There’ll be players who strive for both, but some might see the opportunity to travel the world and earn a living playing sevens as their career.” “Up until now, 15s has been a rugby player’s bread and butter but now sevens is going to do that for you. You can now ask yourself whether you really need to play 15s.”

Tietjens, who called up a handful of Super 14 players for his Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning squad, warned that sevens was not just about co-opting decent 15s players.

“Sevens rugby, if you’re good at it, is all about consistency and getting players conditioned to play the sport,” said the Kiwi, who has been at the helm of the New Zealand sevens set-up for 17 years.

“You can’t just come out of the 15s game and excel at sevens. “Every player who comes into sevens, however, has inspirations to play Super 15 rugby and launch their careers, and the ultimate for him as a player is to be an All Black.”