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Olympic dreams
By Will Carling
Published: March 10 2010 16:14 | Last updated: March 10 2010 16:14
I had many memorable experiences in an England jersey. But competing in an Olympic Games was not one of them. Yet for the next generation of international rugby players, that dream is about to become a reality.
The significance of the inclusion of sevens rugby in the Olympics from 2016 in Rio de Janeiro cannot be overemphasised – it is huge.
Rugby has often been accused of being a closed-shop "gentleman's club", and apart from the decision to award the 2019 World Cup to Japan, the game has always been kept largely within the eight main playing nations. It took a huge amount of effort for Italy and Argentina to be properly recognised and allowed to compete in the Six Nations and Tri-Nations, respectively.
The International Olympic Committee's decision has brought rugby to a crossroads: does it want to stay with the gentleman's club mentality or broaden out and market itself to new territories?
Inclusion in the Olympics will mean new rugby-playing countries, such as China, India and, of course, hosts Brazil, will be incentivised to develop their rugby teams. I am told that in Brazil, sevens will even be taught in schools. It also offers an opportunity for other sporting nations that are not normally associated with rugby – the US, for example. They too have a reason to speed up development.
Added to this, the countries that already take sevens seriously, such as New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa, have even more incentive, not least because it gives them a fantastic chance to win a medal.
What makes sevens so attractive is that it puts the focus squarely on the important aspects of the game. It requires great handling skills, pace and awareness – all crucial to playing rugby the right way. It takes players out of their comfort zones and punishes those lacking in skill. If you don't understand how to use space, it will soon become obvious in sevens. It is great training – which is why New Zealand has always used sevens as a proving ground for 15-a-side.
For spectators, sevens is a fantastic introduction to the sport because it is fast and athletic, while being relatively simple and easy to understand. The great sevens tournaments I've been involved in – such as the Hong Kong Sevens and Dubai Sevens – just breathe entertainment.
The Hong Kong Sevens is a big part of the sporting calendar in the Far East – and not just for expats, but for locals as well, because the skills on show are incredible. It is a fantastic tournament to go and watch. The first time I played against the All Blacks was in Hong Kong and it was a great experience, as was playing there against the Fijians. It was a totally different game.
And, as Kenya has shown by finishing sixth in last year's International Rugby Board Sevens World Series, newer countries are able to taste success far quicker in sevens than they would in 15-a-side.
But to maximise the impact of the Olympic decision, the International Rugby Board must continue to be pro-active.
At present, the bodies that organise the different legs of the IRB Sevens World Series do so with a large degree of organisational independence, but keep the majority of the profits. The sevens circuit should be a huge event on the sporting calendar, but it's not – and that's because it is not marketed properly.
However, if rugby could get the right media partners on board, the profile of sevens would take off.
The potential is there to grow a global sevens series into a city-hopping event along the lines of the Formula One championship. It would be a great circuit, one in which players would want to participate and spectators would want to watch.
To do that, rugby needs to take a leaf out of the book of another sport that has been accused of being stuck in the past: cricket.
What cricket has achieved with the Twenty20 form of the game and one-day internationals has been remarkable – breaking the "gentlemen in blazers" view of the sport. And if rugby wants to break into new markets, it must do something similar.
I remember attending a day/night cricket game in Australia a few years ago and thinking: "Wow, this is amazing."
The other great thing about rugby is that there is very little crowd trouble around the tournaments, which adds to its appeal.
But as well as excellent marketing, sevens can become a financing tool for the IRB. The quadrennial World Cup is the only real finance generator the board has in its locker. But if the money from the sevens circuit went to the IRB, it could be used to fund reinvestment in other areas of the game.
If rugby can achieve this, sevens would become incredibly enticing for the best young players, so much so that they may be faced with a difficult decision – whether to become a sevens or a 15s player. Personalities will start to emerge, and it becomes a virtuous circle.
Looking back on my rugby career, it would be good to say: "I took part in the Olympics and won a gold medal."
Brazil, a country famed for its golden beaches, seems a fitting place to start.
Will Carling is a former captain of the England rugby team[/b]
