Who would qualify for olympics based on current rankings

Next years rugby 7's series doubles as part of the qualification for the Rio Olympics. Just thought I'd muse over who would qualify if the current rankings followed through. The actual qualification process is outlined at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_sevens_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics Here are my thoughts:

Brazil (Host)
New Zealand (top 4 in series)
South Africa (top 4 in series)
Fiji (top 4 in series)
Great Britain and Northern Ireland (top 4 in series)
Kenya (1st Africa)
France (1st Europe)
Japan (1st Asia)
Canada (1st Central/North America)
Argentina (1st South America)
Australia (1st Oceania)
Samoa (playoff)


My suspicion is that the actual qualifiers will look something like this.

I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care,  Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.

As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

fa0019 wrote:I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care,  Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.

As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

Fingers crossed there won't be one, but a Scotland team and a rUK team!

in that case the Scotland team wouldn't qualify as they're gash, even more so than XVs!

fa0019 wrote:I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care,  Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.

As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

I think the issue is going to be the tightness between the tightness between the World cup and sevens series. I don't think players can make the switch without actually playing 7's competitively. The key issue is the sevens world series usually runs from October to May which overlaps with the 2015 world cup, European club season and super rugby. I'd say players based in Europe would have to opt out of their club contracts to be useful. The Super rugby players would have to commit to sevens instead of super rugby.

Apparently there's a bit of interest in NZ. The likes of SBW, Piatau, Messam and Jane have all been mentioned. They are going to have to commit to go. My guess is players coming back from the world cup, will have a bit of  break and compete in the national sevens tournament in January. That's pretty demanding. The option would be looking at players later in the year (i.e tryouts after the super rugby season or at the start of 2016). It's problematic in that 7's is now quite specialized.

Yeah I agree, they can't expect to rock up and say, right where's my jersey. They will have to prove themselves in the squad via the 7s series.

I hope some of the finest players do jump ship though either to showcase rugby at the highest global sporting event with the best players or to show that 7s players are superior specialist beings themselves.

fa0019 wrote:I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care,  Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.

As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

Not sure how true that was. The team did include Dallaglio, Tim Rodber, Nick Beal and Harriman amongst others. Just looked on the wiki and saw this quote

Adedayo Adebayo, a member of that victorious side later recalled how surprising the victory had been to the players involved in it. He said "We were basically a scratch side. We got together for the first time as a team the week before, played one practice match and went on to win! But there were a lot of quality players in that side and looking back that's why we were able to wing it slightly - the talent came through. Looking back though we had no expectations of winning at the start. We didn't know how far we would go. It just happened.

I remember listening to the final sitting off the hard shoulder (I think it was the M4) next to my car which had just blown a piston

fa0019 wrote:I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care, Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.
As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

But werent we told on another thread the other day that Great britain as such cant eneter a team in the Olympics, it has to be either England, Scotland or wales.

I think Great Britain enters. The issue is only one teams performance in qualifiers counts. I think the thought was England, Scotland or wales could all compete and if one didn't qualify the others might (i.e. having the bites of the apple). My thoughts are they get one shot at it. That might mean nominating England as Great Britain for next years series. Not actually sure to be honest...

aucklandlaurie wrote:

fa0019 wrote:I wonder how many players from the 15 format will take a sabbatical to try and get an olympic medal?

I hear SBW and a few kiwi's are interested.

Would be great to see chaps like George North, Justin Tipuric, Stephen Ferris, Tom Croft, Karl Eastmond, Danny Care,  Danny Cipriani, David Denton etc all throw their hat in the ring for a GB team.
As much as people say the 7s players would beat them and in many ways I think part of that is true (please see RWC 7s 1993 when england sent a 7s specialist team and the others sent 15 type players) I do think that the best players end up in 15s and that if certain chaps like those above were to join the setup they would be in the team/squad etc. Have to leave straight after the world cup though.

If countries like NZ are to unleash the best players available from both formats any team looking to compete needs to do the same.
Wasn't it part of the promotion that the best players from the sport would be at the olympics?

But werent we told on another thread the other day that Great britain as such cant eneter a team in the Olympics, it has to be either England, Scotland or wales.

To solve the problem of Great Britain competing as one union in the Olympics and as several in International Rugby (England, Wales, Scotland), should one team qualify (England, Wales or Scotland) than Great Britain will be awarded a spot in the Olympic Games. The three unions will then decide the composition of the Great Britain team. Please note that Northern Ireland is part of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Thats from wikipedia.

This what Doc found:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/no-chance-of-a-team-gb-in-rugby-sevens-at-rio-after-ioc-and-irb-ruling-states-only-one-of-england-wales-or-scotland-can-represent-britain-9112299.html

crazy.

so if Wales get the place and they win, they will have to sing GSTQ at their medal ceremony.

That will be a bit odd.

Stuff GSTQ, we'll let the Welsh boys stand on the top step of the dais with us and do a Haka.

aucklandlaurie wrote: This what Doc found:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/no-chance-of-a-team-gb-in-rugby-sevens-at-rio-after-ioc-and-irb-ruling-states-only-one-of-england-wales-or-scotland-can-represent-britain-9112299.html

I think the Journo's misinterpreted the IRB statement. I read it as GB has to make a call now on which of the three sides is going to be the team that goes through the qualification process. There are 3 teams competing one of them has to nominated for the purposes of qualifying (i.e. the sevens series and any European qualifying tournament if they miss out on the top 4). I'm assuming that would be England based on their results. When the GB team goes to Rio they can pick any GB qualified player.

I read it quite differently, as in only one team can qualify, but I could be as wrong as wrong can be.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
I read it quite differently, as in only one team can qualify, but I could be as wrong as wrong can be.

The IRB statement says they have to select a team one of the three teams to qualify before qualification begins. That makes sense, otherwise they could have three teams taking part in the qualification process. That gives them three chances to qualify, every one else only has one. I think that's all this is about. I don't see it determining how they choose their final team.

reading that myself its only that only 1 team can qualify thats all...

i.e. If Wales and England were to both qualify, only one could go through... but that doesn't mean that they would be barred from selecting players only from their rugby "country".

Surely a team GB would be able to select any player from GB & NI.

Yeah that sounds more like it, Jeez im glad we dont have problems like that.

In terms of drafting in players from outside the normal 7's squad, should some thought be given to getting players from rugby league, 7's is in some ways more like RL than 15 a side union.
Suggesting this purely from the "win a medal at all costs approach" rather than any other.

Bluddee hell its complicated enough with combining/qualifying the players from three different countries(Rugby Unions) without bringing in the Leagueies as well.

Irish Londoner wrote:In terms of drafting in players from outside the normal 7's squad, should some thought be given to getting players from rugby league, 7's is in some ways more like RL than 15 a side union.
Suggesting this purely from the "win a medal at all costs approach" rather than any other.

The issue though is are 7s players drafted in purely on ability or because they are good at it but not good enough at 15s?

I would say its a bit of both. 15s is the major sport, the one where most would like to be seen as thats the biggest stage. Guys like SBW would clean up in 7s.

The mandate which got the go ahead from the IOC was that the best rugby players in the world would be available. If they went with the current 7s squads excluding those from 15s I don't think it would be reflective of the true picture.

I know Wigan won the middlesex 7s a while back... but their was a big diff, nearly all were ex union chaps and they were professional athletes unlike their opponents. No doubt chaps like Sam Burgess could be dynamite in 7s mind.

However regardless of where they come from, they should at least commit themselves to the world 7s series to get into the side, to be professional about the whole thing.

fa0019, I would be very disappointed if Stephen Ferris went over to play for GB. Or any Ulster player really. They are all under contract to play international 15s for Ireland, a gentleman's agreement will be in place so that GB don't challenge that I hope.

I think it extremely unlikely that any Ulster player will be selected given the fact we have no Sevens specialists, but we are part of the IRFU who may in turn nominate a side to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. GB trying to use our players would cause serious ructions.

fa0019 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:In terms of drafting in players from outside the normal 7's squad, should some thought be given to getting players from rugby league, 7's is in some ways more like RL than 15 a side union.
Suggesting this purely from the "win a medal at all costs approach" rather than any other.

The issue though is are 7s players drafted in purely on ability or because they are good at it but not good enough at 15s?

I would say its a bit of both. 15s is the major sport, the one where most would like to be seen as thats the biggest stage. Guys like SBW would clean up in 7s.

The mandate which got the go ahead from the IOC was that the best rugby players in the world would be available. If they went with the current 7s squads excluding those from 15s I don't think it would be reflective of the true picture.

I know Wigan won the middlesex 7s a while back... but their was a big diff, nearly all were ex union chaps and they were professional athletes unlike their opponents. No doubt chaps like Sam Burgess could be dynamite in 7s mind.

However regardless of where they come from, they should at least commit themselves to the world 7s series to get into the side, to be professional about the whole thing.

I think the North's and the SBW's would be very hard to stop if they got the ball in 7's but they'd also have a hell of a job catching the best 7's runners too, certainly not without a lot of specialist training.

In other words there are almost certainly 15's players who would be excellent 7's players but they would need plenty of time to convert.

Not Irish/N. Irish so difficult to comment on it. Grew up in Glasgow so I do (sort of) understand the wider issue mind.

From my own point of view though I would hope no player is barred from representing his country (if he so wishes) in any sport because of technicalities. If a player from Ulster feels Irish and would rather represent Ireland (if they had had a side) then as long as its the players choice and not simply because one union happens to pay his wages.

If a player would like to and they are chosen I think they should be allowed.

Yes they represent an united Ireland team and are paid by the IRFU... but that combines both countries no? Its complicated I agree but I don't think it should hold any ill feeling from the IRFU if a player choses to do so barring financial contract issues of course.

Sensitive subject I appreciate but I'm sure in time, concessions will be understandable.

In SA 30 years ago if you told the family of Pieter De Villiers, Habana, Kolisi etc that they would be singing Die Stem with pride during the nation anthems they would have laughed/given you a slap.
The same with the family of Bismarck Du Plessis & Schalk Burger if they were told they would be singing Nkosi Sikelel Afrika.

lostinwales wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:In terms of drafting in players from outside the normal 7's squad, should some thought be given to getting players from rugby league, 7's is in some ways more like RL than 15 a side union.
Suggesting this purely from the "win a medal at all costs approach" rather than any other.

The issue though is are 7s players drafted in purely on ability or because they are good at it but not good enough at 15s?

I would say its a bit of both. 15s is the major sport, the one where most would like to be seen as thats the biggest stage. Guys like SBW would clean up in 7s.

The mandate which got the go ahead from the IOC was that the best rugby players in the world would be available. If they went with the current 7s squads excluding those from 15s I don't think it would be reflective of the true picture.

I know Wigan won the middlesex 7s a while back... but their was a big diff, nearly all were ex union chaps and they were professional athletes unlike their opponents. No doubt chaps like Sam Burgess could be dynamite in 7s mind.

However regardless of where they come from, they should at least commit themselves to the world 7s series to get into the side, to be professional about the whole thing.

I think the North's and the SBW's would be very hard to stop if they got the ball in 7's but they'd also have a hell of a job catching the best 7's runners too, certainly not without a lot of specialist training.

In other words there are almost certainly 15's players who would be excellent 7's players but they would need plenty of time to convert.

I think its a bit of a misconception that all 7s players are Tom Vardell sprinter types. Yes of course there are more than their share than say 15s but big guys who combine strength and speed are also highly regarded.

I think that they are somewhat restricted by IOC regulations. This means you have to have a current passport for the country you wish to represent. It was raised at Hong Kong this year. I'm sure everyone will have the proper accreditation by 2016.

fa0019 wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:In terms of drafting in players from outside the normal 7's squad, should some thought be given to getting players from rugby league, 7's is in some ways more like RL than 15 a side union.
Suggesting this purely from the "win a medal at all costs approach" rather than any other.

The issue though is are 7s players drafted in purely on ability or because they are good at it but not good enough at 15s?

I would say its a bit of both. 15s is the major sport, the one where most would like to be seen as thats the biggest stage. Guys like SBW would clean up in 7s.

The mandate which got the go ahead from the IOC was that the best rugby players in the world would be available. If they went with the current 7s squads excluding those from 15s I don't think it would be reflective of the true picture.

I know Wigan won the middlesex 7s a while back... but their was a big diff, nearly all were ex union chaps and they were professional athletes unlike their opponents. No doubt chaps like Sam Burgess could be dynamite in 7s mind.

However regardless of where they come from, they should at least commit themselves to the world 7s series to get into the side, to be professional about the whole thing.

I think the North's and the SBW's would be very hard to stop if they got the ball in 7's but they'd also have a hell of a job catching the best 7's runners too, certainly not without a lot of specialist training.

In other words there are almost certainly 15's players who would be excellent 7's players but they would need plenty of time to convert.

I think its a bit of a misconception that all 7s players are Tom Vardell sprinter types. Yes of course there are more than their share than say 15s but big guys who combine strength and speed are also highly regarded.

Oh yeah I get that, but 7's players tend to slim down as a few extra kilos of muscle are a lot less use than they are in 15's. From what little I know it does seem that 7's players are becoming increasingly specialist and their training regimes reflect that. Also 7's seem like a great haven for guys who have all the natural talents for pro rugby apart from size.

And Varndell was a hell of a 7's player, as was Matthew Tait.

fa0019 wrote:Not Irish/N. Irish so difficult to comment on it. Grew up in Glasgow so I do (sort of) understand the wider issue mind.

From my own point of view though I would hope no player is barred from representing his country (if he so wishes) in any sport because of technicalities. If a player from Ulster feels Irish and would rather represent Ireland (if they had had a side) then as long as its the players choice and not simply because one union happens to pay his wages.

If a player would like to and they are chosen I think they should be allowed.

Yes they represent an united Ireland team and are paid by the IRFU... but that combines both countries no? Its complicated I agree but I don't think it should hold any ill feeling from the IRFU if a player choses to do so barring financial contract issues of course.

Sensitive subject I appreciate but I'm sure in time, concessions will be understandable.

In SA 30 years ago if you told the family of Pieter De Villiers, Habana, Kolisi etc that they would be singing Die Stem with pride during the nation anthems they would have laughed/given you a slap.
The same with the family of Bismarck Du Plessis & Schalk Burger if they were told they would be singing Nkosi Sikelel Afrika.

It's not similar to the apartheid example, really, so many Ulster players have represented Ireland at 7s over the years it just doesn't make sense for them to go and represent another country now. Northern Ireland is unequivocally part of Ireland in rugby terms whereas in that case its a divide within one country. If anything, were we are in Ulster and Ireland is at that united point you suggest South Africa are; where people from different backgrounds in a divided nation come together into one team. What would threaten that is a British team trying to induce players to declare themselves for another nation. Thats what would damage the apolitical unity we enjoy. There are precedents with other Olympic sports that are organised on an All-Ireland basis like Boxing, where the British basically have a gentleman's agreement not to pick guys from Northern Ireland. Every boxer from NI who competes in the Olympics does so under the Irish flag regardless of their own national identity and the fault lines of sectarianism run deeper through that sport than rugby.

There would definitely be some degree of ill feeling- after all a player would basically be choosing to undertake activities that make him unavailable for his provinces pre-season etc. If you are eligible to play for Ireland and on a professional contract that contract is to represent Ireland. I'm pretty sure that if you go and play international rugby for another country you would be in breach of that contract whether it was 7s, 15s etc.

As an Ulster fan I want the IRFU to take a tough line on this if the BOA don't do the gentlemanly thing and agree not to consider our players. We don't need this divide in the camp. The beautiful thing about Irish Rugby is how it unites north and south in a totally apolitical way and we don't need players suddenly being asked to nail their colours to the mast. It'll cause controversy and gnashing of teeth and bring the politics of national identity into Irish Rugby which we have avoided for over a century.

I would also be greatly opposed to Ireland entering a Sevens team in the Olympics for much the same reasons; we would be forced to compete under the flag and anthem of the Republic of Ireland not with our 32-county flag and anthem. I think the IRFU should keep itself and it's players well clear of the Olympics. The Olympics goes by nations, not countries, and no good can come of it for a country which is split between two nations. Just division and difficulties.

I'm with Notch on this one, the political fall out of some "Irish" players playing for GB and some for Ireland would probably have issues in Northern Ireland, given the mindset of politicians on both sides that a "gain" for one side is automatically equivalent to a loss for the other.
You only have to look at the flack this generates in football, with NI born players opting to play for the RoI side. Or Rory McIlroy getting himself in to a cleft stick over playing for GB or Ireland in the olympic golf.
Unfortunately for the greater good it might be better for the GB side to be drawn from the mainland and Ireland from the 26 counties. Ulster rugby has made great leaps forward from it's image as a sport for Unionist grammar schoolboys towards inclusivity and can't afford to be a used as a political football for the ejits on both sides to make capital out of.
The only possibilty might be that the IRFU could send a team competing under it's own flag, rather like the "independent competitors" who compete under the IOC flag.

I do understand your concerns. I would say though if the players are happy to do so then by all means.  If a player prefers to follow a different path from a perfectly legitimate perspective I think they too should have the right to do so.

If they were to follow the lead from boxing  then perhaps thats the right thing to do, but I don't think we can fault individuals if they have a distinct identity and desire to represent either one or the other.

In terms of South African comment, it wasn't suggesting the issues of the past are the same as in Ireland. Far from it. But rather 3+ distinct groups of people coming together under one flag. To be honest South Africa as a nation is very new and nationhood meant very little until recently, some still say that those in the transvaal is a separate country to the cape (as they once were). Tribal people many still identify being from that tribe, they had little/no synergies with other tribes which just so happened to be in the same country (which was drawn up by colonials etc).

Had it not been so and SA grown organically as nations it probably would have been say 5-7 separate nations. But thats history.

Forgive me for not weighing in on the Irish angle, I'm not trying to ignore it, but don't think I have anything interesting or informed to add.

On the matter of fifteen a side players parachuting into sevens, I've no doubt that many players - not all of them current stars - could excel.

It's not a wash, though.

Ben Ryan often speaks about the need for "repeatability". There's no real recovery time during a sevens match so you need players who can sprint the length of the pitch, do it again a few moments later, and again shortly after that.

It's a different kind of fitness. Some players have it naturally but most have to train for it. Top players would need to go straight from the World Cup to a total sevens environment to have a chance of outperforming full time sevens players.

If Ireland don't have a 7s side (like Ireland currenty don't have a Test cricket team) and the players qualify for GB (or whatever) why is it an issue? It's not like they're choosing one over the other.

Rugby Fan wrote:Forgive me for not weighing in on the Irish angle, I'm not trying to ignore it, but don't think I have anything interesting or informed to add.

On the matter of fifteen a side players parachuting into sevens, I've no doubt that many players - not all of them current stars - could excel.

It's not a wash, though.

Ben Ryan often speaks about the need for "repeatability". There's no real recovery time during a sevens match so you need players who can sprint the length of the pitch, do it again a few moments later, and again shortly after that.

It's a different kind of fitness. Some players have it naturally but most have to train for it. Top players would need to go straight from the World Cup to a total sevens environment to have a chance of outperforming full time sevens players.

Interesting point - that's more a League kind of fitness than a union one. I think, given that, it's likely that players will be asked to commit to the qualifying rather than parachuting in after someone's done the hard work.

Cyril wrote:If Ireland don't have a 7s side

Ireland does have a women's sevens side.

Rugby Fan wrote:

Cyril wrote:If Ireland don't have a 7s side

Ireland does have a women's sevens side.

Do they? I didn't know that.

Seems a bit weird they don't have a men's side when all the other home nations (and France and Italy) do. In fact all the major nations do except Ireland.

It's a question of funding priorities really. It costs money to have a side in the World Sevens series and unlike the WRU the IRFU prioritise their professional provincial sides.

Rugby Fan wrote:Ben Ryan often speaks about the need for "repeatability". There's no real recovery time during a sevens match so you need players who can sprint the length of the pitch, do it again a few moments later, and again shortly after that.

It's a different kind of fitness. Some players have it naturally but most have to train for it. Top players would need to go straight from the World Cup to a total sevens environment to have a chance of outperforming full time sevens players.

It was evident on Sunday; the NZ v Fiji game was as high-octane as they come. Both sets of players were out on their feet before half time and in the context of the season, given NZ had already clinched the overall title, you could be forgiven for thinking they'd settle for a close loss in the semi final to wrap their season up. But they went for the win and got it. That was purely down to their fitness levels allowing them to keep their heads under pressure.

When Aus went up 21-0 in the final, again you could easily assume that the semi final drained the tank....but boy did they come back. Gordon Tietjens is the king of rugby fitness, no other coach comes close to pushing their players to the very edge, this makes them so loyal to him, they'll literally run to the end of the earth for him and they did that in the final.

Any 'superstars' coming who think they'll rock up to the NZ training with an eye on the gold medal better think again...you've got to prove yourself in the team first and foremost

Notch,

Yeah, it just seems a shame that Ireland don't take part.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I think the 7s series is brilliant and a great spectacle. You can really see progress being made by some of the 'lesser' rugby nations who get their moment in the sun. NZ still rule the roost in the 7s code but you've much more chance of seeing upsets and power shifts than in the 15s.

It's a great carnival atmosphere and, while the competing nations do take it very seriously, it allows players and fans to have a bit more fun and see a lot of rugby over a weekend.

I know different nations have varying priorities (and different league structures plus grades of pro/amateur domestic rugby) but I would have thought Ireland could find the cash from somewhere.

I like watching it but nowhere near enough that I would like the teams we have that play 'real' rugby take a budget cut to subsidise it.

I would like to go someday to a Sevens World Series event but for me 15-man rugby is the big priority.

In 1987 the 1st world cup was played. It put in motion that changes that brought in professionalism and altered the game forever. I think the Olympics could have the same impact.

My reasoning is totally based on business, appeal and profit. The sevens game will be more global. The Olympics dwarf even the world cup (even if more rugby people will watch the WC). The market is potentially substantially bigger than union and potential backers and sponsors bigger. Involvement in major sports events means that 7's may end up with more Kudos. Hang out with Usain Bolt, Le Bron James etc vs George North, De Villiers, etc.

Teams and tournaments are cheap and easy to set up (1 squad only involves 15 players, including non playing reserves). Rugby players are cheap to buy (relative to other professional athletes). Competitions can be set up anywhere and cover the weekend. Events can be sold to TV and advertisers in a variety of ways. Stadiums can be hired for events, with only relatively cheap training centers used normally (i.e. costs are low).

Watch this space over the next 10 years.