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Sevens goes Down Under...but do New Zealand care?
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Sevens bursts into life again Down Under this weekend and it seems to be Australia providing most of the spring growth.
Darwin hosts the Oceania Sevens Championships, the Central Coast of NSW offers up its second tournament a week later and the Gold Coast tournament moves into its second year in November, a week before fellow Queenslanders Noosa stage their inaugural event.
The Oceania tournament is for national teams from the Pacific either seeking to qualify for the IRB Wellington Sevens or warm-up for the Commonwealth Games, or both, but the club events have attracted some pretty handy teams as well.
Craig Morgan, the Tournament Director of the Fitness First Central Coast Sevens, has been working hard all year to build on the success of the first year in 2009. Morgan has added the NSW Waratahs Academy and two international teams - the Pacific Warriors from across the Tasman and the national Philippines team, the Volcanoes, to the season opener, additions which are sure to strengthen the overall field.
Super 15 brands adds relevance
Two players unwanted by Aussie coach Michael O'Connor for Delhi 2010 - Willie Bishop and Brackin Karauria Henry - will take to the field as will a host of former greats from the thirteen-a-side code favoured in NSW, such as Mark Geyer, Cliff Lyons and the infamous John Hopoate.
While O'Connor won't be on the Coast himself, taking charge of Australia in Darwin instead, there is no doubt he will follow with interest the young talent on display. Having selected 11 players aged 24 or under to go to Delhi, O'Connor is one who clearly sees the future of the game is with the youth. After Delhi, his Aussie Spirit will get together again for the Hyperion International Gold Coast 7sand no doubt feature a few more up-and-comers.
Keeping with youth at the Gold Coast event is the Queensland Academy, who in the guise of the Queensland Barbarians came within an inch of beating eventual winners South Sea Drifters in 2009, while joining them will be the Western Force Academy, who surely will do better than their 0-5 record at the Digicel Suva Sevens in January.
So what does this mean for Rugby Sevens in Australia, or indeed Oceania? As well as showcasing young players and giving them the opportunity to shine in front of selectors and scouts, having these 'brand names' from the Super 15, albeit without any of their superstars, can only add to the public interest in Sevens, much like the Premiership Sevens Series did in the UK this year. In turn that will contribute to a stronger overall scene for 2016.
Trans-Tasman differences
It indicates the Aussies are looking long-term and should continue to reap rewards like the ground-breaking win at Twickenham in May. And it proclaims to their neighbours "we are going to be the hub of Sevens in this region thanks very much."
Compare the Australian approach with that of New Zealand this spring - a few club tournaments (I think) scheduled in Auckland, maybe one or two in Wellington and possibly the annual Hurricanes Sevens in the lower North Island. It's hard to know, not even the respective provincial websites give any clues as to what is coming up.
It almost feels like there is more apathy towards Sevens in New Zealand these days, despite again being favourites for the Commonwealth Games and hosting arguably the best tournament on the planet (the Wellington tickets sold out again in four minutes by the way).
In the lead-up to Delhi 2010 the headlines have been less about how spectacular the tournament will be or how tough it is for Gordon Tietjens and his troops to stay at the top in the face of ever-increasing competition, and more about whether the four All Blacks will be able to play their way back in for the end of year tour, or how their poor, suffering provincial sides will cope without them.
Seldom is there praise or even acknowledgment for getting selected to represent the world's leading Sevens side in one of the showcase events for the game.
Naive press?
Still, the New Zealand media doesn't have the monopoly on arrogance, or maybe ignorance, towards Sevens.
"Gollings heads new look England" was seen in several UK papers, ignoring the fact that seven of the squad are in double figures when it comes to IRB tournaments and the other five have all been around for at least a season.
Five, that's over half a team, even played in the RWC Sevens in Dubai 18 months ago in 2009. I suppose the lack of Premiership players clouds the opinions of the UK hacks, many of whom still see Sevens as an end of season pastime where they get to drink beer, not the Olympic sport that it actually is.
But I digress.
At least New Zealand has advanced into the modern world by entering a shadow team - Emerging NZ - into the Gold Coast Sevens. The team will be coached by Tietjens and is likely to feature some of the 20-odd players who normally only get to go to training camps at this time of the year. Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, England, the USA and Australia have done this successfully for a while now and it is hoped that the investment will pay dividends for New Zealand as well.
The men in black remain at the top, or at least ahead of the green and golds, for now, but for how much longer? The first months of spring may predict the colour of the landscape in the summer.
http://ur7s.com/news/1297/sevens_goes_down_under_
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Originally Posted by TOCC
