The double-edged sword that is Olympic Sevens Rugby

The Olympic Decision presents great opportunities…as well as potential threats to Rugby in the Oceania Region.

The re-admission of Rugby into the Olympic movement, and the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program in 2016 and 2020 has been met with universal applause in the global Rugby family - and nowhere more so than in the Pacific Islands. And given that the Pacific Islands has only ever won one medal in the history of Olympic competition, it is easy to understand why.

Paea Wolfgramm, of Tonga (Photo: www.olympics.org)

Paea Wolfgramm, from Tonga, won the Boxing Super Heavyweight Silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Despite some near misses (Samoan Weightlifter Ele Opeloge came agonisingly close to a Bronze Medal in the Women's 75+kg - missing out by just 1kg - at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games), Wolfgramm's medal is the only medal won by a Pacific Islander in the history of Olympic competition.

Olympic Rugby, therefore, presents a huge opportunity for the growth of Rugby in the Oceania region - especially Women's rugby. The Oceania Region has a rich Rugby Sevens heritage and a history of success in the modified form of the game. So the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program for 2016 and 2020 presents a genuine medal opportunity for the Oceania region - and the Pacific Islands in particular - and the prospect of an Olympic medal has the region buzzing.

Fiji won the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens and currently sit in second spot on the 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series (irb.com)

Samoa won the 2012 Las Vegas Sevens (irb.com)

With that said, the Olympic decision has mobilised most of the established Rugby nations and a great number of countries without a Rugby heritage, such as China, Mexico and Brazil, where a greater emphasis is now being placed on Sevens rugby. Countries with much bigger economies, more affluent governments, and with greater commercial opportunities for the IRB, are showing an increased appetite for, and in some cases an increased capability in, Sevens Rugby.

Canada recently opened it's new Training Centre - a facility that will house their significantly expanding High Performance Program, and one that is generating rapid results. Canada recently qualified as a core team on the 2012/13 HSBC Sevens World Series. Tonga, the Oceania team at the qualification tournament, did not qualify. Russian Rugby is surging and next year it will host the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Now that it is an Olympic sport, Rugby is being introduced in Russian schools. Earlier this year, USA Rugby announced a funding partnership with the US Olympic Committee allowing for 15 men and 8 women to train on fulltime scholarships at the USOC Training Centre.

In that regard, the Pacific Island Unions have to find ways to harness their competitive advantages to counter the economic and geographic advantages that so many countries have over us.

So how can we possibly address this challenge in the Pacific Islands? One of the things we often talk about in our discussions with the Pacific Island Member Unions is harnessing our competitive advantage. Too often we dismiss the small economies and the geography of the region as a competitive disadvantage without looking at, and more importantly exploiting, the competitive advantages that exist - and there are two big ones that exist in our region.


1. A heritage of Rugby and Rugby Sevens
Not that I would ever admit this in front of props and hookers, but the scrum and lineout are technically intricate beasts - requiring the execution of a complex series of skills with deft precision (lest you find yourself bent into all manner of unnatural shapes and contortions) - the likes of which your smarter rugby players (i.e. back rowers) will never quite understand or appreciate. It is a widely accepted truism of rugby that you cannot succeed in fifteen-a-side rugby without a good scrum and lineout.

Similarly, you can't succeed in Sevens rugby without good spatial awareness. And this is where the Pacific Islands, and Fiji in particular, have a considerable competitive advantage over almost every other rugby playing nation in the world.

Anyone driving anywhere in Fiji after 3pm on any given afternoon (except Sunday) will invariably stumble across a game of 'One Touch' in just about every village. It's a simple game of touch footy played by Fijians from the moment they can run - teams split evenly down the middle have one 'Touch' to score a try. If they are 'touched' or if they drop the ball, they hand it over to the opposition. Derivations of this game are played throughout the Pacific and it ingrains in the Fijian psyche an innate sense of creating space and putting your teammate into it. I believe that one-touch is the reason why Pacific Island teams are so good at Sevens and why they have some of the best backs in world rugby.


2. A capacity to assemble National Teams more readily
Whilst this may sound rather simplistic, it is generally easier for National teams in the Pacific Islands to assemble and train more regularly than those in bigger countries. Although more difficult in countries like Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the HP Programs in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have been effective in delivering fulltime scholarship programs on account of the very strong family network that exists in Pacific Island communities. Players from outer islands/provinces that are awarded scholarships in the respective Academy programs, are often accommodated by family members in the capital cities for the duration of their scholarship. In this regard, it is quite conceivable, that the Pacific Island Unions can assemble their broader National Sevens squads much more regularly than larger countries between now and Rio.

So whilst the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program in 2016 and 2020 presents a genuine medal prospect for the Pacific Islands, it also presents a growing threat from traditional and non-traditional rugby countries that are increasingly harnessing public and private funding on account of Rugby Sevens now being an Olympic Sport. It will force the Pacific Island Unions to think differently about how they prepare for Rio 2016 - those that don't think differently could soon be swallowed up.