Recently, the push for Sevens in Australia has reached a halt as the hosting rights for the Adelaide World Series has been challenged.
John O’Neill has received bids from the Gold Coast and Sydney for hosting rights to the event, and has accepted they may be denied for now. But according to The Australian he has plans to set up a national Sevens competition or even an Asian circuit including teams from the premier rugby competitions in Sydney and Queensland.
With a proposal accepted, the likes of China and Japan could see the best Australia has to offer in the form of Quade Cooper, James O’Connor and Matt Giteau.
There has been much debate about the viability and reintroduction of the ARC, but in my opinion, the Sevens competition could be a raging success, not only in creating interest in the game, but in earning vital funds that the cash strapped ARU could use in local and grassroots development.
The demise of the wonderful game of rugby in Australia has come about because of two main things: firstly, the lack of free to air coverage, and secondly, the lack of national competition.
Last week, The Australian released another article discussing rugby union’s pronounced drop in TV exposure from 23 per cent in 2002 to only 11 per cent in 2009. This, along with the expansion of the AFL into rugby heartland, must be stopped.
And with its inclusion in the Olympics in 2016, and the Commonwealth games, the ARU wouldn’t be seen as silly to demand government support either.
The format of the competition is still undecided, and with the fellow Asian governing bodies still to be committed, the competition is still a long way away.
would like to see a purely Australian circuit composed of the top club teams from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, NSW Country, QLD Country, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, all competing for spots in a sixteen team competition through qualifying events.
A four week competition with four major events over weekends and midweek mini competitions in the areas that missed out could be viable. Even a draft for qualifying clubs to secure the top layers could be on the cards.
I think its about time somebody spoke optimistically about rugby and its future in this country.
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