Sevens should bring curtains down at Rio
Roar Pro By Terry Tavita, 14 Aug 2012 Terry Tavita is a Roar Pro
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London 2012 is certainly missing something. Despite organizers efforts to wrap up with a bang closing ceremony, the games sort of fizzled out the last few days.
The post-Games blues had well and truly set in the last 48 hours. There was really nothing much for viewers, fans and athletes to look forward to. Closing Ceremonies tend to be a dour anticlimax with hosts and athletes trying to pick themselves up and have pretend fun.
But all this can change if the International Olympic Committee and the Rio organizers decide to put rugby sevens in the last two days of competition.
There are many benefits to doing this.
Most athletes head back home after their events, freeing up room at the Olympic village for the 500-plus sevens players and officials. It alleviates the crowding problems that plague the Olympics in recent years. Rugby players don’t have to be there at the Opening Ceremony.
Holding the sevens event at the beginning of the Olympics programme potentially can ruin the main field for the following track and field programme. What of boots and cleats?
Sevens is an all-day affair and would be a squeeze for TV coverage with other high profile events such as swimming, boxing and weightlifting,
Finally, there is no party like a sevens party, with fans turning up in fancy dress and livening things up all day. What bigger party, what better atmosphere to finish off the games?
Now over to Rio?
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August 14th 2012 @ 8:38am
Johnno said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:38am | Report comment
I agree Terry 7evens rugby has to be looked at as the penultimate weekend, would be awesome at the Maracana 200,000 people screaming for rugby gold, AB’S VS Samoa. Bring it on, take that team usa you have been benched, le born and kobe.
August 14th 2012 @ 8:45am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:45am | Report comment
yep, I kinda noted that when they had the closing ceremony yesterday..the games were basically over after the 4x100m..four days ago..
August 14th 2012 @ 8:51am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
A 25,000 stadium has been booked and approved by the IRB to host the Rio Olympic 7s event. Maracana is not even hosting the athletics.
August 14th 2012 @ 8:52am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:52am | Report comment
hmmm..reference?
August 14th 2012 @ 9:09am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
http://rio2016.com/en/the-games/venues-map
August 14th 2012 @ 9:18am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:18am | Report comment
thanks..but that stadium is far too small..whoever chose and approved it need to get their head examined..demand for Olympic rugby tickets will be 10x greater than hong kong and its 40k plus stadium..with most travelling from overseas..heck 62k turned up for the vegas leg last year..
August 14th 2012 @ 9:23am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Probably based on where Rugby is standing currently in Brazil. It’s a growing sport there and we don’t know how many international travellers will go to Rio compared to London.
The venue for the Glasgow Comm Games 7s is Ibrox. Don’t know how I feel about that
August 14th 2012 @ 9:26am
Johnno said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:26am | Report comment
A disgrace terry 25,000 they will need 50,000 minumim and i am being nice. Need at least a 50-000, 80,000 would be perfect especially for day 2.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am | Report comment
you would think they will get 50,000 on a second day in Brazil? Expectations are a bit high there.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:33am
Football United said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:33am | Report comment
seriously too small? in London or other rugby cities a bigger one is needed but this is brazil who are still crawling their way up the rugby scale. this way they guarantee it sells out and looks good for possible fans rather than the poison that is half empty stadiums.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:34am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
Bakkies I don’t think the choice of stadium is influenced by the popularity of the sport. It was almost completely impossible to get a ticket to any sport, even the first rounds of the most insignifcant events. The Olympics could sell out 80,000 for every event, every day. The London2012 ticket website got 25 million hits on sunday for tickets, all trying to get just a few tickets.
Months before the Olympics you had to enter a lottery to get anything at all.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:45am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:45am | Report comment
if they can’t find a bigger stadium, then why the heck did rio invite the olympics over? if you quickly did the math, only bout 15k-18k tickets will be available to the public/overseas..that’s just crazy, rugby fans are travelling fans..can’t believe they went to all that trouble all those years just to undersell their product on debut..idiots..
had a look at other rio venues, not at all impressive..
August 14th 2012 @ 10:54am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:54am | Report comment
Terry it does sound insane. There were unsuccessful 8 hour queues in London outside embassies in the hope of getting any returned delegate tickets.
You could sell out a stadium of any size at the Olympics. The reason the stadiums are not all 80,000 in that for some sports the action would be too far away, and that they would be useless after the Olympics were over (an 80,000 swimming arena?).
But of course none of this applies to rugby.
Do the organisers actually know what rugby is???
August 14th 2012 @ 11:45am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:45am | Report comment
i reckon if you gonna host the olympics then build the necessary venues..how it is used afterwards is your problem..i’m now beginning to think they should’ve given it to tokyo or chicago..rio is gonna be cheap sh!t olympics..
August 14th 2012 @ 9:36am
shahsan said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:36am | Report comment
That size of stadium for the 7s is incredbily silly. 7s tournaments are almost always guaranteed show stealers, and there will be no problem filling up even an 80,000-seater stadioum on the final day. Pretty poor decison. i hope they change their minds.
August 14th 2012 @ 10:43am
kovana said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:43am | Report comment
25K seems about right.
Some people need to understand Rugby just started in Brazil… Its not very popular.
Dont go all ‘Rugby is expanding rapidly in Brazil’ limbo here.
Its growing, but its realistic growth ok.
25K is more than enough IMO.
August 14th 2012 @ 10:51am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
kovana selling out a sport at the Olympics has nothing to do with how popular the sport is. Every sport for every event for the London Olympics sold out and there were millions (literally millions) who would have come had there been more tickets. You could have two weeks of rugby all day in 80,000 stadiums and it would all be sold out. You had to enter a lottery to get any ticket for the Olympics months before and on sunday 25 million people tried to get just a few tickets to any event they could.
The choice of the stadium will not be based on other reasons, not how many fans they think they can get. Actually I wouldn’t be suprised if they moved it.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:02am
shahsan said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:02am | Report comment
If only Brazilians were attending the Games, i would agree 25k is big enough. But most 7s fans I know are planning to be there because it will be historic, it will be the ideal time to visit Rio, and it will attract all the best rugby players in the world.
Easily 30-40 thousand flock to HK each year to catch the 7s, even when it is just one leg of the IRB circuit. Those same thousands, and then some, will make their way to Rio. The Brazilians won’t have a chance to get tickets, if they’re not careful.
I will bet that 7s will be THE hit event of the Rio Games.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:05am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:05am | Report comment
we all know rugby is small kine in Brazil..but that doesn’t mean no brazilian is going to watch the sevens..I have no doubt that tens of thousands of rugby fans the world over will be making their pilgrimage to Rio for rugby’s return to the games..just surprised it passed over the IRB’s head..gee argentina is just next door..I reckon they’re gonna regret this dumb decision..
August 14th 2012 @ 11:17am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Terry it has nothing to do with rugby or its popularity. People will do anything to see any sport at the Olympics.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:27am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:27am | Report comment
re kpm, your point is well taken..all the venues in rio seem very small compared to london and beijing..main stadium 60k, velodrome 5k, aquatics 12k..
August 14th 2012 @ 11:31am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Terry lazy of them not to build bigger ones.
What’s the point of having a sport played in large stadia and putting it in a small one? Crazy. It will be completely impossible to get tickets for it.
I would advise anyone who actually wants to go to start working out how already. The tickets probably won’t go on direct sale except in a lottery with other sports.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:17pm
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
they should’ve given it to Tokyo or Chicago..had a look at their bids and the venues would have been much bigger than what Rio offered..Tokyo in particular..
something tells me Rio’s gonna be crap..a huge step down from London..
August 14th 2012 @ 3:59pm
kovana said | August 14th 2012 @ 3:59pm | Report comment
Again, i think it was a good decision, test it out first.
If its a hit this time around, then the next Olympics can hold the 7s in a bigger stadium.
The only ‘dumb’ decision IMO is only having 12 national teams competing…They need 16!
August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am
Football United said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am | Report comment
you mean New Zealand vs Samoa, All Blacks are only the A-Team of New Zealand
August 14th 2012 @ 9:44am
allblackfan said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:44am | Report comment
FU, not any more. Now the Maori and Sevens teams are called the All Blacks as well (Maori All Blacks, Sevens All Blacks ..).
August 14th 2012 @ 12:13pm
BigAl said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Sometimes you’d think that New Zealand wouldn’t exist without the All Blacks ! – every sporting teams seems to be a spin off from them – Tall Blacks; All Whites…, thank goodness for the Silver Ferns
August 14th 2012 @ 12:21pm
langou said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
No difference to Australia and the Socceroos, Olyoos, Volleyroos, Hockeyroos, Futsalroos,
Synchronized Swimaroos
August 14th 2012 @ 12:50pm
BigAl said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
but all these (haven’t heard of half of them, and yes a bit lame), are derived from an identifiable and unique Australian image – rather than a single sporting team.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:25pm
formeropenside said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
New Zealand is really just the All Blacks with a country attached (and a movie hobbit village).
August 14th 2012 @ 8:52am
Tissot Time said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Terry I really enjoyed the London closing ceremony. It was a fantastic musical treat and Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Taio Cruz were my pick until The Who blasted off at the end. And the Brian May rip..wow. Bring on Rio.
August 14th 2012 @ 8:58am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 8:58am | Report comment
yep, I enjoyed it too..
August 14th 2012 @ 9:31am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:31am | Report comment
Jessie J should not have been doing a Queen song. Liam Gallagher was woeful too.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:07am
Tigranes said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Terry
if 7s had been in London, they probably would have used Twickenham?
August 14th 2012 @ 9:10am
Bakkies said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:10am | Report comment
I say so. The Emirates would have been the other option.
August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am
SJ said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:30am | Report comment
The last day had a cracking men’s marathon, a staggering result in the men’s volleyball final and a close men’s basketball final just off the top of my head. Did The Games really ‘fizzle out’ or did you just not watch any of this world-class sport?
August 14th 2012 @ 11:43am
AGO74 said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:43am | Report comment
Exactly. Just because it may have fizzled out for Aussie chances doesn’t mean it fizzled out for the rest of the watching world. Or London for that matter.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:30pm
langou said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
Agreed, only on the Roar could you have an article claiming that a final day that features the iconic men’s marathon, volleyball final, basketball final and handball final needs to be saved by the relatively obscure sport of Rugby Sevens.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:47pm
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
rugby sevens fills stadiums with tens of thousands of screaming fans from dubai to hong kong, wellington, vegas, south africa and london every year..volleyball, basketball and handball can never dream of doing that..though the marathon is an iconic sport in any country..
August 14th 2012 @ 7:12pm
Mark Roth said | August 14th 2012 @ 7:12pm | Report comment
I could see basketball doing that every now and then, though maybe not annually. Every now and then the college basketball finals in the states are held in football stadiums and they often sell out. I believe the Americans once had close to 90000 at one of those games.
Handball though is a different story. It seems to me that the knockouts alone attracted more people in London than some major handball leagues attract for an entire season.
Still doesn’t give a 7s tournament the right to overshadow them. Putting it on the last weekend sounds like a good starting point of an idea, but it has a few kinks.
August 14th 2012 @ 1:19pm
GrecoRoman said | August 14th 2012 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Agreed here as well. That Men’s volleyball final was magnificent!
August 14th 2012 @ 9:37am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:37am | Report comment
I agree that Sevens should be given a position of prominence but it’s worth remembering that the main, signature event of the Olympics, the 100m, is in the middle, which is often when attention is greatest.
I disagree profoundly though that this Olympics fell away towards the end: quite the opposite was in fact the case.
The boxing final and Dream team playing weren’t a damp squib ending either, nor was the final night of athletics at all.
I would say though that if rugby wants a position of real prominence the middle weekend is when it would get it.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:05pm
AGO74 said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Why should a sport that has only just been re-introduced given a position of prominence ahed of others that have been part of the Olympic movement for decades?
Not saying that it won’t be popular as I’m quite sure it will be, but I don’t understand this assertion that it deserves prominence.
August 14th 2012 @ 12:52pm
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
because there’s no sport like it mate..in fact sevens is gonna take prominence and knock six bells out of it..hehe..
August 14th 2012 @ 9:50am
tc said | August 14th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
If they use a 25 000 seat stadium it would be an utterly stupit decision by the organisers ,do they not realise how many rugby fans will be heading to Rio ,I will hopefully be one of them . IRB/IOC if you are reading this you are mad if you think only 25 000 people are going to turn up per day ,you need to have a really good think about this before you sign off on a stadium of that size.
As for 7s watch this space rugby is literally going to explode on a global scale.
August 14th 2012 @ 10:04am
Hawka said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:04am | Report comment
When ever i watched the Olympic on the last few days Gymnastics was one of the few things, Takewando and Sailing so i say it did fizzle out espically before 3am Aus time before the Athletics night finals and the main games of the team sports
August 14th 2012 @ 10:06am
Leo said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Looks like the Chinese are getting seriously towards sevens rugby.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/7471586/Taranaki-lands-China-sevens-coaching-contract
Taranaki lands China sevens coaching contract
August 14th 2012 @ 10:49am
Johnno said | August 14th 2012 @ 10:49am | Report comment
I have a friend Leo who is working in china and plays amateur rugby in china. And he said rugby is developing and there are some big young players coming through. 1 billion people, huge money to spend on rugby , it has a big future there. China doesn’t even need ot tap into big areas of it’s population to be competitive especially in 7evens rugby too. Plus if they import a few talented pacific islanders like Japan have done over the years they will be a serious team. India has climbed rapidly this year up to rank 65. And were unlucky not to make the next round of asia world cup qualifiers. But India have jumped 2 divisions in Asia this year already in 1 year and have been the biggest cimbers just about in the IRB world ranking this year.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:10am
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
I hope it is happening quickly..last time I was in China, we had to travel a couple hours out of beijing to play rugby on a soccer pitch..there were only about ten clubs in beijing then..but I heard its bigger in shanghai where there lots of pommie, kiwi and aussie expats..
August 14th 2012 @ 11:17am
Johnno said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Terry my friend works and plays amateur rugby in shanghai and there are some movements since rugby world cup 2011. Since the end of the rugby world cup the whole global rugby landscape is changing. Nations all over the globe are stepping up there programs with now 7evens being an olympic sport.
Here is an article everyone on chinches rugby from the IRB website too no less.
http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediazone/pressrelease/newsid=2062139.html
August 14th 2012 @ 11:12am
Emric said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:12am | Report comment
Its but the start, Russia and the USA will ramp up their programs over the coming months… offers to Tich are flowing fast and free (Thankfully hes said no)
August 14th 2012 @ 4:02pm
kovana said | August 14th 2012 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
Taranaki? Lol, when was the last time they even won the NZ NPC?
They should have signed with Auckland!
August 15th 2012 @ 12:15am
allblackfan said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:15am | Report comment
Kovana, it’s no an accident that the chinese chose taranaki.
Taranaki is prime agricultural land (ie dairy?!?) and chinese firms have been investing in NZ farmland like crazy.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:18am
Silegusta said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:18am | Report comment
I played rugby in brasil for rio branco in Sao Paulo in 07 – also played touch with the women’s sevens team, who were good but was also a – turn up to training and you’ll get a run at some point team
Obviously with time things change but rugby is still from what I have heard from my mates, still small.
Nevertheless, the brazilians would go crazy for the 7′s part of the Olympics, it’s exactly the sort of carnaval atmosphere they live for
Vem o 2016!!
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August 14th 2012 @ 11:35am
Emric said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:35am | Report comment
its never going to be massive or out do football … it is building a brand which is marketable and will have a solid following which is the idea..
like basketball in Aus/NZ not massive but not unnoticed
August 14th 2012 @ 6:42pm
Terry Tavita said | August 14th 2012 @ 6:42pm | Report comment
believe me..rugby sevens is going to be even more massive real quick..
August 15th 2012 @ 12:20am
allblackfan said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:20am | Report comment
Worth noting the Brazilian Rugby Union signed a five-year deal High Performance deal with Canterbury RU and Crusaders (see link).
This is a commercial arrangement so the CRFU is being paid.
http://www.canterburyrugby.co.nz/news/brazilian-rugby-union-signs-agreement-with-crfu-and-crusaders/246/news.aspx
NB: I watched the Braxillian sevens team at the Las Vegas Sevens this year and I was impressed by how well they played (quite a few German/Saxon names but still …)
August 15th 2012 @ 11:36am
kovana said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Well, thats a good deal the Brazil rugby union brokered with Canterbury IMO.
The chinese should have done something similar with them as well.
August 14th 2012 @ 11:27am
kingplaymaker said | August 14th 2012 @ 11:27am | Report comment
‘played touch with the women’s sevens team…in brasil’.
Sounds great!