- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With rugby union being in a near cyclic rotation around the World Cup, it is imperative that it is added back to the Summer Olympic Games so that there are other focuses for international teams.
Rugby has become the single World Championship sport where significance on the title seems to increase year by year. This is almost to the point where any other level of championship, either international or domestic, seems to pale into significance.
In football or cricket, they stage World Cups. But the entire four years in between does not live and die for the World Championships.
The reigning football or cricket ‘World Champion’ does not fall back on the empty phrase of “well, we are the World Champions,” if a nation loses or is in a slump.
In football, the level of involvement at domestic or continental level is of major significance, with European championships and the winning of league titles on a par with a world title.
In cricket, the World Cup is played over the One day international format. The World Champion cricket team is not necessarily the best team. Most cricket purists will put a Test series, such as the prestigious Ashes, far beyond such a cup.
But rugby is afforded no such luxury.
New Zealand, the world’s premier rugby playing nation, is exactly that if the concept of World Cups is removed. They have a winning percentage over history far beyond any other team.
The major competitions between two of New Zealand’s great rivals, South Africa and Australia, is measured by the Super 14 and the Tri-Nations. The All Blacks have won eight Tri Nations championships compared to a double to the Wallabies and Springboks.
New Zealand has won nine Super rugby titles, Australia has won two and South Africa one.
But this truly magnificent rugby team is judged by many to be inferior to their two rivals whom they are dominant over in every way. Point in fact is that the All Blacks have one World Cup, while Australia and South Africa has two.
There were a number of occasions where I had conversations with English regarding their poor form between 2003 and 2007. “Oh,” they said, “at least we’re World Champions.”
This is why it is imperative that rugby is added back to the Olympics to allow another elite competition for global supremacy.
The code has been in the Olympics before, debuting in the 1900 Olympic Games.
Three National Olympic Committees entered in that Championship – France, Germany and Britain. The latter two were represented by clubs – Frankfurt and the Moseley Wanderers.
There is speculation and conjecture about the organisation of the games, with British reporting said to acknowledge the game between a full strength French team and the Moseley team, but there was no statement that it was part of the Olympic Games.
France won the inaugural Rugby Gold Medal.
The code was not present in the 1904 games in St Louis, nor in the 1906 Intercalculated games in Athens.
In the London games, they were included due to the heritage of rugby, and again three teams competed.
This was France, Australasia (called the Wallabies!), and a British team, represented by Cornwall – who were chosen because they were county champions.
Australasia smashed the Cornwall team to claim the Gold.
The last appearances of rugby were in 1920 in Antwerp, and again in Paris at the 1924 games. The Antwerp games saw only two teams enter, America and France. The bulk of the American team was from Stanford University and won the Gold Medal with only one game played to decide the winner.
In Paris, the Americans again won, with only Romania and France being the teams to compete against them.
Numerous attempts have been made to re-introduce the sport to the IOC and the Games. The success of Sevens at the Commonwealth games was a strong indication of their possible inclusion, but after a vote was held for new sports to be included in the 2012 games, rugby sevens lost out to squash and karate.
For heaven’s sake!
Rugby must re-enter the Games. It is the ultimate art of war in regards to a team sport, and with it already having appropriate history, its inclusion is not far-fetched.
Hopefully, that way, it can detract from the near all-consuming focus on the William Webb Ellis Cup.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.