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It has been proven that Australians love a gold medal, especially over the Yanks, Poms or Kiwis. Much has been made about the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympics.
The main problem Australian rugby has with their hopes in 2016 will be the fact that Australia has never taken Sevens seriously.
This dismissal of the Sevens game, which is otherwise a massive boost to rugby, is most likely because of Australia’s high focus on rugby league. That makes becoming the faster and more carnival game of rugby more difficult.
It is true that rugby league has been able to capitalise on the greater aspects of their game since its inception. This spot in most other countries, especially developing ones, has been taken by Sevens.
The Sevens program, even with the ignorance towards it, has developed well and brought out a few fifteen-man Wallabies. This may be perhaps a testament to rugby within Australia which, even with it being ignored by most, still manages to put out some of the greatest.
The interest here, however, is whether people will start taking Sevens seriously. If a Gold medal hope is to become reality at Rio 2016, there has to be enough public interest to develop the talent pool, and take those more suited to the Sevens game, rather than let them run off into other footballs.
Hopefully the entrance of rugby sevens in the Olympics will be met with a good integration of the Sevens development program into the Olympic development program, and create a better base than is currently in existence.
Because right now, with such a close competitor in rugby league, there’s not much anticipation for gold.
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.