To be relegated to the Plate final of the IRB Sevens tournament in Wellington is bad enough for the Australian Sevens team.
But to lose it to Kenya (admittedly a team that often has the number of Australian players) compounds the angst about what is wrong with the SevensRugby program.
In many ways the ARU is doing a lot right with the program.
The team has been re-branded as the ‘Aussie Thunderbolts’ playing in what might be described as shocking lime green colours. This re-branding represents a smart marketing move by the ARU. They now have another national rugby brand to develop into the iconic status of the Wallaby brand.
The team selected for the Wellington tournament was young, with an average age of 20 (including a 17 year old and a couple of 18 years olds) compared with, say, Kenya’s average age of 25.
This emphasis on youth in the team is the correct approach with a (last) IRB Sevens World Cup in 2013 and then the big one, Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games.
It’s worth pointing out here that Australia, through the victory of the 1908 at the London Olympics is the only southern hemisphere nation to have won an Olympic gold medal for rugby.
Having said that, the statement (in my opinion) is not exactly correct. Australia and New Zealand competed as an entity at the 1908 Olympics, a bit like an antipodean version of Great Britain.
And just as the combined Australia/New Zealand won the Davis Cup in those years, I would argue that as it was a combined Australasian Olympic team in 1908, the gold medal for rugby should be shared with New Zealand.
No matter. The more relevant point in this discussion is that there was a time in the 1980s, when David Campese, Simon Poidevin and the Ella brothers showed the way, that Australia led the way in Sevens Rugby, as New Zealand does now.
The tradition of booing Australian teams at the Hong Kong Sevens was the direct result of successive teams from Down Under thrashing the sides sent out from England.
The ex-pats making a quid in Hong Kong by rolling over the top of the locals in the banking and advertising industries did not take kindly to their men in rugby gear being similarly tramped and thrashed on the often muddy fields of the Sevens tournament.
And over the course of the years the Wallabies were enriched with star players who emerged from the Hong Kong Sevens tournament. The first mention I made of George Gregan, for instance, in one of my rugby columns for the Sydney Morning Herald was to suggest that the slight, diminutive and quick-silver Gregan (who had made a stunning debut in Australian colours) was a future star.
More recently, an equally stunning debut in Australian colours by James O’Connor a couple of years ago at the Hong Kong Sevens elicited from me, in an article I wrote for The Roar, the suggestion that another star, as blazing in talent as the young Campese, had been born.
The most disapppointing aspect of the present Australian Sevens side, the Aussie Thunders, is that there is no one as far as I could observe who is within a bull’s roar as far as rugby genius goes, in the Campese, Ellas, Gregan, O’Connor mould. The mould seems to be broken, at least for the time being.
Pama Fou is a big, young Queensland winger. But he was certainly inferior to Frank Halai, a massive Aucklander who can beat opponents by running around them (as he did to destroy Fiji in the final) or through them as he did as well in the Jonah Lomu manner.
And where were the nifty play-makers that have been the hallmark of Australian rugby from its earliest days?
My suggestion here is that the talent net needs to be thrown much wider than it currently seems to be. Any school, club, academy or Super Rugby franchise or interested rugby fanatic should be asked to throw in names to the ARU and the Sevens management for consideration for the Aussie Thunder.
This is not as fanciful as it might sound. One of the starts of the brilliant New Zealand side, the winners of the tournament, was a provincial player of journeyman status, Mark Jackman. But playing in the centres in his first tournament, Jackman was a revelation. He tackled ferociously, ran strongly, passed brilliantly and in the wet conditions revealed a terrific kicking game.
You can’t tell me there aren’t a number of Jackmans in Australian rugby just itching to get their chance to show off their talents. Too many good players, in my opinion, are being warehoused by the franchises in their academies or back-up sides. They should be released to play Sevens Rugby.
I say this because I am mindful of a conversion I had with one of the greats of Sevens Rugby, Eric Rush. He was instrumental in bringing Lomu into the New Zealand side when he was still as school. Rush told me that a stint or so on the Sevens circuit was an ideal preparation for young, talented players.
They learnt about preparing to be professional in their approach to rugby, on and off the field. On the field, they learnt (or should learn) how to tackle and how to make sound decisions under the most intense pressure imaginable.
I had a feeling, too, in watching the Aussie Thunderbolts that they weren’t as fit, as say their New Zealand counterparts were. The New Zealanders came back from being down 12 – 0 at half-time against England in the semi-final to win in extra time.
I also had the feeling that the Australian coach, Michael O’Connor, might not understand the principles of Seven Rugby as profoundly as, say, the New Zealand master Gordon Tietjens. First and foremost for Tietjens, Sevens is about fitness. He gives his teams ferocious preparations. Are the preparations for Australia as ferocious?
On the field, the New Zealanders play a zone defence. They won’t commit to a tackle until an opposition runner tries to make a bust. Once the tackle is made, they ignore contesting the ruck unless the tackle is dominate. Then they rush and contest as if their lives depend on it.
On attack they keep the ball in hand. They know, or Tietjens has drummed this into them, that the advantage line principle which is so crucial in the 15-a-side game is meaningless in Sevens Rugby. What is crucial on attack is to create space.
The New Zealanders will often pass and run backwards, like a soccer team trying to draw their opponents forwards, before launching a devastating attack from the depth they have created.
The Thunderbolts never did this. They took the ball up, one-off like rugby league players. This lack of ingenuity in attack meant that the runners were easy pickings. They also lacked a play-maker to orchestrate the attacks.
Whether all this means that Michael O’Connor is not up to the job of coaching and selecting the Australian Sevens side is a matter for the ARU to decide. I reckon a session or two when the side is in Australia with David Campese and Mark Ella wouldn’t go astray, for the players and O’Connor.
Rouaan
Guest
Sevens is like any other thing, you should start it early, on primary school. That might also be an Australian challenge. In South Africa there are currently three national school sevens competitions for primary and high school respectively! I watched one of these competitions, the high school provincial championship and it was awesome to see the sevens skills of teenagers, but the overiding thing for me is the fact that it was 27 provinces competing. Imagine all that stock coming through in time. I totaly understand that Australia does not have the same rugby culture as SA, but the ARU can start with a national primary school competition. At that level 7's is easy to organise and to coach. It will attract families as it is short and exciting matches. A few years ago, Australia had a very good 7's team (Kuaroria-Henry, Sitauti, Liam Gill, Ed Jenkins, etc.). They were very young, but they have beaten SA, Samoa, Fidji and NZ during that year. They also won the London/Edinburgh tournament. Australia should have kept the VERY SAME team together for another year and they would have been devastating. From there you can release Gill and another one or two, but introduced a few youngsters around the good experienced core of players. You need experience to be competative. NZ and SA have at least 4-5 players who are playing for more that 5-6 years in those teams. It is just common sense that their success rates will be higher than teams who only keep 2-3 players of the previous season like Aus. Another way of popularising 7's is to make fixed arrangements with Beale, O'Connor, Quade, Horne, Ione, etc. to avail themselves for in groups of 4 to join the Thunderbolt squad, at least for a few tournaments every year. It can be rotated from a pool of let's say 10-15 Wallabies who would lift the profile of 7's instantly in Australia OR if these players are injured and need game time to come back to do it via the 7's circiut. My point is, there are many innovative ways to be successful, BUT ultimately it is about starting in primary school and ensure a solid base of players coming through.
JohnB
Guest
He's right about the Davis Cup though - from memory (so if either name is wrong, apologies) Australian Norman Brookes and Kiwi Anthony Wilding won it several times in the early 1900s competing as Australasia.
Queenslander
Guest
There are tournaments that I know of that the pacific islander communities play in during the off season. It kick starts in Brisbane and then goes to Byron Bay 7's and then Noosa 7's. The local uncontracted boys won against the thunderbolts. Pacific Islanders often play touch football or 7's off season or recreationally in the corporate arena or in suburban competitions. Their is a lot of talent sitting around which are overlooked by the show running the thunderbolts, but if they attended some of the local 7's competitions they would be amazed at the talent on the field. Rugby 7's is not taught, you either have it or you don't. You can't be boxed in to a playing style with 7's rugby as it's free flowing. If you don't have confidence in your playing ability then don't bother as you will be outmuscled at times if you get caught. The players need to be contracted solely to 7's like NZ. When it comes to the Olympics or Commonwealth Games you need to be able to have players who have played consistently together as they can play instinctively no the field. The thunderbolts can reach that height given the correct coaching and talent pool.
Harry
Guest
Fair question - Was referring to Richard Kingi. Coffee hadn't kicked in. Anyway thought the bloke looked a natural 7's player rather than a Super Rugby player.
p.Tah
Guest
By the way, great to have an article on 7s!
p.Tah
Guest
I must say I was quite excited when this story broke last year, I suspect they may have wanted (in the long run) to take more revenue from the 7s program and the envisaged 7s tournament than what the ARU was willing to give. I'd back JONs business acumen in these situations. For those now familiar with the proposal more can be read here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/rugby-sevens-enters-corporate-circle/story-e6frg7o6-1226023530106
Working Class Rugger
Guest
What ever happened to the group of business lead by David Koch who were looking to invest in the Sevens program? The ARU should look to bring in this group as well as maintain the current levels of funding. Use the extra funds invested to contract a core group of young but very talented athletes for four years. Give them as much game time as humanly possible and four seasons of development on the World Series circuit.
jeznez
Guest
Who is this Kahui you speak of - I'm familiar with the All Black but not of an Aussie up and comer of that name.
Mella
Guest
We're not improving at all, we have been just on the periphery of the 5 countries which have been consistently strong the last few years: NZ, Fiji, S Africa, England and Samoa, but we were probably next strongest. Now we've been joined by France and Wales which we previously spanked but now are at least the same level, probably better. I reckon Tonga and Canada would join this group if they were made core teams. Jenkins is the only guy who is consistently good enough. Vanderglas was good, now he's in 2nd division English rugby. John Grant was good now he's a reserve for Balmain. The ARU sevens contracts are obviously not attractive enough. There was news last year about a bunch or wealthy benificiaries interested in supporting the sevens team, what happened to that? It wouldn't take much to top up a dozen contracts, maybe the Qantas sponsorship will do it.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Hooray for Spiro to hit da nail on da head -Mr O'Connor has to go for the Sevens to do any better then sublime mediocrity and chronic underperformance :-)
Johnno
Guest
KOG Still not good enough a country like Australia we must be beating Fiji and NZ on a regular basis anything less is unacceptable, for us aussie fans, same with our test team we must win the ashes anything less is a failure.
King of the Gorgonites
Roar Guru
Hey hey let's all calm down a bit. Australia is improving. Doubt about it. We won a tornie last year. Semi finalist in gc recently.vfinalist at commonwealth game. What we need now is consistently. We need to be a top 4 side. At present were are around 6. Top 4 will gain automatic qualification to the Olympics in a few years. The fact is sides like Kenya are no longer beating us. This latest tornie was an anamolg. We are improving.
ted
Guest
I have said this to friends before but I think a "National" approach needs to be taken to 7's with the possibility of representing Australia the goal. I think the ARU along with the AOC should have a tournament in January where squads of 10 from any professional football club can participate in a selection tournament - that includes 5 x super rugby teams, AFL, NRL and A-League. Now it is unlikely soccer players will bother, however for sports like AFL and NRL, international exposure is virtually nil so the carrot is there. Imagine some of the AFL or NRL players playing rugby 7's for Australia.....we would be unbeatable and would really create some solidarity in our winter codes.
allblackfan
Guest
Sevens has a fairly high profile in NZ mainly because it's in the offseason. In the old days, the likes of Zinzan Brooke, Wayne Shelford, Jonah Lomu and even George Gregan make their national debuts in Sevens. Sevens is for identifying upcoming stars, blokes like Victor Vitor have been able to make the transition although now the preference is for fulltime contracts Sevens players.
allblackfan
Guest
There's an ex-NFL player in the current US side, Miles Craigewell. Played for Miami but got cut. On the way home, he had a meal at a diner which showed college RU sevens and he liked what he saw so much he switched to 7s.
Mella
Guest
Pretty simple really, just make an ARU sevens contract competitive with a below average to average super rugby contract. That will draw out those players warehoused in wider training squads without taking out frontline super rugby players.
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
True, Brasil use their 7´s team as the base for their 15´s team. As host of the 2016 games they have an automatic place in the Mens 7´s and Women´s Rugby 7´s ... which is one reason why they are investing so heavily. Their Womens 7´s team (apart form being full of very attractive .. I had a night out with them a few years ago after a game in Sao Paolo) has won every South American Womens Championship .. and was 10th in the last RWC 7´s. Because they have a lot less national team games at XVs or 7´s, than a teir 1 or 2 team, and the level of club rugby in Brazil isnt very high, their players actually benefit from playing playing both forms of the game, 7s and 15´s, as it exposes them to a higher level of rugby. However while their 7s team has made great strides it will be while before Brasil is competative at 15´s ... in the South American Championships over the last 3 years they have beaten Paraguay, but they still tend to lose by 20 points or more to Chile and Uruguay, neither of whom Brazil have ever beaten in 15´s. The difference to Argentina even greater, with Argentina beating Uruguay 75 to 14 and Chile 61- 6 last year (only the 2nd and 3rd placed temas play off against Argentina). Last year Brazil (ranked 29th in the world in XVs) also played in the Emirates Cup of Nations. They lost a close game to Kenya (ranked 39th in the world), beat Dubai 66-3 , and lost to Hong Kong 37-3. Anyway, as we mentioned earlier, the main point is that with the US, Brazil, Kenya and who knows who else investing in 7s (btw Russia are holding the next 7´s world cup so also look out for them) .. Australia needs to start taking 7s seriously or we will fall off the map ...
Johnno
Guest
7evens in Australia has to be taken more seriously, it is shameful. The fans and players should be ashamed , just like the shameful abandonment of state cricket by the fans.
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
Two years ago USA rugby signed two ex-NFL players to try out in rugby 7´s, Bennie Brazell and Leonard Peters, They both played 7´s for the US on the IRB Sevens Circuit but Brazell quit last year to become an athletics coach. Peters has gone on to play 15s for the US but isnt in the US 7´s squad so far this year. The major complication for NFL players with rugby is that fact that they are only used to catching the ball, not passing it ... which can be a hard skill to pick up in your mid twenties. With the lure of the Rugby 7´s in the Olympics, the number of American Athletes who arnt quite good enough to reach the NFL or American Olympic track squad, but who consider giving rugby a go, will only grow ... and they will get better and better.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
My point, audacious as it is, is that the generic title for the team at the 1908 Olympic Games was Australasia. If a New Zealander in that team had won a medal, and none did as far as I know, then the medal would have been attributed to the Australasian tally. The Australasian Davis Cup tennis team of Wilding (NZ) and Brookes (Australia) was just that, an Australasian side. As your note pointed out, a Cornwall side (the county champions) represented Great Britain. There were no Scots or Welsh players in the team but as Cornwall was the Great Britain nominee team the silver medal was won by Great Britain, not Cornwall. By a similar reasoning, as the Wallabies were the Australasian nominees, the gold medal was won by Australasia. This is, of course, merely a debating point. The Wallabies are and presumably will be for for ever the only southern hemisphere side to win a gold medal for 15-a-side rugby. This is the reason why I called my history of the Wallabies, The Golden Wallabies (Penguin 2000) with pp 104 - 123 on the 1908 Wallabies and Australian rugby in an Olympic Games context. Getting back to the main point of the article, Sharminator is correct about the investment that many countries are putting into their Sevens Rugby sides. Brazil is a case in point. They will have a team at next week's IRB Sevens Rugby tournament at Las Vegas. The investment in Sevens is paying off for Brazil in the 15-person game. They could easily have a Sevens team at the Rio 2016 Olympics and a 15-person side at the 2015 RWC tournament.