Sevens should bring curtains down at Rio

Once again, the assumption is that all these league players mentioned will automatically be good or even outstanding at union. Experience over the past 15 years has shown that this has patently not been the case. Only a tiny handful of league converts have ended up playing union anywhere near as well as they did league. What makes people think Inglis, Barba, Thurston, Marshall etc etc will be any different?

it says on the official Rio site that the 25,000 seater will be the 7s venue.

Just to add, it is still NOT confirmed which venue they will use. Its either the 25k seater stadium as mentioned in this thread OR the Olympic stadium itself... It will be confirmed by October.

Yes it would be good but those players will have to be conditioned to Sevens which is more anaerobically demanding than what they're used to in the 13 man game. It would take them a year or so to get fit enough and up with the programme to play sevens - that would apply to most players in either code. I'd say Sean Johnson Thurston and Benji Marshall would be the types to cross over with more ease, not so much Inglis and Uate.

It is only Brazil and rugby is nowhere near as popular there as even Basketball or Volleyball. However, there would've been thousands of Argie and Uruguayan fans who would've travelled over the border. Rio is only an hour's flight (if that) from those countries. At least a 40,000 capacity stadium would've done the trick. 25,000 will be half full of "olympic family" nitwits who won't even turn up.

Seriously who says oi, did you not read all blacks fan link i will send you the link here. Brazil rugby is booming and expanding rapidly. http://www.canterburyrugby.co.nz/news/brazilian-rugby-union-signs-agreement-with-crfu-and-crusaders/246/news.aspx

Well, thats a good deal the Brazil rugby union brokered with Canterbury IMO. The chinese should have done something similar with them as well.

you can really tell who the rugby fans are in these comments compared to others.

Brian, you're dead on. In Brazil, rugby is tiny. There's already many sports far more relevant than rugby there. The rugby folks are probably counting on Argentinians to make the trip.

AJ, it's the Olympics!! Whatever shortfall in support from the locals will be more than made up for by the overseas visitors. If the sevens has the festival atmosphere of HL then the locals will really come calling on the second (or third) day! Then they're hooked!!

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 ...)

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.

I tend to agree with both Adam and Bakkies on this point, as you are both correct in my opinion. It would definitely be great to see some of the League stars being mentioned eligible and participating in Rio 2016, as they are no doubt great athletes who could potentially be stars on the big stage at the Games. But of course you'd have to ask why the sports governing body (IRB) would want to invest and lobby for Rugby Sevens inclusion and then throw open the front door to unregistered players looking for a quick buck, a shot a personal glory and no legacy for the IRB to gain return on their significant investments. What is more likely is that some NRL, and also probably Super League, players will sign for the ARU and RFU in 2014 with a chance of being able to take part in a Rugby World Cup and an Olympic games in successive years. I imagine it'll be particularly attractive to British players, as the pay disparity between European Super League (£1.65M) and the English Premiership (£4M) is quite sizeable and the 2015 World Cup will be in their home nation. It wouldn't surprise me if guys like Sam and Joel Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond and Chris Aston line up for Team GB in 2016. As a Union fan I think it'd be crazy not to look at such a large pool of athletes and the potential they can offer the game. There are definite differences, but it is not that much of a stretch to teach the nuances of Union to an elite League player. SBW and Brad Thorn have grown to be THE best players in the World in their position. It just takes time. It's also certainly true that the extra space in 7's sees it tend to more closely mimic the attacking structures of League than Union. A point echoed by the England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan: http://tensport.com.au/news/theroar/Rugby-Union-Life-on-the-Sevens-circuit-an-insiders-view-from-Ben-Ryan.htm I don't think Union will ever offer quite enough of a pay difference to attract any more top League players from Australia, but in England I think the pressure for top talent will continue to see the best players skimmed off, especially once the hype around the 2015 world cup is seen in the gate takings and TV coverage of the premiership clubs.

Why should we bring in league players who don't play Rugby?

Be realistic the rugby 7s will get the attention in most countries that the football tournament was given by channel 9

qualifying? they would put a clinic on.

Ah The Olympics ! - Stronger; Higher; Faster . . . Sillier !

I think Sevens should just worry about putting on a good show on the field for this initial re-entry. The stadium is fine. It has a good central location (I've already started checking it out, as I really want to be there to see history being made) and I also believe it is supposed to be getting an upgrade (possibly to 35,000 seats) but I can't find the link at present. It is a privately owned stadium though, so getting access to public money won't be as easy. But the point it that this marks the start, not the pinnacle, for Olympic Rugby. The stadium will be bursting and the fans will be stoked just to get hold of a ticket. They'll add a vibrant and colourful crowd of friendly yet passionate fans, as all rugby crowds do. The most important factor though is to ensure the product on the field is up to scratch for both the Men's and Women's draw. I agree that 16 teams is a better number, but 12 reduces the hosting costs significantly and means that you should be guaranteed the cream of the crop and no filler sides there to make up numbers. There WILL be core Sevens Series teams missing out. And that might well include traditional powerhouse sides like Argentina, France or even Australia. Less teams also has the benefit of placing more promotional attention on the qualifying tournaments leading up to Rio. All of a sudden there will be genuine high quality regional tournaments in all continents playing for a spot. Not to mention the fact that there is definitely still a large amount of improvement that all Sevens sides are capable of to further lift the quality of the game and add to the spectacle for fans. You'd be crazy to think that the game has even come close to attracting the best athletes in the best phyiscal form that it can. 2016 will see the fittest rugby players ever to grace a field and the on-field show should match this. The big question for me is who will be hosting the 2020 games and how much bigger will Sevens become between events. It could well grow to become the spectator highlight of the whole Olympic movement, as no other sport seems to quite capture that Higher, Faster, Stronger motto and matches it to the team first ethic and brutal body on the line sacrifice of a contact sport. Whatever happens the end goal is simply to get more people in more countries playing the game and for more funding from more governments being dedicated to improving those athletes. Already 2016 is a huge success in those aspects and the next 4 years will probably see the biggest global growth the game of Rugby has or will ever experience (per annum as a percentage).

Barba is an absolute freak, some of the tries he has scored and set up are incredible. I agree he would be a 7s legend. It is a shame we will never see him play 7s though. I wish he could do a SBW and test himself in both codes.

If I could pick any League player to play 7s it would be Barba. He doesn't know it yet, but he's a 7s player playing league.