An eight-team summer sevens tournament in Australia could help broaden rugby’s support base and give the ARU another product to sell to broadcasters.
It would help develop Australia’s best sevens players and provide 15-a-side stars with Olympic ambitions a platform to gain sevens experience in their off-season.
The ARU has yet to capitalise on the inclusion of sevens as an Olympic sport. The Australian leg of the Sevens World Series hasn’t come close to attracting the kind of support seen every year in the likes of Hong Kong, Wellington, London and Dubai.
Outside of that event there are no tournaments in Australia with any significant profile. In the meantime, the NRL have got the jump on rugby with the huge success of the inaugural Auckland Nines event.
While I would like to see the World Series leg moved to either Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, I believe the biggest opportunity the ARU have with sevens is to set up a domestic summer series.
My proposal
And eight-team competition played over eight evenings. Each session of games would last three hours and would be spread over two or four weeks.
Teams
Queensland Reds
NSW Waratahs
Melbourne Rebels
Western Force
ACT Brumbies
Fiji
Tonga
Samoa
This competition’s best chance of success would be to use the Australian rugby brands that people already know and support, while the three Pacific Island nations would bring additional flair and fans.
The five Super Rugby franchises would recruit specialist 7’s players to complement those drawn from their existing squads. In addition to specialist Australian players a limited number of import players would be allowed per Australian squad.
Format
Each team would play every opponent twice before a finals round. This would be done over seven game days, with each consisting of eight matches played over a period of just under three hours. Every team would play twice in a game day.
A league table would be used, with two points awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The eighth game day would be for finals. The top four teams on the table would play for a Cup title while the bottom four would compete for the Plate. For both trophies there would be semi-finals, third place playoffs and a final.
The schedule could look something like this:
Game Day 1 and 2 – NIB Stadium, Perth
Game Day 3 and 4 – AAMI Stadium, Melbourne
Game Day 5 and 6 – Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Game Day 7 – Ballymore, Brisbane
Game Day 8 (Finals) – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
The series could be played over four weekends or a more condensed two weeks, with game days on Wednesday and Thursday as well as Saturday and Sunday.
With each session of play lasting around three hours, all games would be in prime time and the viewing fatigue that can occur with the World Series events would be largely avoided. At the same time it would still be long enough to create a party atmosphere in the ground for each evening of play.
Over time the concept could expand to include more teams or rounds and a women’s series.
Women’s sevens is another great opportunity for the ARU. The Australian women’s team are a stronger medal chance than the men for 2016.
If the ARU can build their profile it would be a great point of difference from the other codes and an excellent way to increase the female player and supporter base.
A women’s world series leg in Australia would be a good start.
Katipo
Guest
@Thunderguts. Correct. For better or worse 7s should be to rugby what T20 is to cricket. I suspect the only way it'll take off in Australia is if an entrepreneurial third party gets involved. The ARU, with all their good intentions, have got their hands full. I can't see them pulling this off. There needs to be an intervention - I mean a joint-venture!
Thunderguts
Guest
Rotorua has secured hosting right for 2014/15 ahead of the previous host Queenstown which had hosted the series since 2003. After 2015, as I understand it, hosting rights will again be put to tender. Eddard, I was not suggesting that OZ have 26 teams but rather have a close look at the NZ format. If you have attended Honkers, Dubai, Glasgow and Twickenham this year, as I was fortunate to do, you would know the the atmosphere in terms of crowd participation at these matches is absolutely amazing and is quite different to attending a regular rugby match. It is this uniqueness we need to focus and build on rather than just developing a 7's game based on existing Rugby 15 formats. The Darwin and Noosa 7's have captured the unique 7's experience and their format would be a good starting point. The suggestion by others here that private investment could be a viable option certainly has merit. Perhaps Channel 10 with their current financial woes could see participation in 7's could give them a competitive edge.
Archie Adams
Guest
Next year's NZ national rugby 7s tournament will again be held in Rotorua and not "rotated around New Zealand," as claimed here ...
Katipo
Guest
@Eddard. Interesting link. I do remember the optimism when I read that article in 2011. Now that there is new leadership at ARU it could be time to revisit the idea. And there is no reason why a Roar Guru can't reach out to Bill Wavish or David Koch to ask what happened and if they are interested to reignite their idea. (That's what we use to call journalism.... following up on a story). This is definitely a commercial opportunity. And if Rugby can't realise I;m sure league will hatch a plan to do so. If I had the money and the time I'd help you Eddard. But I don't at the moment sorry. By the way, I like your proposed format. If it was up to me though I'd just play a series of two day sevens tournaments with 16 teams. That is, your 8 core teams and 8 local club teams invited to play at each event. I think that's the way to grow the strength of sevens around the country by uncovering talent. You would probably get off-season league, AFL and touch players having a crack too.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Part of the reason for using the Super Rugby franchises would be to keep the costs down. They already have the infrastructure, fan base, players, coaches, administration, commercial and digital assets, relationships with media and stadiums etc. On the private option, I do remember a few years ago reading this article about potential private investment in sevens: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/rugby-sevens-enters-corporate-circle/story-e6frg7o6-1226023530106 I wonder how the ARU managed to stuff it up. I assume they weren't willing to give up any control.
Andrew Kennard
Roar Pro
Yep, I get it now, I was assuming when you said two matches a home and away set up. Yep, makes sense. I was telling everyone who would listen last year, that sevens should be being pushed as the third tier. I thought it made sense as a way to keep potential wallabies fit and playing rugby, and to save on cost. I am glad the NRC is coming to fruition, but don't see why we can't also have some sort of Australian sevens tournament. I see the merit in your system, nice 3 hour time slot for the broadcasters, limits player burnout, easy enough to market and also provides a good platform for these olympic aspirations. Wait, why hasn't this been done before...?
Katipo
Guest
Good idea. A national sevens circuit is a no brainer but the ARU has got no brains. Well, to be fair, they do have brains but the ARU is under-resourced they probably couldn't manage to organise this. This could be a great opportunity for an entrepreneur or private business entity.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Andrew, no not quite. My proposal is for 8 games in every afternoon or evening of play. In those 8 games each team would play twice. So the Force would play 4 different teams over the 2 days in Perth. Think of it like a league with 14 rounds followed by finals but where each afternoon/evening of play involves 2 rounds. Over those 7 days of play all teams would play a total of 14 matches (2 against every team). The Force might play the Reds and Rebels on day 1, and the Waratahs and Samoa on day 2. The next weekend in Melbourne they might play the Brumbies and Fiji on day 3 and Tonga and the Reds on day 4. And so on. You could do it like the IRB circuit with separate tournaments and a winner each time. But the days would be longer, and I think it could be good to try a different format. My way would ensure every match was in prime time and that all teams played each other the same amount of times (only twice before the finals). In a series with separate tournaments you get a lot more repeats of certain match ups because the same teams tend to make semi finals each time. My format would make the finals a bigger deal.
Higgik
Guest
The Aviva Premiership runs a 7 competition as a pre season in August. The 12 teams are split into 3 groups of 4 playing round robin at 3 different venues over one weekend, the winners move forward to the finals. For 2014 the groups are Bath, Gloucester, Exeter, London Irish @ Kingsholm Gloucester 31st July Harlequins, Northampton, Wasps, Saracens @ Northampton 1st August Leicester, Sale, Newcastle, Worcester @ Newcastle 2nd August There is also a new addition this year, with the Welsh teams joining a a group, the winners & runners up of each group progress to Finals @ Twickenham Stoop (Harlequins ground )8th August. The finals will be 2 groups of 4 playing round robin, with final between top team in each group. The overall winners go onto the world club sevens at Twickenham on 16th August.
Andrew Kennard
Roar Pro
I'm a little confused how the league would be run, would the force team play all the other teams within those first two days in Perth? Why would the tournament style circuit used by the IRB not work in Australia? One weekend comp in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne?
Eddard
Roar Guru
I think quality is very important. 26 teams is too many. That's more of a grassroots competition. It would never make it onto Australian television. Perhaps it works in NZ because rugby is so popular, but in Australia I think you'd need to focus on quality first before trying for reach. Especially as the ARU have no money. Plus, it would be a real bonus having Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in the competition and you couldn't include them if Australian talent was spread too thinly. There are already domestic sevens tournaments in Australia for smaller club teams. Give it a few years and then you could think about adding a few more teams. In time it could become like the IPL or Big Bash attracting many of the best sevens players in the world.
Eddard
Roar Guru
North Sydney Oval is a good shout for a Friday night. Easy to get to for anyone working in the CBD, North Sydney, St Leonards or Chatswood and in rugby heartland. Perhaps you could split the venues in Sydney. Say Friday evening in North Sydney, and Saturday afternoon/evening at Parramatta Stadium. It would make it easier for more people to go at least once.
Mango Jack
Guest
Well thought through, Eddard. A Friday night game at a transport-accessible venue such as Parra stadium or (my fav) North Sydney Oval, would be great. It would catch the post-work summer drinking crowd, and 7's is perfect for the more relaxed summer atmosphere. I think you would struggle for crowd numbers mid-week, and you need a crowd to create the TV product.
Thunderguts
Guest
We could learn alot from the NZ experience with their national Bayleys Sevens. With 26 provincial teams participating in a round robin format at the National Tournament which this year was held in Rotorua and in future years will rotate around NZ the game of 7's receives great exposure and is a great breeding ground for the All Black 7's. IMO NZ would be in no hurry to join an Australian competition as they have already established a well funded and successful domestic program. Whilst starting small has some merits you run the risk of making it a small competition with no local involvement, limited funding and little excitement. A well constructed and funded 7's tournament would provide a greater return than any NPC competition in a time period when other codes [except the kick it with your head game] have yet to kick off
Eddard
Roar Guru
Good idea on the juniors nmpcart. Adding 10 minutes or so for say 2 junior matches played at the same time, halfway through each game day could be good. If in time you added a women's series you could play that on a 2nd field nearby and have 1 match played in the main stadium as well. But I think it'd be important to keep each game day in the evening or late afternoon and finish within about 3.5 hours. I think adding rounds (and potentially new teams) and taking some matches to regional centres would happen after you prove the concept. Best to begin in the major cities in my opinion.
Eddard
Roar Guru
NZ already have their own domestic 7's series at the provincial level. It obviously works pretty well for them. In time it would make sense to link up with them, but I think it would be best to start simple.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Thanks Thunderguts. I suggested the idea of week day games because it works quite well for the Big Bash and the Australian Open. It creates momentum for those tournament. You know, people come home from work and watch the big bash or the tennis every night for a couple of weeks. Could be the same for sevens. If the games were to run from say 6-9pm it would be decent for all but families with younger primary school aged kids in terms of attendance. And maybe it could run during the school holidays... While weekends would obviously be better for crowds I don't think it would be impossible to draw a crowd during the week in summer, especially if that's the only option to attend in your city. And Wednesday and Thursday evening might be better for TV ratings. The other advantage is that if you ran it over 2 weeks it would also be easier to find a slot in the calendar that avoided other major events and the IRB world series weekends etc.
Scrumpoacher
Guest
Fringe NRC players can play with a sprinkling of SR/Wallabies if we could? Great idea anyway. Joining with NZ is a good idea but not at the expense of growing rugby in Oz.
Eddard
Roar Guru
The thing is rugby has 5 super rugby teams and now 9 NRC teams. How many more domestic rugby 'brands' do you want people to have to keep up with? The idea is to start with a short competition between existing teams in major population centres where people already support rugby. It would give the best chance for initial success. If after a couple of years it was doing really well you could look to include other teams with a competitive bidding process, and take rounds to the likes of Adelaide etc.
Eddard
Roar Guru
There'd only be 5 Australian teams, at least to begin with, so you're not looking for hundreds of players. If you had squads of 15, that's 75 players. Some would come from the extended super rugby squads, some would be specialist 7's players identified through existing 7's tournaments (and the IRB series), some would be foreign imports recruited from IRB circuit teams. I imagine you might get a handful of test players who would want to be part of it, at least for a round or so. That would add publicity. And I think the lure of an olympic medal would be greater than the lure of rest for some. Especially, if say you'd had an injury interrupted season etc. Sevens would be great for off-season fitness. A bit like how Sonny Bill and Quade do their boxing.