Sevens explosion imminent after Rio

It’s just over a year until the Rio Olympics, when rugby takes a momentous leap into the future, with Sevens featuring for the first time.

You think you’ve heard this line before – well let me tell you again, you have no idea of the magnitude of the quake about to hit rugby.

If you’re wondering what sort of impact the appearance of Olympic Sevens will have, think of the impact of the iPhone. In 2009, Apple sold roughly 60 million iPhones – this year they will sell almost 600 million.

Just seven years later.

It seems fitting to remember that the first time I saw an iPhone was on a plane en route to the Hong Kong Sevens in 2008. Former Dragons league player Ryan Rogers had his new iPhone on the flight and was demonstrating the touchscreen and gestures that were like magic at the time.

He pinched, swiped and stroked a series of photos and apps until we were all clamouring to have a go. I finally got my hands on it, and afterwards when I went back to my Blackberry, it already seemed tired. I had held the future in my hands and it was un-freakin-believable.

This is the experience that people are about to have with rugby, or more specifically, Rugby Sevens – in fact, the first pebbles in the Olympic rugby avalanche have already begun to trickle down the mountainside of world sport.

Last Sunday, the USA won their first Cup competition ever in HSBC Sevens World Series and it is no coincidence. The rugby world has been waiting for the sleeping giant of the USA to arise and throw its weight around – Rio has provided the perfect excuse.

In the last few years, the USA rugby has gradually been building. A production line of speedsters have dazzled the crowds – Takudzwa Ngwenya, followed by Carlin Isles and the latest sensation, Perry Baker.

To put the speed of these players in perspective, Lachie Turner won the Gatorade Bolt in 2010 against Jarryd Hayne, Greg Inglis and Ben Barba among others, with a time of 11.10 seconds.

Baker has allegedly run a 10.58 and the talk is that Isles has run as fast as 10.10 for a hundred. He has certainly run a 6.68 second 60m, which is blistering any way you look at it.

So with Isles and Baker interchanging on the wings, all they need is a beast in the middle to win the ball and get it to them, which is where Danny Barrett comes in. Barrett is 6’3” and over 100 kilograms and yet runs like a three-quarter and hits like a Mack truck.

His highlights reel is like human ten-pin bowling with Barrett as the ball. Even against Fiji and New Zealand who are two of the strongest and most physical sides in the tournament, Barrett swats away tacklers like a bear being stung by bees.

This is the sort of development and positioning that is going on everywhere in Sevens as a result of the Olympics. Everyone is searching for the athletes and the coaches that are going to take them to the top in Rio.

Even Fiji, blessed with the greatest natural talent pool in their chosen sport of any country in the world, have been canny enough to hire Ben Ryan, the pale English redhead who understands Sevens probably better than any coach bar Gordon Tjietjens of New Zealand, and who has been credited with giving Fiji a new fitness and tactical edge without compromising their legendary flair.

Australia, for their part, after many years of treating Sevens like a poor cousin, has finally latched onto the possibility of Olympic glory and started pumping resources into the Sevens team. Specialist contracts and a near-open selection book for coach Geraint John has given the Aussie every chance to shake up the natural order.

The countries are doing their bit, by driving and refining their Sevens programs and attracting new players to the sport from across the spectrum of athletic endeavour.

But it’s the Olympics widespread audience appeal and the broad mix of contenders in Sevens rugby that is set to send rugby participation and spectator numbers skyrocketing after 2016.

Unlike most sports, where the established world champions invariably are also favourites for the Olympic gold, the tournament format of Sevens makes it a much more open field, especially when there are at least ten teams who could genuinely win a medal.

New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, USA, Argentina, England, Kenya and could all give it a shake, and the tournament style means that the tension and excitement builds over a couple of days of competition. Sevens of course, is that archetypal party game and the fans love a party – stand by for the highest percentage of fancy-dress out of any sport in Rio.

Of course, the Olympics don’t guarantee growth. Only a few sports actually grew after the London Olympics, but those that did had some common factors. First, they had done some preparation to grow their sport as a result and had programs in place, much like the ARU has done with school Sevens tournaments, and the new community game, Viva Sevens.

Second, the growth sports needed little in the way of new infrastructure, and rugby Sevens can be played anywhere in the world where there is a soccer pitch and people can get hold of a rugby ball.

Of course, once the USA gets serious, then a full-time professional league is just around the corner. A pro-league gets TV time, and not many sports are as TV friendly as Sevens. Hours of content, plenty of action on the field and in the stands, and sensational opportunities for sponsors.

The Olympics are the touchstone for attracting the big three factors for sports growth – elite athletes, broadcasters and audiences. And as the new kid on the block, rugby Sevens is about to hit the big time.