At sixes and sevens (and nines and tens)

....I suppose I see these truncated version of any code, evolving in their own right. In that respect do they become so specialised, any relationship to their genus is by name only? This can result in ever more product and ironically competition for founding codes. Cricket is the perfect example of this since Test Cricket is dying. Is the demise of the true version of Cricket a result of the truncated versions of the game or are they a response to Test Crickets cultural decay?

.....yes, thanks Boris. Not to be repeated!

Rugby 7s is used to develop quick, smart XV players.

I agree mate. Tens was always a better game to play than 7s and in my view brtter to watch. The ratings seem to support that as well.

So Geoff, you were probably too bored to watch England pip Wales last weekend? Too bored to watch 7's, or 10's the last couple of weeks, in order to qualify your comment? And too bored to bother to comment here......oh wait.. Geoff you may be bored but you are not boring. Thanks for expressing your interest in expressing your disinterest.

Great read 70's Mo. Reminded me of my missus who once asked her brother if the (then) Super 12 comp fielded 12 players? !? Agree Slav. Tens for mine. For your reasons but mainly the leverage into a popular exposure of the rugby code onto a mass sudience. Tens can be understood by the lay person, it includes the tight 5, and it is fast and it is fun. And it could be popular -giving the code in Australia some crucial media exposure, one element the rugby code in OZ desperately needs.

Poor you Will ?, try being a pleb sitting in full strength sun with half strength beer!

70s Mo, I not sure I have any idea about anything anymore.......... But I do agree with those who prefer 10s to 7s. And for mostly the same reason, I'm an ex-tight forward & they deserve a role, even if smallish, in 10s. Maybe this is Australia's secret plan to dominate the rugby codes. Historically, we've never been big on big, good men in the engine room, especially in union. Get rid of them & we'll dominate the world. Harrumph!

Have a look out of your own backyard buddy, rugby is booming globally, and is attempting to reach an even larger audience with its focus on sevens. Pretty clever really, and not an attempt to make it less boring, as the only contact sports fans who seem to find XVs boring are myopic, parochial Aussies more interested in watching full contact touch footy than a more nuanced, complex game. I do worry though that World Rugby is placing an increasingly large emphasis on sevens is going to detract from the full game though, particularly with the whole Olympics thing. I reckon 10's would have been a much better fit for the Olympics than sevens, and 10's is basically the same sport with fewer players on the field, whereas sevens is distinctly different to XVs in every sense apart from the basic laws. Sevens gameplay, structures, patterns etc are all very un-XVs like. Not so with 10's.

I think all of these shortened forms of rugby are just an attempt to try and make the sport less boring that what it has become. Good luck with that though!

Tens has been around forever. It wasn;t created to compete with the nines (though granted to tournament itself was) Tens for me is a superior sport to sevens. It more closely reflects rugby proper in game management, technique and flow, with the obvious addition of more space and faster play. I enjoy sevens for what it is, an excuse to go to HK every other year and party, or a lazy Sunday watching the circuit every now and again. However I don;t lose sleep when Aus lose, I'm just not that invested. but, not caring about the outcome sometimes allows me to enjoy the sport for what it is. I found myself really not caring that the brumbies lost at the 10's, but I have to say I really enjoyed the sport itself (having only seen the 10's in HK as a precursor to the sevens, with this being a definite step up in quality from that) Either way i hope they keep it. I'd rather watch that as a preseason romp than the meaningless trial games with 20 minute quarters and unlimited interchange etc etc Hope they keep it...

As a self professed sporting purist, all these "mickey mouse" versions of sports are a blight on the respective codes. Many of these points have been raised above but In a congested sporting market, they are mainly cheap marketing and money exercises. Rugby already had 7's (which I take no interest in) but then felt they had to create the Global TEns - most likely in response to Rugby league Nines. I also feel that these alternate versions create fixture congestion that only hinder player participation at the most important levels. The biggest example is IPL 20-20 cricket where a chunk of the international Calendar is carved out to allow the world best players to fill their pockets with money. In many cases - it leads to player fatigue, injuries or you get inferior squad representations as the best players prefer to sit out. The last point is mainly personal preference but I find meaningless friendly tournaments ala league 9's, global 10's, fast 4 a hard watch - they are not reflective of real game tactics, the intensity (hard to quantify or prove) is less. Much akin to a friendly soccer international where it is hard to really care about the outcome.

Definitely the Tens for me. Sevens is a different game, without real contact, breakdown or set piece. Tens was like watching the SR in preview, and you could see the same elements of how different teams play the 15s game coming through. Frankly, also far more interesting than watching the usual meaningless trial game that they would normally have played on that weekend.

Shortened versions are a great way to spread the game(s), but I think it's unnecessary to have more than one. Rugby has sevens. It doesn't really need tens.

Ubiquitous! Great word! I tend to agree but with the 10s at the weekend, scoring was rare and games regularly ended up 12-5 or similar. I really liked it largely for this reason. A try was a real celebration as just like in real rugby, it could win you the game. It's now my favourite shortened version of any game.

Great article Mo. I was watching the 10s and talking to my wife about some finer point of the rules which the ref had failed to notice, and she turned to me blandly and asked "Why are you talking to me?" For a moment there I thought I was talking to someone with the slightest interest in sport... Anyway, back to your question... I really like 7s. I tried to watch the 9s but since I don't find league interesting at the best of times, and this was just league, I struggled to rark up any interest. I was prepared to not like 10s as I thought it was a bit pretentious to throw another format into the mix and it would be simlar to 7s, but like the Chiefs in their first game, I was surprised. It was enough like real rugby to have some real oomph to it and tries were rarer than 7s so scoring was a bit of a celebration. I ended up really enjoying it and of all the shortened formats it's now my favourite. The Chiefs turned up in their first game expecting to play the 7s "possession is everything" game and got beaten. They held possession but played the game mostly in their half and lost. So they had to re-evaluate and they adapted best of all the teams. Territory was a factor and you could happily give away possession in exchange for territory, which is part of the beauty of real rugby. So my vote is for 10s. Pity we won't see much more of it and next year the teams will protect their stars so it'll be played mainly by the developing players

Being an ex tight five forward my preference is for 10's. 7's always felt like touch... In that I could never lay a hand on those pesky side stepping little punks. 7's is certainly more entrenched with the World Series and Olympics but I think as the replacement for one trial game in preseason the 10's comp was a good change. I enjoyed it.