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'I do feel as though we will have more players who will try to make that transition'

By Jack Davies
Sonny Bill Williams (Getty Images)

Ireland rugby legend Brian O’Driscoll believes the lure of an Olympic gold medal could see more players swap the 15-a-side game for sevens in future.

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The men’s 2018-19 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series gets under way in Dubai on Friday, with four places at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo up for grabs over the course of the campaign.

Sonny Bill Williams was the highest-profile player to make the switch when sevens made its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, although an early injury curtailed his involvement in a tournament won by Fiji.

O’Driscoll expects more players to try their hand at the format in the years to come but says success in XVs rugby offers little indication of a player’s aptitude for sevens.

“That happened in 2015, when Sonny Bill Williams was really the only player who had any success with it,” HSBC global rugby sevens ambassador O’Driscoll told Omnisport. “Unfortunately he tore his Achilles about two minutes into the tournament.

“We had other players like Quade Cooper, Liam Messam and even Bryan Habana, who found the transition too difficult.

“There’s a different level of fitness needed and I think it was a huge tip of the cap to those playing on the sevens circuit that it’s not just a case of anyone being able to move across and play with seamlessness.

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“It’s a different type of game with the need for a different type of fitness and a different skill set.

“I do feel as though we will have more players who will try to make that transition. Whether they’ll be successful in doing so, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Habana, who missed out on selection for South Africa’s squad for the 2016 Games, argued that the involvement of big-name XVs players could prove more of a hindrance than a help.

“I’m not sure we’ll see more of it but I think we’ll see individual cases,” he added. “But as we saw leading up to 2016, a lot of the sevens coaches saw it as a bit of a disruption more than anything else.

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“You’ll have certain instances, but it won’t be a group of 10 or 15 Super Rugby or Premiership players trying to come up and play the game of sevens.”

Discussing the players setting out on their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series campaign this weekend, O’Driscoll commented: “They don’t need any more motivation than playing for the series finale and to be the series winner.

“But when you have that carrot of being part of an Olympics in two years’ time and you get an opportunity to represent your country and maybe win an Olympic gold medal – something very few people have the opportunity to do – there’s no further motivation needed than that.”

Brian O’Driscoll and Bryan Habana are HSBC global rugby sevens ambassadors. They are working alongside HSBC to support the explosive growth of rugby sevens, helping the exciting and unpredictable sport thrive all over the world. Follow all the action at @HSBC_Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

33 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

33 Go to comments
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