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'Pretty juvenile' - Friday hits back at Dan Leo threat to Olympic sevens

By Chris Jones
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Mike Friday, the USA Sevens coach, today warned Dan Leo not to use the sport as a political football by threatening to get it banned from the Olympic Games in his battle with World Rugby.

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Friday is adamant the loss of Olympic status would have far-reaching financial effects on emerging countries and seriously hamper the growth of the sport which is using sevens to break into new markets, most notably in Asia.

Pacific Rugby Players Welfare chief executive Daniel Leo has dragged sevens’ place in the Olympic Games into his battle to get World Rugby to reform their governance in the wake of the Francis Kean controversy which saw the Fiji RU chairman withdraw from his attempt to get onto the WR executive committee despite a conviction for manslaughter and evidence of homophobic comments. Leo believes asking the International Olympic Committee to take rugby out of the Games is a stick worth using.

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It took rugby 90 years to get rugby back into the Games with Fiji winning men’s sevens gold at Rio in 2016 and Friday does not want any action taken that removes the status of the sport as a member of the Olympic family as that would see much-needed government funding withdrawn for many nations, including the USA.

Friday told RugbyPass: “This is a pretty juvenile strong-arm tactic to throw out there given all the work that has been done to get sevens into the Olympics. More importantly, sevens is the only authentic way we can make the sport global. Being out of the Games could have serious effects for those who come out of and we need to be careful using the sport as a political football.

“I would be unfair for USA, Canada and the non-traditional rugby nations which are the commercial markets that will assist the Pacific Islands in the development of their rugby. There should be sensible conversations being held with World Rugby rather than airing our dirty washing in public. We have battled hard to get to this position and don’t need the ladder kicked away from us particularly at this very difficult time. Next year’s Olympic Games in Japan is huge for sevens going forward.”

Leo explained his stance telling RugbyPass: “That Francis Kean was on the Council, and was nominated for ExCo, is an embarrassment for World Rugby. We must ensure that this never happens again.

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“Asking the WR council themselves to make the changes that would block high-level politicians and the like from sitting on that council though is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. Hence we need another governing body with interests in the game to oversee that process.”

Leo previously told the Daily Mail he has penned a draft letter to the IOC calling for a probe into Kean’s background and the unions that supported his nomination. “We are taking advice from our lawyers about a letter we are drafting,” said Leo. “I’m disappointed that World Rugby haven’t launched an open investigation into Kean and France for nominating him. If World Rugby don’t commit to governance reforms, our next letter will be to the International Olympic Committee, asking that they consider suspending rugby as an Olympic sport until they are fully compliant with IOC obligations.

“If it takes some short-term pain, i.e. being blocked from the Olympics, then so be it. But hopefully the sport can be proactive in this before that would happen. We have to push through now and make sure the lessons are learned and, most importantly, acted upon.”

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Jon 5 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”?

35 Go to comments
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.

32 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

32 Go to comments
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