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'We used to play 15s first and foremost, but sevens has found its own identity now'

Rachael Burford of England during the Marriott London Sevens - Day Two at Twickenham on May 12, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

The first international experience I had in sevens was back in 2004 at a European competition and because we were women they took the pitch in by five metres and made us play 22 to 22 with inflatable posts. I’m not sure who was in charge of those decisions that day but how the game has changed!

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It’s very exciting with the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens kicking off this weekend. I played in the first ever World Cup which women were involved in in Dubai in 2009. England had such a strong squad with the likes of Alice Richardson-Watmore, Michaela Staniforth, Claire Allan, Danielle Waterman and Heather Fisher- all of us had an eight to ten year career within sevens alongside our 15s careers.

We weren’t professional back then but England were the furthest ahead in terms of player pathways and domestic leagues. There were no build up tournaments played or much of a platform at all for sevens players.

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One of the memories I have from 2009 was being hot favourites to win with the RFU having prioritised sevens over 15s for the entire year leading up, but we went out to Australia in the quarter finals who went on to win it. This was such a big shock. I remember trying to get over that shock and process it, going out so early in the competition. Sevens can be a bit brutal like that and we suffered the same fate at the 2013 World Cup in Russia.

The competition in Moscow was really challenging because it was really hard to get in the country so we had hardly anyone watching either the men or women’s tournaments, which was strange going from Dubai with sold out crowds.

We lost to Russia on day one which meant we faced New Zealand in the quarter finals the next day and they beat us convincingly. We ended up playing Australia in the 5th/6th place play-offs and the heavens opened during the game and there was a complete monsoon. It was one of the most challenging games to play in both mentally as no one wants to be playing for 5th or 6th place but also due to the weather, it was just terrible!

The format of the 2022 Sevens World Cup is intense from the off in that your first game is basically a knockout game. If you win you go to go in the Championship competition, if you lose you go into the Challenge tournament. It’s a format which takes no prisoners and as I have experienced, it can be over very quickly, but I guess that adds to the excitement.

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What’s so great about the World Cup is you get to see many more countries and teams compared to the World Series. In the men’s competition there’s 24 teams with historically only 16 playing on the World Series, and for the women there are 16 teams for the World Cup and only 12 on the circuit. So, the exposure and opportunity to be a part of sevens is huge for those countries.

In terms of predictions for the women’s 2022 tournament in Cape Town, I don’t see anyone getting past Australia or New Zealand. They are both really settled sides and have a lot of experience in their teams with some youth but for the likes of England the balance is slightly off with a very young squad with only a few experienced heads and in high pressure knock out games that can be the determining factor.

However, every time I watch Fiji play they get better and better. They got to the final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July and are pushing New Zealand and Australia really hard. I think they have the talent and ability to cause an upset. The USA on paper also have some incredible individuals but I think Australia, New Zealand and Fiji are my top three teams to watch.

Sevens needs to be paid the credit it deserves for what it’s done to develop the women’s game as a whole.

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It’s paved the way in terms of professionalism. The nature of the game and the ability to play and travel on the circuit year-round means professionalism is a necessity so I think it’s been a driver in terms of full time contracted players even at a semi-professional level.

In women’s rugby where the resources are so thin on the ground, sevens can provide an opportunity where teams can focus on a sevens programme initially which then builds to be a 15s programme and opens up the game in territories which aren’t traditional 15s countries but develop a really strong sevens culture.

In the past it was common to see players cross over and play both formats of the game but the transition isn’t as easy as it used to be. It’s really challenging now given the length of time sevens players are away from home, the training volume, and the high speed velocity you need to reach, plus the different contact scenarios.

However, cross over between the formats can be incredibly positive for the game when it’s done right. If you look at someone like Ruby Tui who has been such an incredible face of sevens for so many years and an unbelievable human and now she’s crossed over to the 15s game ahead of the postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup and the impact she is having as a rugby player but also an advocate for women’s sport and mental health is huge. We’re so lucky that she’s come into the 15s game and helped raised the profile. We’ve seen other big stars do the same with the likes of Portia Woodman and Sarah Hirini for New Zealand, Shannon Parry and Sharni Williams for Australia and Patricia Garcia who was a magician in sevens and a stalwart for the 15s game in Spain.

You also think of the Irish players who regularly cross codes given their shallow playing pool and those full time contracted sevens players get the opportunity to train and play at a high level and bringing that into a 15s setting is only going to be a positive thing for the game.

I think it’s been really challenging because of where the World Cup Sevens has fit into the calendar this year and the postponed World Cup in New Zealand which has meant a lot of players couldn’t do the required amount to do both tournaments.

However, one player who has been selected for both is Sharni Williams who can make an incredible impact to the Wallaroos playing in the centre but to compete in two World Cups in the space of a month is pretty crazy!

The transformation has been slow given the growth of the game year on year but since 2013 and the first Women’s World Series to what’s available for sevens athletes now; there’s a minimum of five to six legs on the World Series each year, a strong European tournament and Commonwealth Games for participating nations, plus the Olympics, so there’s never been such a platform to play on, as much investment in the game or opportunities to play.

It also feels like sevens has found its own identity now. Players used to be 15s players first and foremost and then sevens players if need be, whereas now it’s ‘I’m a sevens player and I don’t play 15s’ with solely sevens athletes. Take for example the likes of Maddison Levi for Australia, she is purely a sevens athlete, it’s in her DNA and she is ripping it up on the world stage at the age of 20.

For these players their athletic makeup is very different and with the opportunity to travel to these pinnacle events in amazing locations and be paid to do it is such a selling point.

For now, let’s see what the weekend brings and who will walk away with the title of world sevens champions in Cape Town!

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Jon 3 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 6 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.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 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

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T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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