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'What you're seeing now are players doing incredibly well on the sevens series and then getting picked up by 15s'
Simon Amor believes the World Cup in Japan will prove that sevens is a crucial pathway for outstanding young players. New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, England and the USA are amongst the teams that will feature attacking talent hailing from the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
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The profile of shorter rugby format has been significantly enhanced by the introduction of the sport to the Olympic Games, with Fiji’s triumph in Rio in 2016 ging their players the chance to break into the 15-a-side set-up.
Now Amor, the England sevens head coach, is delighted that Ruaridh McConnochie has been selected in the England World Cup squad for Japan, a development that will add further focussed attention on the talent being delivered by the sevens series.
Amor guided Britain to silver in Rio with a squad that included McConnochie, along with Scotland centre Mark Bennett, Wasps wing Marcus Watson, Harlequins Ollie Lindsay Hague and Scarlets flanker James Davies, who won three Wales caps in 2018 following his sevens success.
Fiji’s World Cup squad is set to feature Rio gold medal winners Semi Kunatani, Leone Nakawara, Vili Mata and Josh Tuisova, and the Springboks have Kwagga Smith and Cheslin Kolbe.
Ruaridh McConnochie's journey is an England underdog story to warm the heart https://t.co/oyu4WHDiSt
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USA boss Gary Gold has included the sevens trio of Madison Hughes, Ben Pinkelman and Martin Iosefo in the Pacific Nations Cup matches, with New Zealand featuring former sevens teenage sensation Rieko Ioane along with Ben Smith and Beauden Barrett, who previously played in the shortened game. All Black centre Sonny Bill Williams was included in the All Blacks sevens squad for the Rio games but was injured.
Amor said: “It clear there is so much exciting, dynamic, fast, powerful and explosive talent on the World Sevens Series where there is space to be exploited.
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“It is then a case of can the players transfer that into a much more cluttered 15s pitch? What you are seeing now are players doing incredibly well on the sevens series and then getting picked up by 15s side.”
Here's a few shots from our game against Samoa last weekend, getting that W in the bag to close off the 2019 PNC.
Make sure to bring the family along this Saturday 17/8/19 to Albert Park for our Fiji Airways Flying Fijians Family Fun Day.#ItsFijisTime ??
? Kirk Corrie pic.twitter.com/gcyGRLREQh— Fiji Rugby Union (@fijirugby) August 12, 2019
Fiji sevens coach Gareth Baber is confident of having the services of former sevens stars at the 2020 Games because it is much easier for Fijian players to swap back from the 15s game as they grow up playing with just six other team-mates on the pitch.
The same is not true for potential Britain players, however, who may not have ever played sevens in their careers. It is a problem Amor is only too aware of as he plans for the Tokyo Olympics.
“A young Fijian player who makes his debut in the World Series will have played 1,000s of hours playing sevens in his village while for a young English player joining the series it will be significantly less.
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“Therefore, it’s a lot easier for someone who has grown up playing in the Islands to go back to sevens after 15s. What is a lot simpler is sevens into 15s and while there are learnings like kick positioning, beating a player one-on-one, evasion and single person rucks are what you deal with in sevens.
“It also depends how a team wants to play and Kwagga Smith has done well in the back row for the Springboks having been a world-class hooker in sevens.”
While Baber expects – contracts permitting – to bring back players from 15s for the Tokyo Olympics, Amor knows that is something he would struggle to achieve.
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“That will be a really challenging one because the players are with really ambitious clubs in Europe, in the Premiership, while there is also the Six Nations.
“I believe that going forward more youngsters will spend time in the sevens, developing their skills set and then transitioning back into 15s as much better players. With England, we identify players through the universities and also the club academies.
“At Rio, we took James Davies and he had a full 11 weeks in the programme and it took every one of those days to get him international sevens fit.
Best hangover ever….. pic.twitter.com/yrbuYtk75t
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“The build-up to Tokyo next year means there is only around seven weeks between the end of the World Sevens Series and the Olympics, which means that any nation that wants 15s guys will have to get them heavily involved in the series.
“Playing in the series, getting into an Olympic final with hundreds of millions watching around the world and 60,000 in the stadium – is that a good experience for the development of a young player? Of course, it is. That enables sevens to be a success in its own right and also develop outstanding players.”
WATCH: Part one of Operation Jaypan, the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what the fans can expect to experience at the World Cup in Japan
Comments on RugbyPass
Exciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
11 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
11 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to comments