Sevens World Cup Rugby Preview: It Is Just a Glorified Olympic Bid?

The fifth edition of the Sevens World Cup will be held in Dubai, and unlike its 15 man big brother, is a competition that could be won by many competing teams.

Its origins trace back to 1993, when Scotland made a proposal to the International Rugby board, and were the maiden hosts of the event. 

Since then it has featured three winners, England at the inaugural event, Fiji twice (1997 and 2005) and New Zealand (2001).  Fiji, who has seen their relative superiority in rugby sevens dull in the last couple of years, will attempt to become the first nation to be able to defend the title.

Sevens as a sport has gone from strength to strength in the last year, primarily through the rise of so called minnow nations and the evening out of the playing field at the top level.

New Zealand is far and away the most successful Sevens team in history.  Of the nine IRB World sevens series titles (the calendar championship of Sevens), eight of them have been won by New Zealand.  Of the three Commonwealth games (since its inclusion at 1998) New Zealand has won all the Gold medals.

But this year, with four legs of the World Series held so far, New Zealand and Fiji, the traditional heavyweights, haven’t won a single championship. 

The first day of the 2008/09 championship in Dubai saw the official attendance record broken, and Kenya this year took the scalp of New Zealand at the USA series.  No single team has dominated the championships after New Zealand was all but unbeatable in the last series.

More importantly, this year for the first time, a 16 team women’s competition will run alongside the men’s 24 team tournament.  This is a strong move by the Rugby world, and gives the female players an international exposure in which they have never received before.

This is a prudent action, especially after the IRB submitted a proposal to the Olympic commission years ago for Sevens to be included, but conspicuously made no mention of the women’s side of the code.

The IOC will be guests at this tournament, and will be assessing the World Cup for evidence of how well such an edition of the Sevens is operated logistically and its fan appeal. 

The hosting in Dubai is again a clever move by the IRB, effectively road testing the new facilities in the Middle East by having the opening leg of this year’s World Series there in November 2008.

Rugby sevens is one of seven sports attempting to gain entry into the Olympics, competing with karate, baseball, softball, golf, squash, and roller sports.  Two nations will gain entry into the 2016 Olympics, with the decision being made at Copenhagen in October this year.

Rugby sevens was required to submit an 80 question document to the Olympic committee.  The nine chapter document covered the history, tradition, popularity, worldwide registered individuals, refereeing, global governance and financial management.

Being a World Cup year gives rugby an advantage over its competitors, as it showcases the IRB and rugby’s ability to handle such a large scale event.

Furthermore, Rugby has huge advantages, having a relatively clean history with athlete welfare and drugs, but it would be the ability of the Sevens to fill the main stadium prior to the Athletics that would be financially appealing to the IOC. 

It has been noted that the only original concern of the Olympic boards was that Rugby was not a code in which in theory, anyone could win. 

This year has most definitely changed this.

Rugby is believed to (and most agencies give it odds at) a one in two chance of gaining entry.

The other sports at a glance:

Karate

Has huge advantages considered its strength within Asia, but the numerous different versions of Karate means it will have a problem differentiating certain styles, and there is already a strong martial arts presence at the Olympics.

Baseball

Dropped from the Olympics in 2005, suffers from terrible drug issues and does not have complete support of the world’s biggest individual, the MLB in America.  Considering the IOC’s rigid stance on drug use and baseballs lack of force in implementing strict controls, is probably an outside chance.

Softball

Submitted a proposal highlighting its rapidly growing popularity, especially in the Middle East and Asia, was dropped from the Olympics in 2005.  Often is confused with baseball, it has arguably the largest female participation of any sport in the world. 

Squash

Strong in smaller countries, some insiders say that the Olympic inclusion is necessary as popularity is waning.  Squash suffers from television watchability (a small black ball!).  Submitted a dramatic proposal with glass courts framed by a dramatic night scene of the pyramids; is considered a strong chance.

Golf

Backed by the world’s best players, with Tiger Woods and company, Golf is submitted a strong proposal.  The big names attached to it could be a plus, but the dominance of the fore mentioned player could be a problem.  Also considered too much of an elitist sport by some.

Roller sports

While TV friendly, it is not a global sport as the other proposals are, and is considered something of an oddity by their non viewing audience.  Considered an outside chance.