World Rugby currently run two different versions of the sport of Rugby Union. The primary 15-a-side format, along with the abbreviated 7-a-side format. This is not dissimilar to another team sport like football, where FIFA alongside standard football also govern 5-a-side "beach soccer" and "futsal".
However unlike football, in rugby the split between different codes has caused muddle headed confusion among many fans, administrators, and unfortunately this is especially relevant to Tier 2 Unions.
Being a huge promoter of 7s has become associated with having modern progressive views and growing the game beyond its established 'Tier 1' nations. Whilst some of these people may mean well, this is a warped viewpoint, that misunderstand reality of rugby across the world, and in fact comes across merely as the Tier 1 traditionalist's idea of how to make themselves appear more modern and progressive.
Most fans do not care as much about 7s compared to 15s
Obviously this isn't to say nobody cares about any 7s match ever at all (the Olympic final for instance). However it is simply stating fact that for the vast majority of rugby fans 15s is the main version of the sport they prefer to follow across most of the year and care about most. It is not even remotely close.
This is a key point. In the UK for instance the World 7s Series gets few mentions in any sports pages. As England were playing Wales in the 6 Nations this year, there were likely many in attendance who not even aware that they were also playing 7s over in Canada that weekend, let alone particularly care deeply about the results. In short for 7s results simply do not mean as much to people as 15s does.
Another example is a rugby rivalry such as Georgia vs Russia. This is a huge fixture for the Lelos in particular whose fans take good pride in their long winning run over the Bears and pack stadiums in Tbilisi to watch it. If they were to lose this in 15s it would be a stinging blow (and a tremendous result for Russia) and fans would be furious.
However over the past 4 years in 7s the same Georgia vs Russia fixture has been played 12 times and the Lelos have only won 2. Yet almost no Georgian fan even notices never mind gets particularly annoyed about those defeats (which are played in front of practically no fans in Rugby Europe tournaments). The same meaning and rivalry to the fixture just does not exist as so few really deeply care.
You could say similar for countless other fixtures as well. There are very few 7s matches that will be remembered in rugby history in the same way as the most famous 15s matches.
Wales' 7s World Cup win in 2009 and Aled Thomas' winning try is not remembered alongside Grand Slams as one of the most legendary moments of Welsh rugby history. Samoa's World 7s Series winning team of 2010 is not remembered in the same way as their 1991 RWC team. Brian Lima or Pat Lam remain far more familiar names to rugby fans than Lolo Lui or Mikaele Pesamino. When people remember classic All Blacks moments and matches, it's not their many 7s Series titles that people tend to mention.
Most England, All Blacks, or Springboks fans could name their entire 15s team, but they are far less likely familiar with the entire current 7s team. I could go on and on but you should get the point.
This probably more closely resembles who plays the main form of football, and who may instead become a beach football player. However for some Tier 2 Unions the split has not always been so clear cut.
Most muddled in this regard is Canada, but also Spain, and previously (but not now) Russia and Portugal both were. In those cases it has not always been unusual for players or potential players from the 15s player pool to have been pinched by 7s call ups.
A notable example is Vladimir Ostroushko, one of Russia's best players who was lost to 7s for 4 years only returning aged 32 ahead of the RWC. This year Martín Alonso was withdrawn from the Spain squad for the REC to play 7s, whilst U20 prospects Juan Martínez or Diego Periel have been removed from 15s unknown if they will return. Connor Braid has disappeared from the selection picture for Canada since he has become a 7s specialist, likewise for the USA full time 7s players Danny Barrett or Madison Hughes cannot be said to have achieved their full potential in 15s.
It goes beyond merely losing players though. In certain cases where full time 7s players have been switching codes and not been able to produce their best on rejoining the 15s team. The best example is what we saw with Canada at RWC 2015 where they calamitously fielded a pair of 7s half backs vs Romania. Then perhaps most important of all there is the money diverted away from 15s as well from Tier 2 Unions who have far smaller budgets to work with than Tier 1 Unions do.
Mixed and confused efforts
The overall result of 7s for a nation such as Canada has been mixed and confused efforts. They have backed 7s to the extent it is disrupts 15s and takes resources away from it, but at the same time 15s does still remain their priority, and this leaves their overall efforts and focus as a Union not 100% towards either 15s or 7s.
For a Tier 2 nation to do this is silly. Trying to have a foot in both camps like that is just a recipe for two sets of underachievement. In 7s they are not seriously challenging for a World Series titles, and took losses to nations like Germany and Russia in missing out on qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, whilst in 15s their performances have taken a nosedive and were very fortunate not to suffer disaster in missing out on the 2019 RWC. This is not to say 7s is the only reason for their downfall, or even necessarily the main reason, but when you see their 15s team in such a dismal state it does not make sense for their small resources to be used for secondary side projects.
Canada are the worst for this but are not alone. Spain still seem intent on funnelling several top young backline prospects towards careers in the 7s Series before we even know whether they can make it in 15s (if Samu Ezeala had stayed in Spain it would not surprise if he was destined for the same path). This practice is frustrating and not helping them work towards a more homegrown 15s team in the future.
Ironically established Tier 1 nation Ireland recently deciding to give 7s a bit more effort has actually done the global game a favour in removing a possible spot for another Tier 2 side (like possibly Uruguay or Chile) to potentially lose players from their 15s player pool to the full time 7s circuit.
The pointless lower level 7s
Competing in 7s does make sense for nations who can manage to contend for titles at the highest level on the strict proviso it does not negatively effect or divert focus away from the priority of 15s.
Fiji of course are the most notable example. Although not a wealthy Union, they have such a uniquely deep pool of some of the most incredible natural talent, they can still be world leaders at 7s minus hundreds of players playing 15s professionally abroad. Their success comes with almost no cost to their 15s program and unlike any other nation 7s is also a big part of their rugby history and brand.
It makes a lot less sense though for nations who do not have a talent pool as special as Fiji, do not have the money of Tier 1 for side projects, or the number of surplus players from top level fully pro academy backgrounds, 7s is not a big part of their rugby history, and could only realistically compete seriously in the World 7s Series if resources were diverted specifically towards that at some expense to 15s.
These are nations such as Japan, Georgia, Tonga, Romania, Namibia, Netherlands, Brazil etc. None of whom have gone out of their way to make particularly serious efforts in 7s, but who all nevertheless still field 7s teams but in much lower profile low level competitions.
However it still utterly baffling as to why exactly those teams still even bother to field 7s teams at all? What exactly is the point of the Georgian 7s team? Or the Romanian 7s team? Or the Dutch 7s team? Or the Brazil 7s team? And other similarly unserious 7s setups?
There are some teams whose lack of effort in 7s has been almost comical at times. Italy is perhaps the most notable example (in the past their 7s teams have recorded losses against some of the tiniest of rugby nations such as Andorra, Croatia, Lithuania, Taiwan, Zambia, & China).
If those nations went truly 100% at 7s they could possibly get into one of the core spots on the World 7s circuit. However doing that would obviously come at the expense of achieving their full potential in 15s setups. But seeing as they (wisely) are not considering that then what is the point of having a 7s team at all if it going to be so low effort? What is the benefit of sides with limited resources sending D-list talent to play in obscure 7s tournaments nobody cares about miles away from home?
Some of the same arguments also apply to WR and their use of resources as well. They recently just created a "7s Challenger Series" event which included many of these low effort setups. Very few people turned up, very few from the nations involved cared, and it was a total waste of development money.
How can WR justify financing a tournament which included various nations who themselves don't seem to care about enough to send anything close to resembling a somewhat serious team with any purpose whatsoever?
Promoting 7s is not "the ideal vehicle to grow the game"
One thing that is undeniable about 7s though is there is more chance of a wider range of nations potentially winning on their day compared to 15s. Numerous results are possible in 7s that are implausible in the longer form of the game.
However this along with the shorter length of a single match often leads people to the wrong idea that 7s is superior to 15s when it comes to growing the sport's popularity globally to new markets. This idea gets stated like fact by 7s advocates and pushed by some influential figures from Tier 1 nations (including key administrators at WR).
Recently on Keith Wood's podcast they had on Giles Morgan, head of HSBC sponsorship, say "if I'm going to take the game into new markets, I'm not taking 15s a side, ever!" (with Stuart Barnes nodding along). Whilst WR chairman Bill Beaumont himself has stated "7s is the ideal vehicle to grow the game" and "might be a better vehicle for some countries than 15s a side".
Incidentally Morgan also was previously behind a "Future of Rugby" report by HSBC and boosted by World Rugby claiming among other things: "the impact of Olympic 7s will be greater than the RWC and mean it will soon rival football as an international game", and that by 2026 "both China and Brazil will be competitive in men's 7s", and "there will be several domestic 7s competitions equivalent to the success to Twenty20 cricket's Big Bash in Australia". Utterly delusional ... but apparently taken seriously by WR.
This general line of thinking hinges around the idea from Tier 1 people that potential new fans from less traditional rugby areas are too stupid to understand 15s so should instead be fed 7s. It is such a paternalistic, patronising, and downright ignorant view of the world of rugby.
The approach from these sorts of Tier 1 people towards Tier 2 nations basically amounts to "go and play 7s, the game we don't really care much about ourselves, as you will be too simple to understand the complexity of 15s which we will keep as an establishment club" (an argument which of course ignores large percentages of casual fans at a 6 Nations match at Twickenham probably don't understand every detail at a ruck or maul and can still go to enjoy the basics of a big scrum, tackle, or run).
If these people paid more attention they would find almost everywhere 15s is the product that has more meaning, more potential to make money, and is more capable of capturing new fans and public imagination (if you ask most fans anywhere of their earliest memories discovering rugby is from watching 15s). Tier 1 people understand all this for themselves, but not so for less established nations. If they didn't take such a paternalistic and patronising view of global rugby they might realise fans in Tier 2 nations and across the globe are not in fact so different to Tier 1 in what they prefer.
Having a larger number of teams (partly owing to the format as well as the fact the big teams have literally hundreds of players focusing on 15s instead) being able to possibly strike an upset on their day, should not be confused with more broadly growing rugby's popularity and relevance globally.
You may get more shock results in 7s but they are simply devalued by how few actually care. For example Spain's upset over New Zealand in 7s last year got so few lines in the NZ Herald you could fit in a single tweet. If they ever beat the All Blacks in 15s it would send monumental shockwaves through the entire sport and be remembered and talked about for generations and generations.
Similarly there are probably many possibly even quite hardcore fans who may not even know that Chile beat France in the Las Vegas 7s last year. What would have been a gargantuan upset in 15s meant almost nothing and barely registered in the rugby world. On the footage the commentators and crowd barely noted anything significant and quickly moved on to the next match about 30 seconds later.
Even whilst 7s is more unpredictable, everyone also deep down knows that if New Zealand or France really cared enough they could quite easily see to it that the chances of them losing to Spain or Chile were nearly as small as they are in 15s. So 7s upsets like that just do not feel like they are the genuine article.
It is obvious that 15s is the pinnacle of the sport and where actual significant global growth and interest comes from. We saw as Spain were on the cusp of qualifying for RWC 2019 they reached the front pages of MARCA and filled stadium their stadium for matches against Romania and Germany. Nobody needed go dressed up as an avocado or do "DHL Mexican waves" to keep themselves entertained. People actually cared about the rugby and the fans (some of whom may have been new to the game and among those who arrogant Tier 1 blazers think 15s is too complex for) filled the ground with incredible passion which created a memorable occasion and helped their team to victories.
It was scenes like those (or those also seen when Uruguay reached the RWC) and the bandwagon effect that follows which can inspire a new wave of fans dripping down to all levels which can lead to major growth of the sport. Those are the scenes that Spanish rugby and others should aspire to create.
Also with Japan (although in their case they were already a RWC regular). Their win over South Africa in 2015 was one of the most memorable moments in sporting history and led to suddenly millions in the middle of the night tuning in to watch their later matches. They may actually against the odds have progressed further in the Olympics 7s but it didn't have anything close to the same effect. Similarly Spain against the odds also qualified for the Olympics 7s but it did not capture imagination anything like reaching the RWC would have done.
If rugby is to reach new markets such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Korea, and more areas in continental Europe (I do not mention WR's pipe dreams India and China as both seem so extremely far fetched at this point) the primary progress will come in 15s especially around the RWC.
What is the role of 7s?
For various reasons 7s will never rival 15s in terms of meaning and popularity as a spectator sport. One of the laziest things you will hear from 7s enthusiasts is comparisons between it and Twenty20 cricket. It isn't really equivalent to that at all, but rather is more comparable to the "Hong Kong Cricket Sixes" event, or 5-a-side Futsal in football (numerous teams playing over a couple of days in one location, reduced players per side, negligible domestic game etc).
This is not to say 7s has no role at all in the promotion of rugby. Its format can fit well into the Olympics or Commonwealth Games which 15s certainly cannot. Fewer people on teams means it is far easier to do recreationally, or to organise amateur tournaments which gives opportunities to more teams to have numbers to compete, and for everyone in a squad to play over the course of multiple matches in a day (in 15s you often can get matches where a player only gets maybe 10 minutes from the bench). It also simply offers something if fans just as something slightly different for a change.
In its place as a side event 7s can operate fine alongside the main event of 15s with no issues. The only problem is many in the game including at WR have convinced themselves when it comes to Tier 2 nations it is "the ideal vehicle to grow the game". On the contrary this idea only risks harming global growth by confusing Unions and diverting precious resources away from making progress in 15s which is the form of the game which the vast majority of fans across the world care about.
Being a huge promoter of 7s has become associated with having modern progressive views and growing the game beyond its established 'Tier 1' nations. Whilst some of these people may mean well, this is a warped viewpoint, that misunderstand reality of rugby across the world, and in fact comes across merely as the Tier 1 traditionalist's idea of how to make themselves appear more modern and progressive.
Most fans do not care as much about 7s compared to 15s
Obviously this isn't to say nobody cares about any 7s match ever at all (the Olympic final for instance). However it is simply stating fact that for the vast majority of rugby fans 15s is the main version of the sport they prefer to follow across most of the year and care about most. It is not even remotely close.
This is a key point. In the UK for instance the World 7s Series gets few mentions in any sports pages. As England were playing Wales in the 6 Nations this year, there were likely many in attendance who not even aware that they were also playing 7s over in Canada that weekend, let alone particularly care deeply about the results. In short for 7s results simply do not mean as much to people as 15s does.
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| Georgia take great pride in always beating Russia in 15s and a loss in this fixture would sting badly yet when it happens in 7s few fans even notice |
However over the past 4 years in 7s the same Georgia vs Russia fixture has been played 12 times and the Lelos have only won 2. Yet almost no Georgian fan even notices never mind gets particularly annoyed about those defeats (which are played in front of practically no fans in Rugby Europe tournaments). The same meaning and rivalry to the fixture just does not exist as so few really deeply care.
You could say similar for countless other fixtures as well. There are very few 7s matches that will be remembered in rugby history in the same way as the most famous 15s matches.
Wales' 7s World Cup win in 2009 and Aled Thomas' winning try is not remembered alongside Grand Slams as one of the most legendary moments of Welsh rugby history. Samoa's World 7s Series winning team of 2010 is not remembered in the same way as their 1991 RWC team. Brian Lima or Pat Lam remain far more familiar names to rugby fans than Lolo Lui or Mikaele Pesamino. When people remember classic All Blacks moments and matches, it's not their many 7s Series titles that people tend to mention.
Most England, All Blacks, or Springboks fans could name their entire 15s team, but they are far less likely familiar with the entire current 7s team. I could go on and on but you should get the point.
Competition for limited resources of 'Tier 2' nations
Globally rugby is not one the biggest and best paid sports and in only very few countries does it draw the number one pick of athletically gifted talent towards it.
So it is already hard enough already in many countries (aside from the few where it is the biggest sport: New Zealand and other Pacific Islands) to get that first pick of high level talent. 7s adds to the mix some degree of internal competition with 15s (not just for talent, but also crucially for money).
However for Tier 1 this competition for talent between the two versions of the sport is so one sided it is almost non-existent. Wales are not going to be giving 7s any key players from the 15s game to help them out in their current relegation battle for instance. Many of the players on the 7s circuit are in fact either very young, or ones who struggled to make it at a professional level, and have little immediate relevance to a top level professional 15s setup (those that can manage to find opportunity then immediately disappear from 7s). So most Tier 1 7s outfits is based on surplus talent from 15s setups.
So it is already hard enough already in many countries (aside from the few where it is the biggest sport: New Zealand and other Pacific Islands) to get that first pick of high level talent. 7s adds to the mix some degree of internal competition with 15s (not just for talent, but also crucially for money).
However for Tier 1 this competition for talent between the two versions of the sport is so one sided it is almost non-existent. Wales are not going to be giving 7s any key players from the 15s game to help them out in their current relegation battle for instance. Many of the players on the 7s circuit are in fact either very young, or ones who struggled to make it at a professional level, and have little immediate relevance to a top level professional 15s setup (those that can manage to find opportunity then immediately disappear from 7s). So most Tier 1 7s outfits is based on surplus talent from 15s setups.
This probably more closely resembles who plays the main form of football, and who may instead become a beach football player. However for some Tier 2 Unions the split has not always been so clear cut.
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| Vladimir Ostroushko was one of Russia's best players when he was lost to 7s in 2014 |
Most muddled in this regard is Canada, but also Spain, and previously (but not now) Russia and Portugal both were. In those cases it has not always been unusual for players or potential players from the 15s player pool to have been pinched by 7s call ups.
A notable example is Vladimir Ostroushko, one of Russia's best players who was lost to 7s for 4 years only returning aged 32 ahead of the RWC. This year Martín Alonso was withdrawn from the Spain squad for the REC to play 7s, whilst U20 prospects Juan Martínez or Diego Periel have been removed from 15s unknown if they will return. Connor Braid has disappeared from the selection picture for Canada since he has become a 7s specialist, likewise for the USA full time 7s players Danny Barrett or Madison Hughes cannot be said to have achieved their full potential in 15s.
It goes beyond merely losing players though. In certain cases where full time 7s players have been switching codes and not been able to produce their best on rejoining the 15s team. The best example is what we saw with Canada at RWC 2015 where they calamitously fielded a pair of 7s half backs vs Romania. Then perhaps most important of all there is the money diverted away from 15s as well from Tier 2 Unions who have far smaller budgets to work with than Tier 1 Unions do.
Mixed and confused efforts
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| Canada fall to a humiliating thrashing at home against Russia in June 2018 |
The overall result of 7s for a nation such as Canada has been mixed and confused efforts. They have backed 7s to the extent it is disrupts 15s and takes resources away from it, but at the same time 15s does still remain their priority, and this leaves their overall efforts and focus as a Union not 100% towards either 15s or 7s.
For a Tier 2 nation to do this is silly. Trying to have a foot in both camps like that is just a recipe for two sets of underachievement. In 7s they are not seriously challenging for a World Series titles, and took losses to nations like Germany and Russia in missing out on qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, whilst in 15s their performances have taken a nosedive and were very fortunate not to suffer disaster in missing out on the 2019 RWC. This is not to say 7s is the only reason for their downfall, or even necessarily the main reason, but when you see their 15s team in such a dismal state it does not make sense for their small resources to be used for secondary side projects.
Canada are the worst for this but are not alone. Spain still seem intent on funnelling several top young backline prospects towards careers in the 7s Series before we even know whether they can make it in 15s (if Samu Ezeala had stayed in Spain it would not surprise if he was destined for the same path). This practice is frustrating and not helping them work towards a more homegrown 15s team in the future.
Ironically established Tier 1 nation Ireland recently deciding to give 7s a bit more effort has actually done the global game a favour in removing a possible spot for another Tier 2 side (like possibly Uruguay or Chile) to potentially lose players from their 15s player pool to the full time 7s circuit.
The pointless lower level 7s
Competing in 7s does make sense for nations who can manage to contend for titles at the highest level on the strict proviso it does not negatively effect or divert focus away from the priority of 15s.
Fiji of course are the most notable example. Although not a wealthy Union, they have such a uniquely deep pool of some of the most incredible natural talent, they can still be world leaders at 7s minus hundreds of players playing 15s professionally abroad. Their success comes with almost no cost to their 15s program and unlike any other nation 7s is also a big part of their rugby history and brand.
It makes a lot less sense though for nations who do not have a talent pool as special as Fiji, do not have the money of Tier 1 for side projects, or the number of surplus players from top level fully pro academy backgrounds, 7s is not a big part of their rugby history, and could only realistically compete seriously in the World 7s Series if resources were diverted specifically towards that at some expense to 15s.
These are nations such as Japan, Georgia, Tonga, Romania, Namibia, Netherlands, Brazil etc. None of whom have gone out of their way to make particularly serious efforts in 7s, but who all nevertheless still field 7s teams but in much lower profile low level competitions.
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| Italy's very low effort 7s side playing Poland in a Rugby Europe tournament |
However it still utterly baffling as to why exactly those teams still even bother to field 7s teams at all? What exactly is the point of the Georgian 7s team? Or the Romanian 7s team? Or the Dutch 7s team? Or the Brazil 7s team? And other similarly unserious 7s setups?
There are some teams whose lack of effort in 7s has been almost comical at times. Italy is perhaps the most notable example (in the past their 7s teams have recorded losses against some of the tiniest of rugby nations such as Andorra, Croatia, Lithuania, Taiwan, Zambia, & China).
If those nations went truly 100% at 7s they could possibly get into one of the core spots on the World 7s circuit. However doing that would obviously come at the expense of achieving their full potential in 15s setups. But seeing as they (wisely) are not considering that then what is the point of having a 7s team at all if it going to be so low effort? What is the benefit of sides with limited resources sending D-list talent to play in obscure 7s tournaments nobody cares about miles away from home?
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| The sparse crowd at the recent 7s Challenger Series event |
Some of the same arguments also apply to WR and their use of resources as well. They recently just created a "7s Challenger Series" event which included many of these low effort setups. Very few people turned up, very few from the nations involved cared, and it was a total waste of development money.
How can WR justify financing a tournament which included various nations who themselves don't seem to care about enough to send anything close to resembling a somewhat serious team with any purpose whatsoever?
Promoting 7s is not "the ideal vehicle to grow the game"
One thing that is undeniable about 7s though is there is more chance of a wider range of nations potentially winning on their day compared to 15s. Numerous results are possible in 7s that are implausible in the longer form of the game.
 |
| WR Chairman Bill Beaumont: "7s is the ideal vehicle to grow the game" and "might be a better vehicle for some countries than 15s a side" |
However this along with the shorter length of a single match often leads people to the wrong idea that 7s is superior to 15s when it comes to growing the sport's popularity globally to new markets. This idea gets stated like fact by 7s advocates and pushed by some influential figures from Tier 1 nations (including key administrators at WR).
Recently on Keith Wood's podcast they had on Giles Morgan, head of HSBC sponsorship, say "if I'm going to take the game into new markets, I'm not taking 15s a side, ever!" (with Stuart Barnes nodding along). Whilst WR chairman Bill Beaumont himself has stated "7s is the ideal vehicle to grow the game" and "might be a better vehicle for some countries than 15s a side".
Incidentally Morgan also was previously behind a "Future of Rugby" report by HSBC and boosted by World Rugby claiming among other things: "the impact of Olympic 7s will be greater than the RWC and mean it will soon rival football as an international game", and that by 2026 "both China and Brazil will be competitive in men's 7s", and "there will be several domestic 7s competitions equivalent to the success to Twenty20 cricket's Big Bash in Australia". Utterly delusional ... but apparently taken seriously by WR.
This general line of thinking hinges around the idea from Tier 1 people that potential new fans from less traditional rugby areas are too stupid to understand 15s so should instead be fed 7s. It is such a paternalistic, patronising, and downright ignorant view of the world of rugby.
The approach from these sorts of Tier 1 people towards Tier 2 nations basically amounts to "go and play 7s, the game we don't really care much about ourselves, as you will be too simple to understand the complexity of 15s which we will keep as an establishment club" (an argument which of course ignores large percentages of casual fans at a 6 Nations match at Twickenham probably don't understand every detail at a ruck or maul and can still go to enjoy the basics of a big scrum, tackle, or run).
Video: Brazil's record 34,451 crowd (many of whom would be brand new to rugby)
thoroughly enjoy a monster scrum from their team vs Maori All Blacks in 2018. Some at WR
appear to think things like scrums are too complicated for new markets like these and
would be better off being fed 7s and encouraged to dress up as avocados instead.
If these people paid more attention they would find almost everywhere 15s is the product that has more meaning, more potential to make money, and is more capable of capturing new fans and public imagination (if you ask most fans anywhere of their earliest memories discovering rugby is from watching 15s). Tier 1 people understand all this for themselves, but not so for less established nations. If they didn't take such a paternalistic and patronising view of global rugby they might realise fans in Tier 2 nations and across the globe are not in fact so different to Tier 1 in what they prefer.
Having a larger number of teams (partly owing to the format as well as the fact the big teams have literally hundreds of players focusing on 15s instead) being able to possibly strike an upset on their day, should not be confused with more broadly growing rugby's popularity and relevance globally.
You may get more shock results in 7s but they are simply devalued by how few actually care. For example Spain's upset over New Zealand in 7s last year got so few lines in the NZ Herald you could fit in a single tweet. If they ever beat the All Blacks in 15s it would send monumental shockwaves through the entire sport and be remembered and talked about for generations and generations.
Similarly there are probably many possibly even quite hardcore fans who may not even know that Chile beat France in the Las Vegas 7s last year. What would have been a gargantuan upset in 15s meant almost nothing and barely registered in the rugby world. On the footage the commentators and crowd barely noted anything significant and quickly moved on to the next match about 30 seconds later.
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| Spanish rugby on the front page of MARCA in 2018 |
Even whilst 7s is more unpredictable, everyone also deep down knows that if New Zealand or France really cared enough they could quite easily see to it that the chances of them losing to Spain or Chile were nearly as small as they are in 15s. So 7s upsets like that just do not feel like they are the genuine article.
It is obvious that 15s is the pinnacle of the sport and where actual significant global growth and interest comes from. We saw as Spain were on the cusp of qualifying for RWC 2019 they reached the front pages of MARCA and filled stadium their stadium for matches against Romania and Germany. Nobody needed go dressed up as an avocado or do "DHL Mexican waves" to keep themselves entertained. People actually cared about the rugby and the fans (some of whom may have been new to the game and among those who arrogant Tier 1 blazers think 15s is too complex for) filled the ground with incredible passion which created a memorable occasion and helped their team to victories.
It was scenes like those (or those also seen when Uruguay reached the RWC) and the bandwagon effect that follows which can inspire a new wave of fans dripping down to all levels which can lead to major growth of the sport. Those are the scenes that Spanish rugby and others should aspire to create.
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| Japan have captured their public's imagination in the past two RWCs |
Also with Japan (although in their case they were already a RWC regular). Their win over South Africa in 2015 was one of the most memorable moments in sporting history and led to suddenly millions in the middle of the night tuning in to watch their later matches. They may actually against the odds have progressed further in the Olympics 7s but it didn't have anything close to the same effect. Similarly Spain against the odds also qualified for the Olympics 7s but it did not capture imagination anything like reaching the RWC would have done.
If rugby is to reach new markets such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Korea, and more areas in continental Europe (I do not mention WR's pipe dreams India and China as both seem so extremely far fetched at this point) the primary progress will come in 15s especially around the RWC.
What is the role of 7s?
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| Rugby 7s is more equivalent to cricket's "Hong Kong Sixes" event than T20 |
For various reasons 7s will never rival 15s in terms of meaning and popularity as a spectator sport. One of the laziest things you will hear from 7s enthusiasts is comparisons between it and Twenty20 cricket. It isn't really equivalent to that at all, but rather is more comparable to the "Hong Kong Cricket Sixes" event, or 5-a-side Futsal in football (numerous teams playing over a couple of days in one location, reduced players per side, negligible domestic game etc).
This is not to say 7s has no role at all in the promotion of rugby. Its format can fit well into the Olympics or Commonwealth Games which 15s certainly cannot. Fewer people on teams means it is far easier to do recreationally, or to organise amateur tournaments which gives opportunities to more teams to have numbers to compete, and for everyone in a squad to play over the course of multiple matches in a day (in 15s you often can get matches where a player only gets maybe 10 minutes from the bench). It also simply offers something if fans just as something slightly different for a change.
In its place as a side event 7s can operate fine alongside the main event of 15s with no issues. The only problem is many in the game including at WR have convinced themselves when it comes to Tier 2 nations it is "the ideal vehicle to grow the game". On the contrary this idea only risks harming global growth by confusing Unions and diverting precious resources away from making progress in 15s which is the form of the game which the vast majority of fans across the world care about.
Japan
Spain
Colombia
Chile
