Men's Rugby Sevens Qualification to Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024

[dodge 1,040]

5 hours ago, rajiv said:

I think an issue for rugby may be that having 7s in the Olympics might mean that many countries will take 7s more seriously than the main 15s game.

I'm particularly thinking of USA and Canada who take the Olympics very seriously but are very ordinary in 15s- they often don't qualify for Rugby World Cups and are 3rd tier at best in normal rugby

I'm sure rugby wants 7s to be seen as lesser than 15s

It would be like 3×3 basketball being taken more seriously than mainstream basketball

A similar thing may happen with cricket.

All cricket fans see Test cricket as the purest and highest form but Olympic cricket will be the abbreviated twenty20 format

 

That’s just because the those countries are more capable of competing in sevens (due to the nature of the sport). The USA (add Kenya, Canada and more) have zero chance of competing in 15s against New Zealand, France, Ireland etc but they can all beat them in sevens. 
 

Of course the Olympics has sharpened those countries too and France and Ireland in particular have taken sevens more seriously as a direct result of the Olympics 

[SalamAkhi 341]

6 hours ago, rajiv said:

I think an issue for rugby may be that having 7s in the Olympics might mean that many countries will take 7s more seriously than the main 15s game.

I'm particularly thinking of USA and Canada who take the Olympics very seriously but are very ordinary in 15s- they often don't qualify for Rugby World Cups and are 3rd tier at best in normal rugby

I'm sure rugby wants 7s to be seen as lesser than 15s

It would be like 3×3 basketball being taken more seriously than mainstream basketball

A similar thing may happen with cricket.

All cricket fans see Test cricket as the purest and highest form but Olympic cricket will be the abbreviated twenty20 format

 

That would be an issue if World Rugby actually wanted 15s to grow. They don't. It's a closed party, with personnal interests and historical biases deterring newcomers from coming in.

[Benolympique 2,418]

when will the draw take place?

[Epic Failure 359]

World Rugby clearly would love the 15s game to spread. But they have to push back against the established countries and their tournaments to do it. The increase in the 15s WC to 24 teams shows that WR is in favour of it.

 

It's easier in 7s where they have more control over the top level of the game. And, as Dodge says, the competitiveness is greater there.

 

[Epic Failure 359]

8 hours ago, Benolympique said:

when will the draw take place?

Draw for what - the Olympics? I'd imagine not until after the final qualifying tournament later in the month.

Edited June 2, 2024 by Epic Failure