Rugby Sevens: Short-Sighted IRFU Need To Act
Alex Kirwan argues the need for the IRFU to establish an Irish rugby sevens side, with the sport being included in the Olympics form Rio 2016 onwards.
Since Ireland began competing in the Summer Olympic Games in 1928, they have won a grand total of 28 Olympic medals. This would seem to indicate that medals are hard to come by for such a small nation.
If this writer was to tell you that with minimum effort from an administrative point of view and possibly very little money, Ireland had a chance to go to Brazil next year with a real prospect of twelve individual medals (one as a team). “How?” would be the question I would imagine you are asking.
The sport I am referring to is Ireland’s most successful sport as well as one of the most popular – rugby. More specifically Rugby 7s which is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. The Olympic Council of Ireland and the I.R.F.U due to an apparent lack of belief in the sport and no real ambition to see it develop and succeed have failed to give Ireland the opportunity to compete in what many see as the pinnacle of sporting occasions.
Since the announcement that Rio 2016 will be the first Olympics to include rugby since 1924, Rugby 7s popularity worldwide has increased dramatically, making it the second fastest growing sport in the world.
American athlete Carlin Isles was ranked as the 36th fastest sprinter in the United States. When he realised that representing the USA in athletics may be a bridge too far, he took up rugby in 2012 to live his dream of participating in the Olympics.
The U.S. are ranked eighteenth in the IRB world rankings in Rugby Union and are ranked thirteenth for Rugby 7’s. Ireland on the other hand are ranked fifth in the IRB world rankings but are the only team in the top twenty not to feature in the Rugby 7s rankings.
As with most things, it comes down to money. The I.R.F.U. was unwilling to finance a Rugby 7’s team citing costs issues. When we look at the facts, this is simply not true. Ireland would have had a team on the pitch ready to fight for qualification for the Summer Games in Rio 2016 for under €300,000 yet the I.R.F.U would only be expected to pay a third of this.
Putting this in perspective Jamie Heaslip’s wages of €600,000 would pay for a 7’s team for two years without any sponsorship. If the team was successful, sponsors would have jumped on the advertising opportunities. There were attempts by several individuals to approach the I.R.F.U. with business proposals which included sponsorships and projections but their appeals fell on deaf ears…….. for the full story follow this url :>> http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/akirwan/rugby-sevens-short-sighted-irfu-need-to-act/
