Now if that comes about it could be the biggest boost to the Sevens game since Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen suddenly emerged on the scene in the mid-90s to take various tournaments and championships by storm.
Household names and world stars is what Sevens needs, a bit of stardust to set it apart and to get all rugby fans engaged again, not just the Sevens diehards. Sevens has become a little too niche, a sport on its own played mainly by those who do not engage with the 15s game anymore. That needs to change.
The men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments will occupy six days at the Stade de France ahead of the athletics and Dupont’s presence alone would virtually guarantee 80,000 sellouts for every session of the men’s tournament.
Rugby Sevens has deliberately been placed front and centre of the entire Olympics by the French authorities and, after a low key start at Rio in 2016 and a crowd-less tournament at the delayed Covid Tokyo Olympics in 2021, this will be a huge moment for the sport. This is why various visionaries fought for decades to get rugby, in the form of Sevens, reintroduced to the Olympics.
In a departure from precedent, the pool stages of the men’s tournament will be held over two days at the Stade ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony itself, after which all concerned will come back for the knockout and medal matches the day after. The women’s event will then be run over three days following the men’s competition.
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin July 02, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin July 02, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
England can find a little bit of cheer
SO HERE we are on the final day of England’s autumn international series with all of us hoping and expecting Steve Borthwick’s team to win today after three weeks of bitter disappointment.
Stop messing with Marcus - Campese
DAVID Campese believes England are going backwards under Steve Borthwick, who is ‘messing around’ with talisman Marcus Smith.
Being a Lion was the highlight of my career
I PLAYED 19 games and scored 219 points for the Lions, on the tours to South Africa in 1968 and New Zealand in 1971, but I never played in a Test and that was fair enough.
Cook's crew not fazed as they eye tilt at top half
THERE appear to be few signs of second season syndrome at Westcombe Park as captain Nick Cook reveals the group aren’t even contemplating the threat of relegation and are instead targeting a top-half finish.
Forwards pack a punch for the Reds
OLD Redcliffians produced a proud defensive effort to take a bonus-point win.
Tom 'Ailes' the achievements of inspirational skipper Riley
SEDGLEY Park No. 8 Tom Ailes says his team relish the competitive nature of National One and is confident the Tigers can rectify their rocky start to the season in weeks to come.
Strachan confident Ampthill will be firing again soon
FRASER Strachan is determined to put Ampthill’s leaky defensive showings behind them and gain some much needed confidence in the run up to Christmas.
It's a whole new ball game for Rigg
WILL Rigg’s ambition was to become a professional cricketer but it is the oval ball rather than The Oval that is his driver now.
Scarratt leads the way for Lightning
LOUGHBOROUGH won a wet and windy East Midlands Derby after having the bonus point in the bag by half-time.
Becconsall: We need to release pressure
WILL Becconsall says Exeter are not spooked by the threat of relegation as they look to turn around their Premiership campaign after starting with six straight defeats.
