Over the last couple of weeks clubs up and down the country would have been receiving a beautifully presented document called ‘ The One Year Ahead Plan‘. If I have presented the name incorrectly please forgive me, it very quickly ended up in the bin and I am writing from memory. Within the document it laid out the work that had been done and the ambition for the future linking very heavily with the upcoming Rugby World Cup in 2015.
Whilst I don’t mind vision pieces I have often found them to be devoid of any real substance and often created as puff pieces to give certain job titles and individuals the feeling that they are important and show everybody that they know what they are doing, how important it is and that they are doing a good job.
What I found most particular about the document was the entire lack of any mention of developing a serious sevens development plan. Now whilst this might strike some people as nothing special, it comes about following conversations between the leading sevens clubs and the RFU that I was instrumental in helping organise. What is more disappointing is that at the time, over a year ago, the RFU confessed to having no plans or even interest in 7s.
What is even more surprising, at the recent Rugby Expo at Twickenham the RFU was making very big noises about 7s being part of their plans, but just a month later the plans failed to make the RFU’s manifesto.
Now it is easy to sit here and provide commentary that would expose individuals on both sides for their failings but perhaps that wouldn’t have the productive outcome that I wish would happen. As much as I love 15s rugby and really look forward to the 2015 World Cup, I find myself utterly distraught by the distinct lack of interest on the RFU’s part to help develop the game in the UK, a version of the sport they have no control or governance over.
Sevens is now the growing version of rugby globally. It has a World Cup, played in 2013 in Russia, Commonwealth Games in Scotland 2014 and is the version of rugby that will feature in the Rio Olympics in 2016. Other than arguing the Lions as the next significant 15s version of the game, sevens really does dominate the four year cycle of rugby with the sport having a significant tournament worth winning almost every year.
And yet the development pathway for Elite athletes to progress on to the International stage is virtually non existent. Yes there are tournaments, but none which are under RFU control and none which could be described as a route up the playing ladders. The GB 7s played in the summer really didn’t provide anybody other than perhaps Wales and Scotland with a player development path. The tournament was completely ignored by England, and why, it made no sense. The opportunity to blood your future stars against the best club sides this country has to offer, why not be there? Is it because there may have been concern that the current crop of English 7s players aren’t actually the best players in England and they might just be found out, as they were at Rugby Rocks this year?
And so my agenda is clear I am not criticising the coaches or the players picked, because the question that needs answering is how does the next Ben Gollings, aged 17 or 18, get on to a positive player pathway where they can be spotted by appropriate development coaches who can get them into the right sevens clubs and provide them with the right support for them to actually progress into the world beaters they could be?
Unfortunately there is no evidence that the RFU even have a plan for the Commonwealth games, let alone the Olympics, and yet just qualifying for the Games might be harder than most people might think. Given qualifications will take place in the 2014 season, it means qualification is just 12 months away. Does anyone else feel like something just isn’t right here?
Over the last few years I have become increasingly aware of the rise of two things. The first being the rise of 7s only players, normally younger players who are less interested in committing 10 months of their lives every year to the sport and actually enjoy playing with the sun on their back for most of a tournament, especially given the rise of ‘sports’ festivals which promise huge social occasions as part of the experience. The second was more concerning and that was the rise of the paid 7s player. Given that most 15s clubs can’t pay players god knows why players would start to believe that they could earn a buck from the sport, outside of the international level. Given how much funding goes into getting the Saxons out to half the tournaments we go to, and where those funds come from, why anybody thinks I am going to pay for the privilege of seeing them play is beyond me.
This version of the sport offers 15s clubs a different route to retaining players and keeping them involved with the clubs. At my 15s clubs I can’t beg players to join the club, with my 7s team the Saxons, last year we were 3 times the size of my 15s club and we were turning players away, we didn’t have to work very hard to get players, good players involved.
But we are effectively a young sport and we need the guidance of a big brother to help us create a sustainable future for ourselves. My biggest frustration with the plan is that all of the development ideas were entirely inapplicable and unusable for any 7s club. There are simple governance issues that prevent 7s clubs from having the same access to certain things like ticketing which enables clubs to raise money by selling tickets to England internationals. Why is this? Because to be able to have access to this you need to be a full member, which you can only be if you are playing in a formally recognised 15s league within the RFU’s league structure. This prevents us from having access to much needed funding which for some clubs can be the difference between us surviving and thriving. We need that same level of support from our union and we just aren’t getting it.
If anyone has any suggestions how we can change this for the better your thoughts would be greatly appreciated…….
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Main photo: rbs6nations.com, CC
