With the Commonwealth Games just about to begin, England Sevens star Tom Powell took time out of his preparations to talk to Last Word on Sports.
Hi Tom thank you for taking the time to talk to us. How are preparations going for the Commonwealth Games?
Really well thank you. On a personal note the first few weeks were tough as I was recovering from a fractured skull I suffered at Twickenham, but the guys have been working very hard for the past 8 weeks or so culminating in game time out in Moscow for the FIRA 7s and Alliance Park for the London City 7s.
How does preparing for Commonwealth Games compare to an IRB Sevens tour event? For example, does being part of a bigger team make any difference? The main difference between the CWG & the WSS is the prep time, once in the season we normally have 3-4 weeks between tournaments, in this case we have a 9 week block – so we can hopefully make some improvements. Being a part of Team England is something we consider to be a huge honour, in terms of prep for the games it does not alter things to much – once in the village it will be completely different to the environments we are used to playing in.
This is your second Commonwealth Games, can England go a step further than Delhi and get amongst the medals? I believe so yes, we have a very talented squad and have been playing together for a long time now. Simon (Amor) has established his vision for how he wants us to play the game and I truly believe the whole squad has bought into this.
Who will be your biggest rivals for a medal in Glasgow? New Zealand will obviously be a contender coming off the back of a successful HSBC series, Scotland will be interesting to see how they go with the addition of a couple of their 15’s players. South Africa and Australia will also be there or thereabouts.
Are there any teams or individuals you look forward to playing against and why? I always enjoy playing Fiji although they won’t be competing in Glasgow, their natural flair always makes for a fantastic game.
You travel the world on the IRB sevens tour, is there a particular event that you enjoy more than the others? Playing at Twickenham this year in front of a sell-out crowd on day one was a special experience, it’s also tough to compete with the support and atmosphere in Hong Kong
When on tour do you socialise with the players from other nations or do you (England) keep together in a tight knit group? As an England team we are a very tight knit bunch, having said that all the players my self-included enjoy chatting to the other teams – due to the nature of what we do and how much time we spend away it’s inevitable that you become friends with many players from other nations.
Which form of the game, 7s or 15s, do you prefer playing and why? 7’s. To me it’s more exciting, the space, the speed, the skills on show – it also tests you mentally, game 6 day 2 your body is sore in every way imaginable, you’re tired and you have to be able to block all that out and go out and perform.
Sevens has seen a huge rise in popularity over the last few years. To what do you attribute the success of the IRB sevens tour? I think as word spreads after each successful tournament more and more people want to be involved. The IRB have used 7s as a tool very well to showcase rugby to developing nations and I firmly believe 7s will go on to bigger and better things in the next few years.
The sevens tour has seen nations like Canada and Kenya competing with the more established nations on a regular basis. Could this competitiveness be a launch pad for greater development in the 15 a side game and the emergence of sides that can compete with the big 8? It will be tough for nations such as Kenya to ever compete on the world stage in 15s – the infrastructure needed to be in place to create a 15s team that can compete consistently at a world class level takes a long time to develop and establish. Having said that 7s provides the opportunity for these nations to test themselves against other more established nations and compete for an Olympic medal in rugby.
With its debut in the Olympic Games approaching do you think 7s could become more popular than the 15 a side game? 7s will become more and more poplar over the next few years and can hopefully enjoy even more success post RIO – the 15 aside game however will always have a huge backing. I don’t think it’s about the two competing against each other to see which one is more popular…. the more people watching rugby and playing rugby of any variety can only be a good thing for the sport.
The women’s tour is now up and running and they will be in Brazil for the Olympics as well as 15 a side World Cup this year. Do you think more needs to be done to promote the woman’s game? Like with most sports the women’s rugby is playing catch up, it’s getting more publicity and support and will continue to grow! They deserve as much support as anyone, knowing how hard they work.
You are set to retire from the game after the Commonwealth Games, was it a hard decision to take with the Olympic Games in Rio only two years away? The hardest decision I have ever had to make, I would like to say the RFU and especially Simon Amor were fantastic with me during this period – giving me time and providing all the support I needed to make my decision. The team will go on to achieve great things in the next few years with players like Tom Mitchell, Phil Burgess, James Rodwell & Dan Norton – it’s something I would have loved to be a part of, but there are other things I want to achieve away from rugby and some opportunities can’t be turned down
Thank you for your time and good luck at the Commonwealth Games.
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