Source: www.insidethegames.biz
By Tom Degun in Barcelona
All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu (pictured) believes that rugby sevens could replace the 15-a-side format of the game as the pinnacle of the sport after it was added to the programme for 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to include rugby sevens at their 121st Session in Copenhagen in October 2009, after a presentation from key people in rugby which included Lomu, and the sport will appear in Rio for the first time since the Paris Games in 1924, when the winners were the United States.
Lomu is one of the greatest and most recognisable rugby stars of all time, and is a veteran of both forms of the game having won 63 caps for New Zealand in a career that started when he burst onto the international scene during the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament.
The 35-year-old, who was also part of the All Blacks side that won gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in the sevens tournaments, claimed that the prestige of the Olympic Games could see sevens replace its 15-a-side counterpart as the sport's top draw.
"For me, I do believe that sevens could overtake the traditional 15-a-side game as the biggest prize in the sport," Lomu told insidethegames at the Global Sports Forum here.
"The thing is, that would be a bitter, hard pill for a lot of people to swallow but you have got to be honest.
"The Olympic Games, you can't get any bigger than that in terms of what they can generate and what they can do for world rugby in a short space of time.
"It is nothing short of amazing, this is where the biggest turning point for rugby is.
"It changes the complete dimensions of the game and this is where I see the future of world rugby moving towards.
"As much as I do the love the pure form of the 15 man game, when you look at it, sevens showcases the quickest, best-skilled players competing at a much faster pace in a shorter game so it is much more exciting.
"Rugby sevens is also an advertisers dream because it is so explosive and because the big events feature nations from across the globe."
Lomu said that he would have loved to have competed at an Olympic Games but revealed he takes heart from having played a huge role in getting the sport inducted in the event.
He said: "I get asked a lot if I'm disappointed that I'll never be able to get to play for New Zealand for an Olympic gold medal.
"Yeah, of course I am.
"But the one thing I can say is that I was part of the group [in Copenhagen] that actually made it happen for the future players and to shape rugby globally by bringing it to the Olympic Games.
"That is just as satisfying or just as close as it gets to winning an Olympic gold medal."
Lomu added that it would be fantastic to see a rugby representative claim IOC membership, with International Rugby Board (IRB) President Bernard Lapasset and Lomu himself mooted as potential future IOC members, but said it is not essential at this stage.
"Down the line, if rugby has an IOC member, that would be fantastic," said Lomu, who is popular within the organisation.
"But at the end of the day, rugby is just happy to be back on the Olympic programme at this stage because that is the stepping stone towards the future of where rugby can be.
"The IOC has a great relationship with the IRB and a great relationship with rugby as a whole so it is not essential to have a rugby IOC member now.
"Many of the IOC members are former great athletes and they know and understand sport very well so I have no worries about rugby at the Olympics.
"It is about what is best for the sport so the IRB are there to govern rugby, to make sure it is in good stead and make sure that it is in line with what the IOC standards are.
"With or without a rugby member on the IOC, you can be in no doubt that the IOC will ensure the highest standards are attained and that is only a good thing for the game."