According to the International Rugby Board (IRB).The decision by the International Olympic Committee to include Rugby Sevens in the Olympic Games, beginning in Rio in 2016, has provided an enormous boost for rugby sevens and planning is under way by the IRB on the required qualification process for international teams.
This forms part of a major overhaul of the existing IRB Sevens Strategic Plan, a collaborative process with all Unions that will outline the blueprint for the further growth of the Game around the world in recognition of Rugby 7s Olympic profile.
The Strategic Plan will allow the Game to grow in new markets and ensure that all 117 IRB Member Unions can collaborate with their respective National Olympic Committees and have access to a structured development, tournament and qualifying pathway that optimises the effects of inclusion in the Olympic Programme.
Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union(TTRFU) president Leslie Figaro is confident that Trinidad and Tobago has the talent and capacity to benefit from the IRB's new sevens rugby strategic plan.
" I am confident that we can qualify for Rio 2016 Olympic Games. We are also focusing on qualifying for the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup and the 2011 Pan Am games. In july we go after the CAC gold.Thanks to the support of the Minsitry of Sport Murray Roulston from New Zealand is in T&T for the next two years.The TTRFU and its stakeholders must grab the opportunity in both hands. T&T Rugby will be in the Top 12 of the World Ranking by 2016."
Figaro recently re-elected T&T Rugby chief for a third consecutive two year term of office said that T&T getting to the Olympic games in 2016 is a strategic objective of his administration.
" There is a lot of work and attitudes to change but I am unwavering in my beleif that it is a realistic objective. For too long T&T rugby has limited itself. radical changes will have to be made. But it will be done. " added Figaro.
