Former England 7s coach and current Fiji Head Coach Ben Ryan has been entrenched in the process of Rugby 7s becoming an Olympic sport, today he looks at what that means, qualification, eligibility, player availability and just about everything you need to know about Rio Qualification
Next season is different.
The ‘soft’ opening to Rugby 7’s into the Olympics has been going on for some time as pundits and supporters gaze into the future to see what it might bring. For the teams on the ground and the players with ambitions to be walking beside their national flag on the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics on August 6th 2016, it begins properly on the Gold Coast.
Qualification to be one of those dozen starts in Oz
So, with so many not clear about how everything comes together and some of the changes, I thought I would try my best to have some clarity here.
I say twelve but it’s actually eleven, as Brazil has gained automatic qualification as hosts. It doesn’t matter if you agree or don’t agree with that, that’s the status quo and so the first part of qualification begins with next year’s HSBC World Sevens Series.
The top four at the end of the 2014/15 series are straight through to Rio and though it hasn’t be confirmed, it would be logical to also seed those teams as the top four for the Olympic Competition. That means plenty of jostling between those positions to get top seed status, which would probably also mean for number one seeds sharing a group with the bottom seeds, again, not confirmed but likely to be Brazil.
Making that top four will be huge for those sides. It allows planning and none of the pressure that undoubtedly will come with the next stage of qualification;
Six of the remaining spots will be decided through the regional competitions, split as:
Asia (3)
Europe (4)
Oceania (2)
Africa (3)
North America (2)
South America (2)
That leaves one spot, which will be decided, from a 16-nation repechage tournament with the teams made up from the regions above and the number from each of those regions in brackets. Winner gets the golden ticket.
Ok, so that’s the process. However, a few other changes and curve balls next year too….
Team GB Qualification
I haven’t mentioned GB to this point, as it would have confused things. In short, it looks like England will be the nominated team next season to try to gain an automatic spot for GB by getting in the top 4.
That means if Wales or Scotland achieves that, they cannot take their slot – only England getting top 4 counts. It also doesn’t mean that an England side would then represent GB. It merely acts as a tool to try to get GB a spot at Rio.
If England DO NOT achieve a top 4 finish then GB will have to qualify via a European competition.
With the possibility that France could roll out their 15s test stars in that with their best 7s players, as well as the threat of sides like Spain, Russia and Portugal, in potentially a one off tournament - this is by no means a straightforward route and there is a real threat of no Great Britain team being in Rio.
Team GB and the process around that has not been publicly confirmed, so we are all in the dark around it. England have put more of a development spin on their programme this season, but with the hopes of the other nations with them achieving top 4, that might have to be re looked at. If they do what they did this season then the combined home nations can breath a huge sigh of relief but if not….
It is all very interesting – throw Wales and Scotland potentially helping the process by beating some of the other top 4 candidates next year and it’s a series not to be missed!
ELIGIBILITY.
As its Olympic Qualification next year, it means all players have to be qualified under Olympic eligibility rules and that means they have to have a passport for that nation. No exceptions. As you have seen with Halai’s exclusion from the NZ sevens side to compete at the Commonwealth Games (they have the same eligibility criteria), not everyone that has played international sevens also holds a passport for that country.
Qualifying on residency is a lot easier than getting a passport in nearly every competing country so there will be players next season that will not be able to play for their respective teams until they have a passport. Having seen at first hand the pacific players in other countries teams playing under residency criteria, it might now be the time to look at this globally and see whether three years is just too short a time frame to become eligible to play for another country. I haven’t got a firm opinion on this but targeted poaching happens in other Olympic sports and this whole area needs a careful eye kept on it to see how it develops.
SWITCHING NATIONS.
A ripple from this is a window that will also exist next year for players to effectively ‘switch’ countries back to a country they have a passport to.
Ill try to explain this as simply as possible, so:
If you haven’t played for 18 months for one of the “capped” teams in the nation you have already played for, AND hold a passport for another country then you can play in next year’s series for that country. Interestingly, once you make the switch, you are then available to be chosen for the nations XV’s test side too. You cannot switch back.
After this season, the 18 months will go up to 3 years and the switch can only happen in an Olympic qualifying event or the Olympics itself, so if you don’t do it next season then its not again possible until the actual Olympics.
If it I put this into a practical example, I will use Josh Drauniniu – sure you don’t mind Josh! Gets you some airtime!
He played for England 7s in 2011 and hasn’t played for any other national England sides since. He holds a Fijian Passport (as well as a UK one) as was born and raised in Fiji so would be eligible for me to select if I wanted to and he wanted to. He could then play for Fiji at national 15’s level. Let me just make clear that this is just an example and not a clever ploy to lure Josh to back to Fiji! I just know the timings in this example in this and it just illustrates the point and also shows you that players do exist out there in this category.
IRB Reg 9
Next year IRB Reg 9 is in place. This means that clubs must release players to participate in a HSBC World Series event. The IOC and IRB have publicly voiced their opinion that they want to see some of the 15s stars of the game playing in Rio and this is another helpful tool to allow the nations the possible ability to use them next year in preparation and to bolster their qualification chances.
In practice, it’s not quite as straight forward.
I do not think the clubs have been aware of this and I am sure they don’t want to lose key players for large part of the season. Now, if I was being devil’s advocate, it’s a bit like taking a banned substance you thought was ok and hadn’t read the label. It is not an excuse to simply say you were not aware as this change has been in the public domain for some time and some clubs will have prepared for this possibility when they singed players that were in this bracket.
Again the Pacific nations are the ones that would benefit the most out of this as there are large numbers playing overseas that have previously shown to be world-class players in international sevens. Nearly every Fijian star of the overseas club game has played huge amounts of 7s growing up and knows the game well, so the transition for them will be far easier than nearly every other nation as long as they are given some time to adjust and get the required fitness.
As National coach, I want to make sure Fiji are in the top four next year and have every opportunity to win a gold in Rio. Samoa will feel the same. Without the finances and other resources of our rivals, for Fiji and Samoa (and in the regionals, Tonga), this gives us the potential to have a tool that helps us balance that out a bit and I would sincerely hope that the rugby community sees that as well.
No one wants to risk a player’s livelihood but the opportunity to show just why rugby sevens is now an Olympic sport – that small countries with little resources can be up there fighting for a gold medal with the best talent they have, is possible.
Plenty to digest and goes to show you why next year is just that little bit different. I can see just as much action off the field as on it next year! Yet, the positives of ensuring Rugby, albeit in the sevens format, can be shown off in the best light possible to the rest of the sporting world in Rio is what needs to be in everyone’s mind. The reality of Rio will be soon upon us.
Former England 7s coach and current Fiji Head Coach Ben Ryan has been entrenched in the process of Rugby 7s becoming an Olympic sport, today he looks at what that means, qualification, eligibility, player availability and just about everything you need to know about Rio Qualification
Next season is different.
The ‘soft’ opening to Rugby 7’s into the Olympics has been going on for some time as pundits and supporters gaze into the future to see what it might bring. For the teams on the ground and the players with ambitions to be walking beside their national flag on the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics on August 6th 2016, it begins properly on the Gold Coast.
Qualification to be one of those dozen starts in Oz
So, with so many not clear about how everything comes together and some of the changes, I thought I would try my best to have some clarity here.
I say twelve but it’s actually eleven, as Brazil has gained automatic qualification as hosts. It doesn’t matter if you agree or don’t agree with that, that’s the status quo and so the first part of qualification begins with next year’s HSBC World Sevens Series.
The top four at the end of the 2014/15 series are straight through to Rio and though it hasn’t be confirmed, it would be logical to also seed those teams as the top four for the Olympic Competition. That means plenty of jostling between those positions to get top seed status, which would probably also mean for number one seeds sharing a group with the bottom seeds, again, not confirmed but likely to be Brazil.
Making that top four will be huge for those sides. It allows planning and none of the pressure that undoubtedly will come with the next stage of qualification;
Six of the remaining spots will be decided through the regional competitions, split as:
Asia (3)
Europe (4)
Oceania (2)
Africa (3)
North America (2)
South America (2)
That leaves one spot, which will be decided, from a 16-nation repechage tournament with the teams made up from the regions above and the number from each of those regions in brackets. Winner gets the golden ticket.
Ok, so that’s the process. However, a few other changes and curve balls next year too….
Team GB Qualification
I haven’t mentioned GB to this point, as it would have confused things. In short, it looks like England will be the nominated team next season to try to gain an automatic spot for GB by getting in the top 4.
That means if Wales or Scotland achieves that, they cannot take their slot – only England getting top 4 counts. It also doesn’t mean that an England side would then represent GB. It merely acts as a tool to try to get GB a spot at Rio.
If England DO NOT achieve a top 4 finish then GB will have to qualify via a European competition.
With the possibility that France could roll out their 15s test stars in that with their best 7s players, as well as the threat of sides like Spain, Russia and Portugal, in potentially a one off tournament - this is by no means a straightforward route and there is a real threat of no Great Britain team being in Rio.
Team GB and the process around that has not been publicly confirmed, so we are all in the dark around it. England have put more of a development spin on their programme this season, but with the hopes of the other nations with them achieving top 4, that might have to be re looked at. If they do what they did this season then the combined home nations can breath a huge sigh of relief but if not….
It is all very interesting – throw Wales and Scotland potentially helping the process by beating some of the other top 4 candidates next year and it’s a series not to be missed!
ELIGIBILITY.
As its Olympic Qualification next year, it means all players have to be qualified under Olympic eligibility rules and that means they have to have a passport for that nation. No exceptions. As you have seen with Halai’s exclusion from the NZ sevens side to compete at the Commonwealth Games (they have the same eligibility criteria), not everyone that has played international sevens also holds a passport for that country.
Qualifying on residency is a lot easier than getting a passport in nearly every competing country so there will be players next season that will not be able to play for their respective teams until they have a passport. Having seen at first hand the pacific players in other countries teams playing under residency criteria, it might now be the time to look at this globally and see whether three years is just too short a time frame to become eligible to play for another country. I haven’t got a firm opinion on this but targeted poaching happens in other Olympic sports and this whole area needs a careful eye kept on it to see how it develops.
SWITCHING NATIONS.
A ripple from this is a window that will also exist next year for players to effectively ‘switch’ countries back to a country they have a passport to.
Ill try to explain this as simply as possible, so:
If you haven’t played for 18 months for one of the “capped” teams in the nation you have already played for, AND hold a passport for another country then you can play in next year’s series for that country. Interestingly, once you make the switch, you are then available to be chosen for the nations XV’s test side too. You cannot switch back.
After this season, the 18 months will go up to 3 years and the switch can only happen in an Olympic qualifying event or the Olympics itself, so if you don’t do it next season then its not again possible until the actual Olympics.
If it I put this into a practical example, I will use Josh Drauniniu – sure you don’t mind Josh! Gets you some airtime!
He played for England 7s in 2011 and hasn’t played for any other national England sides since. He holds a Fijian Passport (as well as a UK one) as was born and raised in Fiji so would be eligible for me to select if I wanted to and he wanted to. He could then play for Fiji at national 15’s level. Let me just make clear that this is just an example and not a clever ploy to lure Josh to back to Fiji! I just know the timings in this example in this and it just illustrates the point and also shows you that players do exist out there in this category.
IRB Reg 9
Next year IRB Reg 9 is in place. This means that clubs must release players to participate in a HSBC World Series event. The IOC and IRB have publicly voiced their opinion that they want to see some of the 15s stars of the game playing in Rio and this is another helpful tool to allow the nations the possible ability to use them next year in preparation and to bolster their qualification chances.
In practice, it’s not quite as straight forward.
I do not think the clubs have been aware of this and I am sure they don’t want to lose key players for large part of the season. Now, if I was being devil’s advocate, it’s a bit like taking a banned substance you thought was ok and hadn’t read the label. It is not an excuse to simply say you were not aware as this change has been in the public domain for some time and some clubs will have prepared for this possibility when they singed players that were in this bracket.
Again the Pacific nations are the ones that would benefit the most out of this as there are large numbers playing overseas that have previously shown to be world-class players in international sevens. Nearly every Fijian star of the overseas club game has played huge amounts of 7s growing up and knows the game well, so the transition for them will be far easier than nearly every other nation as long as they are given some time to adjust and get the required fitness.
As National coach, I want to make sure Fiji are in the top four next year and have every opportunity to win a gold in Rio. Samoa will feel the same. Without the finances and other resources of our rivals, for Fiji and Samoa (and in the regionals, Tonga), this gives us the potential to have a tool that helps us balance that out a bit and I would sincerely hope that the rugby community sees that as well.
No one wants to risk a player’s livelihood but the opportunity to show just why rugby sevens is now an Olympic sport – that small countries with little resources can be up there fighting for a gold medal with the best talent they have, is possible.
Plenty to digest and goes to show you why next year is just that little bit different. I can see just as much action off the field as on it next year! Yet, the positives of ensuring Rugby, albeit in the sevens format, can be shown off in the best light possible to the rest of the sporting world in Rio is what needs to be in everyone’s mind. The reality of Rio will be soon upon us.
- See more at: http://ur7s.com/news/ben-ryan-goes-inside-olympic-rugby-sevens-and-talks-qualification-eligibility-player-availability-and-just-about-everything-you-need-to-know-#sthash.bSgXfp3O.dpufFormer England 7s coach and current Fiji Head Coach Ben Ryan has been entrenched in the process of Rugby 7s becoming an Olympic sport, today he looks at what that means, qualification, eligibility, player availability and just about everything you need to know about Rio Qualification
Next season is different.
The ‘soft’ opening to Rugby 7’s into the Olympics has been going on for some time as pundits and supporters gaze into the future to see what it might bring. For the teams on the ground and the players with ambitions to be walking beside their national flag on the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics on August 6th 2016, it begins properly on the Gold Coast.
Qualification to be one of those dozen starts in Oz
So, with so many not clear about how everything comes together and some of the changes, I thought I would try my best to have some clarity here.
I say twelve but it’s actually eleven, as Brazil has gained automatic qualification as hosts. It doesn’t matter if you agree or don’t agree with that, that’s the status quo and so the first part of qualification begins with next year’s HSBC World Sevens Series.
The top four at the end of the 2014/15 series are straight through to Rio and though it hasn’t be confirmed, it would be logical to also seed those teams as the top four for the Olympic Competition. That means plenty of jostling between those positions to get top seed status, which would probably also mean for number one seeds sharing a group with the bottom seeds, again, not confirmed but likely to be Brazil.
Making that top four will be huge for those sides. It allows planning and none of the pressure that undoubtedly will come with the next stage of qualification;
Six of the remaining spots will be decided through the regional competitions, split as:
Asia (3)
Europe (4)
Oceania (2)
Africa (3)
North America (2)
South America (2)
That leaves one spot, which will be decided, from a 16-nation repechage tournament with the teams made up from the regions above and the number from each of those regions in brackets. Winner gets the golden ticket.
Ok, so that’s the process. However, a few other changes and curve balls next year too….
Team GB Qualification
I haven’t mentioned GB to this point, as it would have confused things. In short, it looks like England will be the nominated team next season to try to gain an automatic spot for GB by getting in the top 4.
That means if Wales or Scotland achieves that, they cannot take their slot – only England getting top 4 counts. It also doesn’t mean that an England side would then represent GB. It merely acts as a tool to try to get GB a spot at Rio.
If England DO NOT achieve a top 4 finish then GB will have to qualify via a European competition.
With the possibility that France could roll out their 15s test stars in that with their best 7s players, as well as the threat of sides like Spain, Russia and Portugal, in potentially a one off tournament - this is by no means a straightforward route and there is a real threat of no Great Britain team being in Rio.
Team GB and the process around that has not been publicly confirmed, so we are all in the dark around it. England have put more of a development spin on their programme this season, but with the hopes of the other nations with them achieving top 4, that might have to be re looked at. If they do what they did this season then the combined home nations can breath a huge sigh of relief but if not….
It is all very interesting – throw Wales and Scotland potentially helping the process by beating some of the other top 4 candidates next year and it’s a series not to be missed!
ELIGIBILITY.
As its Olympic Qualification next year, it means all players have to be qualified under Olympic eligibility rules and that means they have to have a passport for that nation. No exceptions. As you have seen with Halai’s exclusion from the NZ sevens side to compete at the Commonwealth Games (they have the same eligibility criteria), not everyone that has played international sevens also holds a passport for that country.
Qualifying on residency is a lot easier than getting a passport in nearly every competing country so there will be players next season that will not be able to play for their respective teams until they have a passport. Having seen at first hand the pacific players in other countries teams playing under residency criteria, it might now be the time to look at this globally and see whether three years is just too short a time frame to become eligible to play for another country. I haven’t got a firm opinion on this but targeted poaching happens in other Olympic sports and this whole area needs a careful eye kept on it to see how it develops.
SWITCHING NATIONS.
A ripple from this is a window that will also exist next year for players to effectively ‘switch’ countries back to a country they have a passport to.
Ill try to explain this as simply as possible, so:
If you haven’t played for 18 months for one of the “capped” teams in the nation you have already played for, AND hold a passport for another country then you can play in next year’s series for that country. Interestingly, once you make the switch, you are then available to be chosen for the nations XV’s test side too. You cannot switch back.
After this season, the 18 months will go up to 3 years and the switch can only happen in an Olympic qualifying event or the Olympics itself, so if you don’t do it next season then its not again possible until the actual Olympics.
If it I put this into a practical example, I will use Josh Drauniniu – sure you don’t mind Josh! Gets you some airtime!
He played for England 7s in 2011 and hasn’t played for any other national England sides since. He holds a Fijian Passport (as well as a UK one) as was born and raised in Fiji so would be eligible for me to select if I wanted to and he wanted to. He could then play for Fiji at national 15’s level. Let me just make clear that this is just an example and not a clever ploy to lure Josh to back to Fiji! I just know the timings in this example in this and it just illustrates the point and also shows you that players do exist out there in this category.
IRB Reg 9
Next year IRB Reg 9 is in place. This means that clubs must release players to participate in a HSBC World Series event. The IOC and IRB have publicly voiced their opinion that they want to see some of the 15s stars of the game playing in Rio and this is another helpful tool to allow the nations the possible ability to use them next year in preparation and to bolster their qualification chances.
In practice, it’s not quite as straight forward.
I do not think the clubs have been aware of this and I am sure they don’t want to lose key players for large part of the season. Now, if I was being devil’s advocate, it’s a bit like taking a banned substance you thought was ok and hadn’t read the label. It is not an excuse to simply say you were not aware as this change has been in the public domain for some time and some clubs will have prepared for this possibility when they singed players that were in this bracket.
Again the Pacific nations are the ones that would benefit the most out of this as there are large numbers playing overseas that have previously shown to be world-class players in international sevens. Nearly every Fijian star of the overseas club game has played huge amounts of 7s growing up and knows the game well, so the transition for them will be far easier than nearly every other nation as long as they are given some time to adjust and get the required fitness.
As National coach, I want to make sure Fiji are in the top four next year and have every opportunity to win a gold in Rio. Samoa will feel the same. Without the finances and other resources of our rivals, for Fiji and Samoa (and in the regionals, Tonga), this gives us the potential to have a tool that helps us balance that out a bit and I would sincerely hope that the rugby community sees that as well.
No one wants to risk a player’s livelihood but the opportunity to show just why rugby sevens is now an Olympic sport – that small countries with little resources can be up there fighting for a gold medal with the best talent they have, is possible.
Plenty to digest and goes to show you why next year is just that little bit different. I can see just as much action off the field as on it next year! Yet, the positives of ensuring Rugby, albeit in the sevens format, can be shown off in the best light possible to the rest of the sporting world in Rio is what needs to be in everyone’s mind. The reality of Rio will be soon upon us.
- See more at: http://ur7s.com/news/ben-ryan-goes-inside-olympic-rugby-sevens-and-talks-qualification-eligibility-player-availability-and-just-about-everything-you-need-to-know-#sthash.bSgXfp3O.dpuf