Well, it's been a long time coming...like 92 years long, but rugby is once again an Olympic sport. Announced today by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the world's second most popular sport (after the beautiful game of course) and golf will be added to the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.It'll of course be the more watchable, more fan and sponsor friendly, more exciting version of rugby...7's.
This is a HUGE step for the rugby community around the world, particularly in the States. My only concern is that with all the focus being on 7's, will the 15's game (the way rugby was designed to be played) suffer as a result.
What will be the ultimate achievement in the sport...a Rugby World Cup title or an Olympic Gold Medal?
In addition, the head-honchos of USA Rugby will likely not be taking anyone over the age of 23 or 24 into the Olympic pool, whereas the USA Eagles 15's team routinely has men in their late 20's and early 30's.
This will surely benefit co-eds who desire to jump from math class to the world's biggest stage, but how will it adversely affect our men's clubs. The beautiful of rugby is that the gap between the an Eagle and the guy you play with on Saturday afternoons really isn't that large; certainly nowhere near the gap between an NFL player and your friend who plays flag football. This added focus on younger, 7's-type players, may lead to our men's level players being left in the dust.
As a rugby player, I love playing 7's...the creativity, quickness and back-yard football nature are a blast, but when I think rugby (and what I hope most people think when they hear rugby) is a 15 v. 15 grudge match with full scrums, full lineouts, an 8-man, flankers, locks and a fullback.
This is a great day for rugby...let's not forget though, the origins of this sport.
Little known fact (even amongst rugby aficionados)...rugby was last an Olympic sport in the 1924 Paris games...the gold medalists that year?
You guessed it...the United States of America
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