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With a number of changes taking place this season to the HSBC World Sevens Series including new structures, locations and the possibility of new teams, it seemed the perfect time to sit down and have a chat with the woman who makes many of those decisions at the IRB; Beth Coalter. UR7s columnist Nick Jordan took the opportunity this past weekend on the Gold Coast of Australia.

Nick Jordan (NJ) : It’s a new venue to start this season. Have you been pleased with the Gold Coast?

Beth Coalter (BC) :Yes, there is certainly potential here, it’s a great stadium, a great facility and a good location. The crowds are a bit low but I think the word will get out about how much fun it is and you can’t fault the competition that’s been on the pitch. Getting the Gold Coast and the surrounding area aware of the fact that this is a very competitive international event kicking off the series each year is critical. This tournament will be held the second weekend in October next year but we are still working on who it is to be partnered with. South America is where we want to be and that’s what we’re aiming at, but there will be 10 tournaments next year and Australia will kick it off and I think that’s really exciting.

NJ : There seems to be a lot of New Zealanders, Pacific Islanders and other internationals in the crowd so would it be nice to see more Australians here?

BC : It would and seeing Australia get into the semis is helpful. I think Australia is still learning about rugby sevens as it’s a part of the game they have not been into in the past but I think now they are getting into it and the better Australia do the better the tournament will be.

NJ : The other big change this season is the new seeding and points system. What was behind that?

BC : It’s always been difficult to rank teams other than the core teams and we have a RWC Sevens coming up (Moscow 2013) so it enables us to rank teams for that and to show the improvement from year to year. As the Series develops and we head into the Olympic qualification years then having teams with proper rankings is going to help considerably. I also think you can see the difference as all teams have something to play for. When Papua New Guinea and Tonga, for example, get to Wellington they could add to those points they earned here.

NJ : Is there a push to get more core teams?

BC : Yes, we have plans in place to open it up, there will be more core teams and hopefully we will be able to announce that fairly soon. We have to give teams like Tonga an opportunity to become a core team and we have that approved by IRB Council so now we are finalising and tidying up that before we announce it.

NJ : The other exciting move is to not decide the pools for the following week until the time of the previous Cup final. Did that come from the teams as well?

BC : Yes it did and it’s something we’ve been working on for a couple of years and finalised in Scotland at the end of last season as placing the teams has always been difficult. It’s certainly going to make life easier if it’s drawn from a hat as what happens at one tournament can be very different from another. Previously teams were ranked after the last two tournament but it wasn’t giving a proper reflection of the performance that teams were giving at the time. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

NJ : On the field the change is to allow five substitutions. Is that a full-time change?

BC : No it’s only for these three tournaments (Australia, Dubai, South Africa) though we will look at it to see if it’s something that should be recommended to be further considered. Three tournaments in a row is a lot of pressure on the players so it primarily is to take the pressure off the teams and rest players between these tournaments. There’s some debate as to whether it’s a good thing or not as it’s time-consuming and there are some teams that would be at a disadvantage, e.g. those that have injured players as using only three subs provides a better balance.

NJ : Everyone is talking about Rio 2016. How are the preparations for that?

BC : I’m happy to say that the IRB Council has approved the basis of a draft qualification process and it will be presented to the IOC to approve our planning and procedures. We want to open the door for more teams to come into the Series so there will be promotion and relegation and a process to qualify through the regional tournaments, which will become really important, and they will start feeding into the Series. The regional tournaments have to become stronger to get up to the standard of the IRB circuit in terms of all the rules and regulations that are in place. The team planning is coming through and you can see it in the USA – their Olympic committee has got behind the team – as well as in other teams such as Canada and Argentina at the Pan-Am Games recently. Playing for a medal means so much more and you will see stronger teams around the world. I’m excited about the plans.

NJ : Finally, the IRB Sevens Strategic Plan is overdue. Is that going to be released?

BC : Yes, that has been approved and will be released shortly after it has been circulated to all the member unions. The women have been included as there will be a series next year after eight teams play for a challenge cup at Dubai this year. Whether or not the women’s tournaments are linked to the men’s tournaments is not certain, but women need that international competition and the more they get the better. We want a 12-team women’s competition and we have eight core teams in mind so that is what we want to try and push through. New Zealand have expressed a strong interest in being part of it