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The IRB’s Olympic campaign is steadily gaining momentum, receiving media coverage and being backed some of the sport’s most respected names.

Although Rugby Sevens ultimately failed to get back into the Olympic fold for London 2012 the IRB are confident that their efforts for 2016 will not go unrewarded.

Speaking on IRB’s Total Rugby Radio Michael Millar, CEO of the IRB, feels rugby sevens ticks all the required boxes for Olympic inclusion. “Sevens is a popular sport and a discipline in its own right and worked well in other multi-sport events such as the Commonwealth Games and has been added to the Pan American and Asian Games.

“It’s fast, furious, fun and real sports entertainment,” said Millar.

Millar also believed that it would increase the odds of smaller nations winning medals, as it stands the likes of Fiji, New Zealand, and Samoa are not regular visitors to the medal rostrum.

Simon Amor, former England Sevens player and now coach of England’s women, agrees with Millar and also feels that the seven’s great strength is that there's a realistic chance that anyone can beat anyone on their day.

“The beauty of this sevens game is that there is evidence over a number of years that supposedly smaller teams can win matches and events,”

“With the current economic situation, the fact that no new facilities would have to be built for rugby sevens is a real positive,” added Amor.

Olympic involvement would also benefit nations where rugby isn’t top of the pecking order. Former USA player and now tournament director of the USA Sevens, Dan Lyle, feels that sevens rugby would 'legitimise' rugby in the States.

“International sport is thought of in the Olympic cycle, it brings rugby in with the Amercian psyche.

“Kids would have an aspiration to target when going through the scholastic system. For 99.9% of Americans the Olympics is the pinncacle. Sevens is an easy format and ideal commercial platform for the USA” said the former Eagle.

Lyle also added it would allow a crossover of sports with talented athletes switching over. Indeed the thought of former NFL players being drafted into rugby sevens would be an “exciting but terrifying prospect!” according to Amor.

One sticking point for Olympic inclusion would be whether the big names in the sport would be included in their respective teams, a problem suffered by baseball when it was excluded from the Games. Amor does not see this to be a problem:

“Having spoken to a number of players at the very very top, participating in the Olympics would be their ultimate achievement”.

Olympic sevens would facilitate the tapping into other BRIC nations where rugby is still growing, notably China and Russia where sports are not on the school syllabus unless they are Olympic events.

Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, now in charge at Saracens, is the latest big name to jump on the bandwagon, according to Yahoo Extra Sport.

"If rugby went back to the Olympics it would certainly give an impetus to the sport," Jones said.

"I think the thing about rugby is in its essence it is a simple sport but it has the complexity of tactics, not only in 15s but also in Sevens, and to have another game like that at the Olympics would only make good viewing.

"I think Sevens has created its own niche. It is certainly a game that has its own flavour, it's a high speed, high skilled game and for those players with the right physiques and right skill level it gives them a great chance to play the game globally and at a high level," added Jones.

The IRB are certainly pulling out all the stops and have already enlisted a host of influential rugby figures to push for Olympic status, including former All Black great Jonah Lomu and superstar Bryan Habana. Keep up to date on all Olympic sevens news here on UR7s!