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Tom Chick

The dust may appear to have settled on the IOC’s announcement that Rugby Sevens has been recommended to be put into the Olympics as of 2016, but the job at hand is not complete.

The all-important decision will not be made until October when the 106-member assembly decide whether the sport should get the go-ahead for 2016, and as squash and karate well know, getting the recommendation does not automatically mean inclusion.

Rugby Sevens and everyone involved therefore cannot, and will not, rest on its laurels.

Support will undoubtedly continue to be rife from now until October with voices from all corners of the rugby and world. As the UK Sevens season effectively comes to a close this weekend it’s perhaps a suitable time to share some thoughts of the guys playing at the recent Middlesex Sevens.

London Irish walked away from Twickenham with their first ever Middlesex Sevens title with a 26-19 victory over invitational side Samurai International.

The very support Rugby Sevens needs from now until October however ebbed from all areas of HQ at the 84th charity event.

Team GB?

For the Help for Heroes side that were at Middlesex there was a coaching team including England, Scotland and Wales’s Sevens coaches and it gave a potential glimpse into the future.

If Sevens does get the decision in October these very people, or their heirs, could be working together on a regular basis and leading a Great Britain team in 2016. A GB team will be entered in 2016 and unlike in football, the Scottish and Welsh contingents are behind the decision.

“There is still a big decision to be made in October, but the announcement was great for rugby worldwide, in particular Sevens. People above us will make decisions about how the team is selected and who coaches it but what we need to do is to give our players the best opportunity to be in that squad,” said Scotland Sevens coach Stephen Gemmell.

“It will be the pinnacle of any rugby player or coach’s career and we all hope the decision goes our way in October.”

When the winners London Irish announced their squad ahead of Middlesex Sevens a few eyebrows were raised. Unlike many of their Premiership foes, they included a host of household names including Delon Armitage and Nick Kennedy.

It certainly fuelled some food for thought about whether the established 15s players would want some of the Sevens action and the ease of which they could crossover?

Changes to Middlesex with Olympics?

According to captain Paul Hodgson, the way his London Irish team conducted themselves on the day warranted a heap of praise and could also be a sign of things to come.

If Irish take momentum into their season off the back off this victory, as Harlequins did in 2008, we may well see other teams putting strong teams into Middlesex in the future, using it as a springboard.

With the inevitable growth of Sevens if the sport does get into the Olympics too, more and more players will want to be associated with the game, including Hodgson.

“We said at the beginning of the day how great it would be to get some silverware and look what happened,” said the winning captain.

“People like Delon and Steffon (Armitage) could have turned up and seen it as a bit of fun but the club has come so far in the last few years. I was proud of the boys, they should be really chuffed with themselves.

“I will be telling Ben Ryan (England Sevens Coach) I am available - why not? The Olympics is the pinnacle of any sport. It is probably on par with the Rugby World Cup and for a rugby player to be able to say that it would be unbelievable.”

Where does it stand?

The word pinnacle is of upmost importance to the IOC and currently it may be hard to distinguish between whether it would be the Commonwealth Games or the Rugby World Cup Sevens for a Sevens player.

According to New Zealand’s coach, eight-time World Series winner Gordon Tietjens, Cory Jane, a current All Black, was asked what had been the highlight of his career so far and, even though he's been made an All Black, it was winning a Gold medal in Melbourne – coached of course by Tietjens.

What the Commonwealth Games does, as well as the World Games and the RWC Sevens to name a few, is showcase what major Sevens tournaments can bring in terms of spectacles.

There are also other Olympic friendly factors including the limited time and space needed to host, and the ability for smaller nations to win silverware, as Fiji did at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

Apo Satala, who represented the British Army at Middlesex was among the Fijian bronze medal winners, and he was joined at Middlesex by Commonwealth Games silver medal winner Simon Amor who played alongside Injera for Samurai.

The RWC Sevens may be sacrificed if Olympics gets the nod, but the new pinnacle of an Olympic Games will be a carrot for the players, even those who may be concentrating on 15s in the mean time.

The support will continue to be heard from all corners of rugby in the next few weeks and it was left to Newcastle’s Rob Vickerman, one of England’s standout players on the IRB Series last year and part of the RWC Sevens squad, to air his views.

Vickerman has moved clubs to Newcastle to help further his 15-a-side ambitions but harbours intentions to not turn his back on Sevens and like others has cast his mind to 2016.

“I always love playing Sevens and I hope to continue to play. We worked out I will be 29 in 2016 so it is a possibility - I will be in the Pete Richards mould, running around and annoying everyone. It would be a great thing,” said the Falcons’ debutant.

“But I also heard there might be a dry-run for 2012 which would be the biggest achievement for me. I think everyone wants to test themselves on the highest rung of the ladder and that would be in the Olympic Games.”

It’s difficult to curtail excitement of the players ahead of next month’s decision such is the buzz that’s been generated and this is from a UK market with a highly developed 15s scene. Think of the excitement this can cause amongst other nations.

The leading try-scorer on last season’s IRB Sevens Series was Kenyan Collins Injera, who scored a remarkable 42 across the eight events, and he was playing alongside his international captain Humphrey Kayange for Samurai.

 His side were runners-up to Irish but he reflected on the IOC’s announcement after their 12-7 first round victory over Northampton Saints.

“It is a really good decision. It is a dream of every athlete to be in the Olympics. I am just hoping that it will be passed and I hope I can be there,” said the Kenyan.

So what now? Well let’s not take things for granted for one. Keep spreading the word and we can avoid having to nibble on some humble pie whilst removing some egg from our faces. We’re close but let’s keep going full throttle. Bring on October 9.