• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

Ahead of the Adelaide Sevens, the fifth leg on the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series, Robin Heymann spoke with Australian Sevens coach Michael O'Connor on the structure of the game Down Under, finding talent, and all things Olympics.

Following the Wellington and Vegas legs on the IRB Sevens World Series it looked like the penny might be finally dropping for Australia.

Despite being plagued by a revolving door of potential starlets with little continuity of selection, the Aussies average returns on the IRB Series has often been a source of frustration. But their 2009/10 crop are starting to string together some decent performances and secured their best result on the Series for two years by reaching a semi-final in Vegas.

Moving up to fifth place with the Pommies from England firmly in their sights, their home leg at the Adelaide Sevens (19-21 March) is approaching at a good time for Michael O’Connor’s men. Although their last win on the IRB circuit was as far back as Brisbane 2002 – I know hard to believe.

As much as the Adelaide Sevens excites O’Connor, the former dual-code international is in awe of the magic of the Hong Kong Sevens, which follows the Australian leg a week after.

“I’ve been involved in the sport probably going back to 1980 when I played at the Hong Kong Sevens. It was pretty much the only time of the year where you could play Sevens. As far as I’m concerned it is still the premier tournament. The atmosphere on that Sunday night is sensational,” says O’Connor.

Finding IRB feet

It’s an intense Sevens environment that before this season was pretty alien to majority of the Australian side. But they are beginning to learn, and without getting ahead of ourselves there seems to be some genuine progress and the gap has been dramatically cut between the domineering forces.

In Wellington apart from getting a ‘touch up’ (in the words of O’Connor) from Fiji they made strides. They pushed New Zealand hard in their quarter-final defeat but, as they had done in Dubai, beat reigning IRB champions South Africa to walk away with the Plate.

How would the Aussie youngsters react a week later in the always gruelling follow up leg? Better then they reacted after Dubai that’s for sure, qualifying for the Cup quarters on day 1, where they can consider themselves unlucky for not turning over the Kiwis.

In a reverse of Wellington the Aussies put their best 14 minutes together in recent times in to dispatch Fiji 28-7 to progress to the semi-finals. A narrow 14-12 defeat to eventual winners Samoa followed but the positives were clear to see.

What particularly impressed me was the way that they played such an intelligent brand of Sevens. Long re-starts followed up by some weighty and in your face defence boxed the islanders in on the narrow pitch. Throw together the finishing of Stannard, Bernard Foley, and the impressive 18-year-old Kimami Sitauti and the Aussies all of a sudden look like an imposing threat.

It was their fourth tournament together as a group and it showed. It’s down to that word continuity again. But how long will that consistency of selection last for O’Connor?

“It can be frustrating in that you are always starting at the same base and having to almost re-train and programme them into Sevens. But from my point of view I find it exciting that I am working with young kids who are very excited to learn. Let us wait and see”, said O’Connor.

System is working

Aside from the sides recent resurgence there are obvious indicators on the success of the Australian Rugby Union’s (ARU) Sevens programme in the last year. Take guys like Henry Vanderglas (Brumbies), Luke Morahan (Reds) and Richard Kingi (Reds) are others. Remember them?

It was only a year ago they were both in full flight on the IRB Sevens tour before the various Super Rugby franchises gobbled them up. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was suitably impressed and gave Morahan and Kingi a ticket on the Aussies Autumn Tour to Europe. Clear examples that O’Connor is doing his job.

 “These players can definitely see pathways through Sevens with Super 14 and the Wallabies. My role with the ARU as a sort of Talent ID and I feel it is an excellent programme. It’s a great opportunity for these guys in a game that is ultimately getting bigger and bigger.”

“I’m delighted for the likes of Richard (Kingi) and Luke (Morahan). He was especially outstanding on the circuit and one of the standout players. Henry Vanderglass is another to have got a Super 14 contract off the back of his Sevens form. No-one had heard of him before and I only saw him in Darwin last year.”

Olympic catalyst

Things haven’t always been easy for O’Connor with Rugby let alone Sevens often struggling to catch the imagination of the public in recent times. The amount of tournaments Down Under hasn’t exactly helped matters but that’s starting to change with the Gold Coast International Sevens and the Central Coast Sevens giving more exposure to the sport and unveiling new talent.

Unlike nations like New Zealand and England, Australia is starting to compete in more of these invitational tournaments, operating under the Aussie Spirit banner. This weekend’s see’s O’Connor take his troops to the town of Kiama, 120km out of Sydney, to tackle some of the very best clubs in the region. It provides a decent hit-out before the Adelaide Sevens an event they traditionally perform well in.

“Apart from a couple of these tournaments the only real exposure to it these guys get is through international tournaments. If I can broaden the base so to speak and have more young guys playing Sevens ultimately there is going to a big pay day down the track.” adds O’Connor.

“There is an enthusiasm there with the Gold Coast and then you have something like Darwin which is a quality event with such high standards where the top six sides would hold their own in any IRB tournament.”

The Olympics is something that lights up O’Connor’s eyes when he talks about Sevens. Echoing in a similar manner to USA Sevens Tournament Director Dan Lyle, O’Connor now explains how the Sevens now has given the sport a ‘legitimacy’ amongst the bigwigs in Australian Sport. Such is the passion for Aussies when it comes to the Olympics, O’Connor is hugely positive about the future – although the extra finances might have to wait till after London 2012.

“Now it is an Olympic Sport it has taken on another dimension. Discussions are happening with the Institute of Sport who have dealt with for the couple of years. Now we are an Olympic sport we are far more relevant in their eyes.”

Catalyst

“Maybe after 2012 a lot more funding will flood into the game. There will more opportunities for support staff to become involved and of course more competitions.”

The thought of the Sevens team working with Australia’s Institute of Sport is an exciting being the premiere sports training organization in the country, world renowned for generating outstanding athletic results combined with skilled coaches, world-class facilities and cutting-edge sports science.

O’Connor himself is not afraid to think outside the box and given his experiences in both codes of Rugby it is no surprise that he has introduced the likes Shaun Foley, former Sydney Rooster, into his setup.

But in a nation bristling with superb natural competitors are there any other sports where we could see a crossover of athletes chasing the Olympic dream?

“In the Northern Territory where Australian Rules is very popular they have a lot of athletes who might not physically suitable for 15s but good runners like the Kenyans. So there are more opportunities for young athletes out there.”

From a Sevens neutral prospective it will be wholly encouraging to see Australia really push on and firmly compete in the latter stages on the IRB circuit. With four tournaments remaining in let’s see if they can keep in the mix. If they keep this current squad there is no reason why that can’t happen.

A decent run at the Commonwealth Games would provide welcome exposure to the sport too and in a one-off tournament anything is possible. Although New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens might have something to say about that.

As much passion as O’Connor has for the Olympics, he doesn’t foresee himself doing a Tietjens and stay coaching the national side for an extended period of time up to 2016.

“I want to stay involved in some capacity but I can’t see myself coaching six years down the line for 2016. I’m very interested though in seeing Sevens progress and flourish in Australia though and I think that is going to happen.”