Dubai: Rugby sevens has become a sport in its own right thanks to its inclusion in the 2016 Olympics, according to World Cup-winning former England utility back Mike Catt.
The short format was initially intended as a stepping stone into the 15-a-side game and as a way to spread rugby across non-Commonwealth countries where the full format had no presence. Traditional rugby-playing nations also embraced sevens as a forum from which to draft new players.
However, thanks to the success of the annual HSBC Sevens World Series and the inclusion of the sport into the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Catt says sevens has developed its own identity.
When asked if the current England sevens team had any potential players that could step into the 15s set-up ahead of the 2015 World Cup, Catt was forthright in his views.
“From the back three England have got out-and-out speed,” said Catt, who scored 142 points in 75 international appearances and won the World Cup in 2003. “But these guys are really focusing on the Olympics now and, with full-time contracts as sevens players, the opportunity to go to the Olympics is huge and I think a lot of them will just concentrate on that,
“England has got a big pool of players and this is a great way of putting rugby on the map and promoting rugby across the globe. It’s a way for them to go out and express themselves and, from a union point of view, they want success. Obviously with 17 full-time contracted players you know they mean business and the boys need to deliver.”
Catt, who became the oldest player to play in a World Cup final aged 36 years and one month in 2007, added: “If you look at New Zealand’s sevens team, how many play in the All Blacks? Is it a development thing for New Zealand? I don’t think it is. They just want to be as successful as the 15s and I think England is going down that route too. I don’t think it’s about development anymore, I think it has outgrown that.
“If you are able to make the transition between the two then by all means, but now they are contracted to sevens they won’t play 15s and two or three years down the line these boys will just be playing sevens.
“I think it’s a good thing. If you look at the tournaments around the globe, it’s brilliant. It draws in the crowds and I think the Olympic Games are going to get a shock with what rugby is all about. It’s such a good social [event], everybody enjoys it in the sunshine, in great places around the world. You can’t get much better and the competition just keeps on coming.”
