Dubai: South Africa sevens coach, Paul Treu, faces a dilemma this World Sevens Series as he aims to go one better than last year's second-place finish at the same time as fielding youth in time for 2016 Olympics inclusion.
It's a Catch-22 situation he believes most top playing nations will experience as the countdown to gold in Rio de Janeiro arguably takes precedence over the Series and Sevens World Cup as the sports' highest accolade.
"Only 12 coaches will get the opportunity to win gold for their country. I've been reading tennis ace Rafael Nadal's book and he puts his gold medal win in Beijing up there as a career high. No one can take that away from you. It's certainly something to work towards and we'll be doing everything in our power to be medal contenders," Treu told Gulf News.
"It's tough going forward because if we want to keep building our base towards the Olympics we have to continuously give opportunities to new players so they gain international sevens experience. It comes down to giving up our continuity in the series to handing out exposure to youth. By the time 2016 comes we'll want the best 40 to select from," said Treu, who holds his 2009 World Series win as a career high.
Long-term focus
"We want to show that 2009 World Series wasn't a fluke, we didn't win it by chance, we won it by design and we can win it by design again so expect to see us going out in Dubai next week to win. If you want to build a brand you have to be successful and traditionally always up there — that said our focus is long-term."
Treu also suggested shifting focus would open up the Series: "Looking ahead nations with strong Olympic programmes are going to be tough to beat. But the landscape is slowly changing, the top four teams will need contingency plans to get to the finals. I don't think it's always going to pan out. I think we're going to start seeing the likes of Spain, Portugal and Russia right up there."
With three event wins on tour last season in Las Vegas, Twickenham and Murrayfield, South Africa, who finished second overall to New Zealand, still achieved even with youth and a changeable squad structure. "Winning the last two tournaments in the series was amazing not just that we won it but the way in which we won it. It was a technical approach against Fiji in London and a hard performance in Scotland with only nine players in total. It was definitely one of my coaching highlights."
Treu added: "My coaching style is completely opposite to what people believe and think sevens is all about. Everyone thinks it's speed, skill and space but our approach is direct and physical even though we don't have the biggest players on the circuit. It really is a lot more direct. I've learnt a lot from other sports looking at similarities which guarantee success and those teams with solid defensive systems that play direct and don't just chuck the ball out wide succeed. That's our focus and that's one thing that won't change going forward."
