Rugby Union: 7(s) Reasons To Look Forward To The Olympics in 2016

Ball In Touch: Our rugby columnist Jeff Ball comments on the most compelling and interesting rugby stories in the news recently. For further comment on these stories and more, follow @BallInTouch on Twitter.Sevens wonder of the world One of the fastest growing sports in the world today is rugby sevens. There is a definite buzz about the sport in the sporting world, helped hugely by the International Olympic Committee announcing that rugby sevens would be included in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. This year€™s competition has already been to Australia, Dubai and South Africa before the winter break, with Fiji top of the table, breaking New Zealand€™s dominance, at least temporarily, with England and South Africa not far behind. But it is not just in the big name traditional countries where the excitement is building €“ a lot of the enthusiasm is coming from the emerging rugby nations. Kenya have entertained for several years now with their extravagant players and fans offering some of the best try scoring celebrations around. Brazil is another one starting to capture the minds of the neutrals. Therefore, the announcement that United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and USA Rugby will allow 23 rugby sevens athletes to receive fulltime training contracts from next year is a big step in the right direction. Fifteen men and eight women will receive contracts which will provide monthly stipends, meals, world-class training facilities, and high-performance support services at the Olympic Training Centre in California. The USA has a strong Olympic tradition, excelling across a whole range of sports and they have set their eyes on gold in 2016. Nigel Melville has been CEO of USA Rugby for a few years and the potential in a country of 300 million is now starting to simmer. The concept of converting American Football players to rugby players is a simple but ingenious concept and there are already a couple of players in the current Sevens squad that have made the leap. The Dubai tournament also saw the debut of the United Arab Emirates Sevens side, barely a year after the UAE Rugby Association became the governing body of rugby in the Emirates, a move also inspired by the inclusion of Sevens in the Olympics. England now have a full time Sevens squad and New Zealand have also announced a range of initiatives to take them to the next level, so the full time contracts are clearly an important step to help develop the sport. For many years it was something to do to keep fit in the summer, but now it is taking on a life of its own. As the USA build their involvement and interaction with the world€™s top sides, I€™m already excited for 2016. Potential locked away For all the glitz and glamour of top level rugby, it is about the grassroots element of the sport ultimately. We wouldn€™t have had any of our best players if it was not for their mum or dad taking them down to the local club aged 8 to run around in the mud with their friends swarming around the ball like bees. Rugby at its lowest levels offers engagement for anyone who is willing to give it a go. For me, the ethos of a team working together, learning discipline and respect and work ethic is what rugby is all about. Having that feeling of been part of something, of having something to do and being a part of a team striving towards a goal are key elements that can only be considered beneficial. A friend who is now heavily involved in rugby league always says without a hint of exaggeration that if he hadn€™t started playing rugby league he would have ended up in prison. Rugby, and sport in general, can make that much of a difference. That€™s why a story about a RFU coaching course at Wormwood Scrubs prison caught my eye. Fourteen offenders took part in a week long course based around Rugby Ready and Tag programmes, learning techniques and of course, playing. Whatever your feeling on those behind bars, engagement in rugby could potentially be make or break for some of those young men (as so many prisoner are) when they rejoin the outside world. The level of activity and benefits prisoners receive is never far away from the newspapers and some will no doubt have issue with them receiving such courses. No doubt there will be some participants who just thought of it as something to fill time with, to avoid some other unwanted activity. But if even one of them decides to seek out a rugby team when they get and falls in with a good group of people that lowers their chance of reoffending, then it has got to be worth it. So next time you think rugby is just a bit of fun, remember to some people it can means a lot more €“ and that€™s why rugby is the best sport in the world. Stop! Or my dad will punch! Anyone who played rugby as a child will have had that moment when, at the hands of someone much bigger than you, you€™re dad/mum got angry. Like a volcano on the touchline, as the bullying/name calling reached its crescendo, your parental figure metaphorically and literally crosses the line and entered the fray to defend their offspring€™s honour or health. These scenes will be common around the world, as the player on the field feels a mixture of relief at being rescued while waiting for the ground to open up beneath them as embarrassment consumes their world. But it is something that is normally felt by those who live with the risk of detention and lines five days of the week. So imagine Imanol Harinordoquy€™s embarrassment when it happened to him. As an adult. Last month. That€™s right, during the fiery Biarittz and Bayonne derby, Harinordoquy senior entered the fray when he saw his son attacked of the ball by Bayonne player Jean-Jo Marmouyet. Despite dad€™s best efforts, not realising who it was, Bayonne fly-half Benjamin Boyet tackled him to the ground before order was restored. The incident, naturally captured on camera, will bring memories flooding back to anyone who has suffered a similar fate. As honourable as it was to defend his son, no one should enter the field of play if they aren€™t meant to be there €“ it€™s not like a local club game, the players are highly trained athletes capable of causing a lot of damage to our normal folk and Harinordoquy senior rightly apologised. Nonetheless, I€™m sure everyone will think twice before throwing a few handbags at Imanol.