The Great Nanjing Mystery – Rugby Sevens event at Youth Olympics 2014

Thanks to Nichole Lopes for passing this gem on to us so we could investigate and inform!

Buried away on page 23 of the IRB’s plan for women’s rugby is a line that seems to have slipped by without much comment…

2.8 Deliver successful Rugby Sevens
event at Youth Olympics 2014

With all the fun and hoopla about two world cups and one Olympic Games, the inclusion of women’s sevens in this multi-sport games seems to have been forgotten about. But it is important….

• The 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Nanjing, will be the first ever
• It seems to be an initiative that has the strong support of Jacques Rogge, IOC President
• This will be a potentially important “dry run” for the rugby tournament at the Rio Olympics in 2016
• The Games will be played in China, a key nation for the development of women’s rugby in Asia

Trouble is that, other than the above commitment, nothing seems to have been done about about getting any women’s youth teams to these games. And there are some real obstacles to overcome…

• Only seven nations have ever fielded an age group women’s rugby team in internationals – England, Scotland, Wales, France, USA, Canada, and  South Africa – though a Czech U19 team took part in some adult sevens tournaments last season.
• Three of these teams would have to combine as Great Britain (if GB took part)- but no-one has yet said how or by who a GB team would be selected, what with there not being a GB RFU…
• There is a generally a limit of one team per continent, plus the hosts, for YOG team events, which suggests some sort of selection process will be needed for Europe and North America.
• All of the above are U20 teams – but the Youth Games is for U18s. Only England  and Canada have ever fielded an U18 team.
• There has never, ever been an age group women’s sevens international tournament, anywhere.

Obviously these problems are not insoluble, given a bit of time and effort. After all, sevens is a young player’s sport and many sevens teams include young players – some Maple Leafs are only 16, for example. The teeny snag is that there is now very little time (the Games take place in less than 30 months time) and no-one has thus far expended any effort whatsoever to overcome any of the above problems. Or do anything at all.

This could be a great initiative. Imagine the boost to youth rugby worldwide  the selection process could cause. Imagine what an experience it would be for any U18s to represent their country at rugby in these Games – imagine the stars it could unearth!

More realistically, imagine the missed opportunity if poorly prepared teams, selected at the last minute, turn up in Nanjing to represent their sport. Or even imagine women’s rugby’s embarrassment if no-one shows up at all… and then imagine what the IOC will make of that!