 Sevens rugby is an accepted Olympic Sport and will be played from the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. The origin of sevens dates back to around 1883 and was played in Melrose Scotland to raise funds for the club. A number of tournaments followed and included the Middlesex sevens and the Snelling Sevens.
It was around 1976 that Sevens got off from the beginning of the Hong Kong Sevens. Sri Lanka participated in the first tournament. Following the success of The Hong Kong event we have many Sevens tournaments in the world and those include Dubai. South Africa , New Zealand , USA , Hong Kong , Australia , England , and Scotland.
 The first world cup sevens was held in Scotland where the sevens game began and Hong Kong hosted the second in 1997. In 1984 Sri Lanka had the honour of winning the bowl tournament. Hong Kong sevens is one of the biggest in the sporting calendar and grows in popularity each year. The Sevens have spread to Asian countries and we have a number of events. One of which will be in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has participated in the Hong Kong Sevens for number of years and its recorded success was being bowl champions in 1984. Sri Lanka has done well in the Singer Sri Lankan Sevens that were held for almost ten years in Kandy. Sri Lanka also did well in the inaugural Carlton sevens held in Colombo last year.
The Carlton sevens is due to be staged once again on the 27th and 28th of November 2010. Sevens Rugby is very unique where the extra space creates a much quicker and open game compared to 15 a side rugby. The opportunity to take the game and the tournament like in Hong Kong and Dubai exists but then it will not be overnight. This game as an event has opportunity to perform.
Sri Lanka which has participated in the Hong Kong “sevens” in its inaugural year and many years thereafter find a need to be in a ranked position to be invited. This requires participation in the Asian Sevens circuits and to reach a rank that makes it eligible for an invitation. As the game grows and the sevens seek popularity it will no longer remain an opportunity to give chances to those who were there when the games started.
Sri Lanka has come within the first 5 nations in Asia and have a task ahead to keep their place as the Asian five nation which will be played early in 2011. The sevens in Asian circuit is to be another event which needs attention. It was very encouraging to see almost 40 teams taking part this year where the games were divided to two segments. There were many teams fielded by Army, Navy and Air Force and most clubs had two sides taking part. Galle RFC were a proud side as they beat A division CH in the league round.
A jubilant Harsha Fernando the new secretary of Ruhuna could have been heard a mile from Longdon place as he kept shouting to encourage the Galle players. With such an interest there should be scope for sevens to improve. Sevens as I have said earlier is a much quicker and open game compared to the fifteens. This may require more and more sevens to be played without the excuse of our payers practicing of the fifteens.
I do believe that sevens requires different skills and we should be looking for such players to emerge form various tournaments. India who are hosting the commonwealth games have been participating in a number of seven events in preparation. Having taken part and won the Istanbul sevens India is on a ten day training programme in England. They will also take part in the Shanghai Sevens of the Asian Sevens circuit on their return from England.
As other countries are taking rugby of both formats seriously we at home find a situation where a leading club pulls of the tournament. It was disappointing form a spectator point of view as well as from rugby perspective that Kandy did not take part this year. I am sure their presence may have added a little more flavour. On the other hand the issue of travelling and reimbursements could have been sorted out if one side was willing to blink. Their absence is a minus factor where crowds matter. Also it is a negative impact on the players who don’t have a chance to display skills as they have.
This resulted in a loss for spectator and to the players. This would also pose a dilemma for the selectors as they were unable to see some of the most talented players. The sevens that was played at most times looked like a fifteen a side game played by seven. Thus more sevens and the participation of all is required if we are to keep pace with our neighbours at least.
*Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB |
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