Sevens Not Heaven
Based on the media response to the Sevens loss at Hong Kong, there is a collective sense of failure at the results.
The Herald made a particular point of noting that it’s been five rounds without a victory:
It means they will go without success for a fifth time in the series, leaving them with a huge task to fight back and defend their title.
Later, the Herald pointed out that the team that was so dominant last year was now struggling to beat a team like Kenya:
New Zealand, who were so dominant last year, once again paid for errors and a lack of cutting edge against a Kenyan side who have risen to become a consistent danger team. The speedy Africans also beat the more-fancied New Zealanders in pool play at the San Diego tournament last month.
Host broadcaster TVNZ noted that the “quarter final curse had struck again”.
Without a doubt, NZ’s performance has been noticeably worse than recent years.
To me, it’s no surprise given the improvement in the other countries coupled with the lack of depth we are now seeing in the Super 14.
It’s not unfair to say that the Sevens team gets those who aren’t considered good enough for Super rugby.
The role of Sevens in the pecking order is core to this. For most administrators, sevens rugby is entertainment and the reason for a great pissup once a year in Wellington.
Problem will emerge if the Sevens team can’t get back to where it was an at least be regularly in the running to win. NZ rugby fans expect all NZ teams to win, regardless of the situation.
It’s similar to what used to happen before Sevens got picked up seriously – NZ used to send the provincial winner of the National Sevens tournament then we would scratch our head when we didn’t win at Hong Kong.
It’s early days yet but we risk a return to the future if the Sevens team is made up of also rans.
The time will likely come when we will have to choose whether or not we are serious about Sevens.
