In recent years it became the ignored and embarrassing child of Australian rugby union, but the 2009/10 season was a sharp return to form for the Aussie Sevens squad and their coaches. From 8th in the IRB rankings to 3rd, including their first win on the circuit since 2002. The season culminated just this month with a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, the first medal since 1998.
Many deserve credit, and high on that list should be coach Michael O’Connor, who several times over forged a tight and disciplined unit from the youngest raw talent. There were also some excellent performances from the likes of Sills, Vanderglas, McCutcheon, Karauria-Henry, Phipps and Gill.
For me though, the stand-out player and lynch-pin of this success was James Stannard. Play-maker, scrum-half, line-out thrower, re-start and conversion taker, his finger prints were on everything. Most important though, are his instincts for this form of the game; a canny sense of where the threats are on the field, both in attack and defence. This, together with his speed, strength and fitness made him that crucial player who was either sniffing out ties in attack, or snuffing them out in defence.
As a result, he was the fourth highest point scorer in the IRB sevens tour this year and who can forget that last minute game saver against the South Africans to win the IRB tournament leg in London (see bottom)? Deservedly he won the Shawn Mackay Sevens Player of the Year just tonight at the John Eales medal ceremony.
Amazingly, if you listen to my interview with him just earlier this week (right), you’ll hear that his first ever game of sevens was in London last year, and the only reason he got under the selectors eyes was that the touring Brumbies side had left him behind in Canberra, so he rocked up at the AIS to act as training opposition for the sevens squad. What a find!
What’s become clear is that, true to Dingo’s word, Sevens has indeed become a true development pathway for players, rather than a pure sideshow – with 4 players making into the spring tour squad and 9 players picking up Super contracts. I sense also, with a taste of IRB success and potential Olympic medals on the horizon, it’s profile has well and truly risen among decision makers. The best Australian attacking sides were sevens heavyweights; if we’re to take ourselves seriously again, this form of the game can’t be ignored.
If this is the case, then we need to do more than rely on Michael O’Connor working magic with scratch teams. New Zealand, South Africa and England have all recognised the importance and specialist nature of sevens and put money where their mouth is by funding full-time squads.
I’m not sure that Australia either can, or would want to go quite this far; if it is to be a pathway for developing players, hiving them off into a divorced system won’t help that cause. However, there are certain sevens players that you need to build a squad around; gas men and dynamic back-rowers can come in and out of a squad, but what needs to be consistent is that special player who can read and manage the game. Australia needs to allocate the resources that will allow such crucial sevens specialists to dedicate themselves to the sport and the national interest.
For England it’s Ben Gollings, who at 30 topped this year’s IRB scoring table, and has an all-time points tally of 2374, over 1000 points ahead of his nearest rival, some Fijian guy called Waisale Serevi! James Stannard, in just his second year of sevens, is in the mould of these two greats. At 27 he’s got years ahead him in this form of the game, but with professional realities as they are, he’ll be playing as backup scrum-half for the Force through the majority the 2010/11 IRB circuit. As you’ll hear in the interview, if the money was there for sevens, he’d jump at the chance.
This is a massive missed opportunity both for Australia and a rare talent like James, let’s hope it can be put right. In the meantime, here are few clips of him from the recent Commonwealth Games, proving my point in the best possible way.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HB4AiXpLDo[/youtube]
