The Springbok Sevens team will face strong opposition at the upcoming World Games, which is held towards the end of July in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The International Rugby Board announced the line-up of teams for the Sevens tournament at this year’s World Games. South Africa, the IRB Sevens World Series champions, will be joined in the eight-team, two-day tournament which kicks off on July 24, by Fiji, the reigning World Games champions, Argentina, Portugal, USA, Japan, Hong Kong and hosts Chinese Taipei.

“We firmly believe that the Sevens tournament at the World Games plays an important role in the ongoing development and promotion of Rugby around the world, producing exciting matches and attracting new fans thanks to the remarkable talent of all the international teams competing,” said IRB President Bernard Lapasset.

“The Sevens tournament at the World Games has always proven successful and this year we are particularly excited that the competition is being held in Asia where Rugby is reaching out to new young audiences in a rapidly developing market for our sport. We are looking forward to what promises to be an exciting tournament.”

South Africa’s headline acts such as Mpho Mbiyozo, Mzwandile Stick, Gio Aplon, Neil Powell, Robert Ebersohn and Renfred Dazel are all set to be in Kaohsiung. Indeed, the South African team start as strong medal favourites for the tournament which will provide a platform for world class international Sevens stars to showcase their talent to a new audience in Chinese Taipei.

“The World Games is something that we are really looking forward to,” said Mbiyozo. “My teammates and I anticipate that being in Kaohsiung, competing for a medal with top level athletes from around the world and experiencing a truly international sporting event will be an inspiring experience.

“We all aspire to compete at the very highest level on the world’s biggest sporting stages and we believe that the World Games gives us a sense of what we might experience at the Olympic Games. We wholly support Rugby’s re-inclusion in the Olympic Programme and hope to have an opportunity to compete at that level in 2016.”

However, the beauty of Sevens is its competitive and unpredictable nature and with Fiji and Argentina recording tournament victories in the IRB Sevens World Series this year and USA making a semi final for the first time, the competition promises to be intense.

Ron Froehlich, President of the International World Games Association, believes that the inclusion of some of the world’s finest Sevens teams, will add to the renowned international flavour of the World Games.

“The Rugby Sevens tournament has grown to become a highlight of the World Games sporting programme, providing an exciting spectacle for fans and participants alike. The inclusion of some of the world’s best Sevens teams from every corner of the world will broaden the Games’ global appeal even further.”

The upcoming tournament marks another important step for Rugby Sevens’ campaign for re-inclusion in the Olympic Games beginning in 2016. The IRB team and several top level athletes will be presenting their sport’s vision to the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board in Lausanne on June 15.

Lapasset will lead the team presenting Rugby Sevens’ case for inclusion in the Olympic Games in Lausanne.

He will be joined by Mike Miller, Secretary General of the IRB, Agustín Pichot, former captain of the Argentina Sevens Rugby Team, Cheryl Soon, captain of the Australia Sevens team that won Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens earlier this year, Humphrey Kayange, captain of the Kenya Sevens team and Anastassiya Khamova, one of Kazakhstan’s top female players, a referee at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 and a leading figure in the Women’s Game.

“Our team is very excited and honoured to be presenting to the IOC Executive Board. We are looking forward to sharing our Olympic vision and highlighting Rugby Sevens’ case for Olympic Games inclusion, which we firmly believe would be good for the Olympic Games and good for Rugby,” said Lapasset.

“We are committed to the continued global growth and development of the sport and its values and it is this aim that underpins our current campaign to secure the introduction of Rugby Sevens in the Olympic Games, beginning in 2016.

Mike Miller said: “We believe that Rugby Sevens has much to offer the Olympic Movement. We would bring a new young and vibrant audience to the Games. We would help every National Olympic Committee to develop their Sevens team and work with members of the Olympic Family to share knowledge – and in so doing, benefit from one another’s experience. Rugby is reaching out. We want to spread our spirit and sport to new countries and see more players – and more women players – in every single country.”  SA Rugby