NZR goes on a talent quest
Back-slapping won’t win New Zealand sevens gold medals at the next Olympics.
It’s two years till the teams line up for Tokyo 2020, where New Zealand’s men’s and women’s sides will arrive as world champions. In some nations, that might be cause for celebration. But, for the folks at New Zealand Rugby, it’s the cue to overhaul their talent identification system.
The Black Ferns and men’s world cup-winning teams will undergo extensive campaign reviews next week, but not before NZR announced plans for open tryouts to unearth the stars of 2020 or Paris 2024. Known as Ignite7, the initiative will see 18 to 20-year-old’s potentially go from rugby obscurity, or even other codes, into this country’s world champion sevens sides.
‘‘The minute we feel we’ve arrived – and we’re two years out from an Olympic programme – teams are going to catch us up,’’ NZR head of high performance Mike Anthony said yesterday.
‘‘So it’s about staying ahead of the opposition. This initiative will hopefully give us an opportunity to see what other athletes are out there and test our thinking around is our identification structure appropriate.’’
People can apply online, with 48 men and 48 women then being selected to attend a four-day camp in November. The first three days will involve testing and coaching ahead of the inaugural one-day Ignite7 tournament. From there, three female and three male players will be invited to the national sevens teams’ development camps. The scheme is locked in for at least three years.
Between school, club and provincial sevens tournaments there are already mechanisms for NZR to test the talent pool. Given that, What does it look like when hard work pays off?
For the Black Ferns Sevens team, it was the medals around their necks, and the World Cup trophy, sitting in captain Sarah Goss’ luggage cart.
The Sevens Sisters arrived home from San Francisco yesterday, less than 48 hours after beating France in the final to defend the title they won in 2013.
Michaela Blyde scored a hattrick in that 29-0 win and said it was ‘‘a surreal feeling’’ being world champions. "I’ve come
particularly on the male side, 15s remains the undisputed preference for elite players, you wonder what NZR will uncover that they wouldn’t otherwise.
Then there’s the idea that NZR are looking to nick people from the codes who’ve worked hard to develop them. ‘‘I don’t see it as poaching,’’ said Anthony. home and it doesn’t still really feel like we’ve done what we’ve done. Just having a glance at the medal and at the World Cup as well, it brings back the memories of being on the field.
‘‘We’ve been preparing for this tournament for a very, very long time and we only had one goal and that was to win. Now that we’ve done it, it’s like holy moley, the hard work we’ve done back at home has really paid off.’’
Captain Sarah Goss was there in 2013 and said it felt amazing winning back-to-back titles.
‘‘It’s providing an opportunity and if athletes want to have a go at that, then fantastic. Hopefully, through the events of the last few days [at the World Cup in San Francisco] we’re inspiring people to have a passion for rugby.
‘‘It’s an opportunity for them to come and have a go. We’re certainly not shoulder-tapping individuals from other sports. ’’
Hopes were high that New Zealand’s elite 15 a-side players would want, or be allowed, to play sevens at the 2016 Olympics. In the end Sonny Bill Williams, who ruptured an Achilles tendon, and a teenaged Rieko Ioane were the only ones of note that went to Rio.
‘‘We want to have our best team out for Tokyo and if that includes some All Blacks, that’s something we’ll be working through with our sevens coaches and our 15s team,’’ Anthony said.
‘‘We’re working away on who are the best players [and] when is the opportunity, if we are bringing in 15s, to integrate them into the programme. It’s not a drop-in [and out situation] but [about] how do we get the best out of them if they are going to come across to the sevens game and add value.’’
‘‘The minute we feel we’ve arrived . . . teams are going to catch us up. It’s about staying ahead of the opposition.’’ Mike Anthony, NZR