Treu calls for Sevens Currie Cup
31 Mar 2006
Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu believes a provincial Sevens tournament would help develop the shortened version of game in South Africa.
A Sevens Currie Cup would provide Treu and his selectors with a chance to view all the talent in the country and give more players the opportunity to be exposed to the intricacies of the game.
“That would be ideal,” says Treu in the new issue of SA Rugby magazine. “It really would change mindsets. We should go even further and encourage Sevens rugby to be played at schools throughout the season. It should not be a once-a-season event.
“Sevens rugby should be the game at least until U13 level so the players can learn the different skills involved and then after that perhaps go to 10-man rugby until U16, after which they will be more than ready for the 15-man game at senior high-school level.”
A provincial Sevens tournament could be based loosely on the IRB Sevens Series, whereby every month a different city would host an event, points would be awarded and an overall winner would emerge after five or six events. It could even be divided into a top-eight, bottom-eight scenario.
South African rugby used to have a provincial Sevens tournament in the 1990s – sponsored by Winfield – which proved popular with the public. International teams like Fiji were also invited to spice things up.
However, the tournament was scrapped when Winfield’s sponsorship came to an end.
16 Comments
31 Mar 2006, 06:10 am
used to love those winfield games.
very good idea.
personally cant believe that SA does not have sevens at junior school, high school, club and provincial level.
every year before the actual rugby season starts in nz, there are 7s tournaments happening everywhere through most grades.they are great to watch too with upcoming talent showing up all over the place. it seems the 7′s starts pretty much right after the touch rugby season ends in early january. sorry to say but the kiwis are way way way ahead in this social and very important skills development area!
31 Mar 2006, 06:41 am
Yip have to agree. I thought there was some sort of league going in the repulic?
31 Mar 2006, 07:21 am
I’m from the Boland and remember at school level we always had a yearly 7′s tournament in one of the “bigger” towns. Dont know if they still got it though. (that was 8 years ago)
31 Mar 2006, 07:33 am
fantastic idea -although I struggle to see how the inept administrators would be able to handle another league/competition – the only that a 7′s league would be successful is if it fell outside the purview of SARU.
31 Mar 2006, 08:26 am
love the idea – have been wishing for this for over ten years now. The games could run at the same time as the cc – maybe act as curtain raisers for the 15 man version. Say the Sharks were playing WP, then the 7′s would be Sharks vs WP and so on…
31 Mar 2006, 09:47 am
BRILLIANT IDEA !!
I remember those Winfield 7′s tournaments, they were great. 7′s is a great game, its a game that really needs to be developed in SA. A provincial 7′s tournament would be BRILLIANT. 7′s is so different to 15 man rugby. 7′s rugby needs more exposure in SA. It would be GREAT if the 7′s Boks were known as well as the 15 man Boks.
31 Mar 2006, 09:48 am
Great idea. Sevens should get much more publicity. C’mon all the sponsors out there. Maybe we can have a new series starting soon called “Vodacom Sevens” or tournaments like “The Sun City Sevens” – it has a nice ring to it and since 7s are the lucky numbers in gambling …
I don’t quite agree with his idea that
“Sevens rugby should be the game at least until U13 ”
” go to 10-man rugby until U16, after which ”
“15-man game at senior high-school level.â€
Players need to get used to the 15 man game from an early age.
31 Mar 2006, 10:13 am
7′s rugby is a lot more like rugby league, than rugby union (an opinion championed by Stuart Barnes). It’s about running into space. Maybe we can borrow a league coach for a season to help Treu.
31 Mar 2006, 10:55 am
Yes, we should definitely have seven Currie Cups so that Province can also have a shot at one.
31 Mar 2006, 10:57 am
I understand the idea of having a national sevens tournament, but the idea of having players play 7′s until a certian age and then switch to 10-man rugby, well it sounds like a stupid idea. Rugby and sevens is a completely different game. For example, Schalk Burger is one of South Africa’s stand-out players, but would definitely not be one of the country’s top sevens players. Some would argue he would be better if he had played sevens, but if that was so then he may never have come through into the 15-man game. You can’t scrap 15′s for 7′s Paul. Seems to me Treu is just looking for some publicity, either that or his views are extremely far-fetched.
31 Mar 2006, 11:03 am
They can start a Super12-like sevens tournament. 12 teams, 7-a-side, 11 league games. Maybe 7-11 can sponsor that one – he-he
31 Mar 2006, 11:56 am
Call it the Vodacom Sevens, play it at Stellenbosch, over 3 days. Have Provincial and Development teams involved.
31 Mar 2006, 12:18 pm
It will be the only way our backline players will ever learn to play into space rather than choosing to run into the biggest forwards on the field – it is an excellent idea
31 Mar 2006, 12:29 pm
The provincial 7′s tournament goes way back. I played in a few, which was sponsored by Elastoplast, and played at Kings Park a week or so after the Currie Cup final. In the late 70′s, it was sponsored by Ford, and played predominantly at Loftus.
Personally, I am a ardent advocate of 7′s playing a greater role in the identification and development of flair, and playmakers. I have long thought that Chester should be appointed as a talent-spotting and flair-development coach, and would suggest he could be elected to head up and administer a league as proposed by Paul Treu. A lot would have to change, though, the first being that SARU would have to buy into the concept that 7′s could actually help our 15-man game, and give it its due credit.
What is there to lose? We might even start scoring some structured, non-intercept Test tries. The mind boggles!
31 Mar 2006, 18:24 pm
Agreed Cubiczirconia & FoxAche,
This would be an excellent training ground for our backs. It would help encourage more of an attacking
edge in the Bok 15, and produce more running rugby.
7′s would also improve ball handling skills…
It looks like positives to me!
31 Mar 2006, 20:08 pm
LOL Blackjack
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