Increase the teams in Olympic Sevens

SOMETIMES you just have to say well done. To witness six days of raucous sell-outs at the Stade de France for the two Sevens competitions was to witness a rugby dream come true. It was heady stuff.

The men's competition was driven by the remarkable Antoine Dupont narrative while the women's tournament, to these eyes anyway, was more dynamic and explosive. It featured both the established big names and the exciting raw talent and natural athletes that I like to see in the Sevens mix.

It was impossible to pick a winner in the women's tournament. I had a slight feeling towards Australia, yet they finished outside of the medals. New Zealand came through like thoroughbreds even if the veteran Portia Woodman-Wickliffe was incredibly fortunate not to be sent off in a tight final against Canada for the most obvious red card of the tournament.

The most heartening aspect of the women's tournament was the re-emergence of the feisty Canadians and bronze medal winners USA as major players on the world scene. Women's rugby generally desperately needs not to be dominated by the triumvirate of New Zealand, England and France and the sheer talent on show from the North Americans suggests that can be avoided.

Hopefully their medal winning exploits can add further impetus to their respective fifteen's campaigns. The Canadians remember beat the Kiwis in a Pacific Four contest in Canterbury earlier this year so they appear in excellent shape – unlike their men – while there is a long tradition of the American women being competitive although their programme has endured more dips than peaks in recent decades.

The visibility of the Sevens was off the scale compared with the two previous Olympic tournaments in Rio and Tokyo and this was where a French Games in Paris played out so well. Their organising committee fought hard for the Stade as the venue and to accommodate that had to negotiate a start to the men's tournament two days ahead of the official opening so that there would be time to switch the stadium back to an athletics arena. It was a masterstroke. For those two days it was pretty much the only show in town.

My only slight regret amid a week brimming with good news and cheer for rugby was that this has all taken so long. My mind went back to the Hong Kong 7s in the early and mid-90s – the absolute peak of men's Sevens in my opinion – when the media were occasionally beckoned into a quiet committee room to meet whichever IOC delegates were being wined and dined that particular week.

Some – most – of the assembled media were reluctant to quit the frenzied action and noisy bars but, as a rather superior buffet was always laid on, I always made a point of looking in. Some consider that eating is cheating on tour but the occasional pit stop is essential.

The delegates were always wide eyed at the spectacle of the Hong Kong 7s, the full house, the excitement and the quality of the product. One I recall was future IOC president Jacques Rogge, a former Belgian international flanker, and then a fast-rising star within the movement. He was a massive supporter of Sevens being incorporated in the Games but it was Rogge who identified the problem going forward if the IOC were to vote in its favour.

There was no equality in rugby and rugby Sevens in particular. There was no Women's World Cup and no Women's World Series. Now the IOC themselves were a bit slow to the party with equal opportunities in sport for women but by the end of the millennium the wind of change was blowing hard and they had signalled the need for all sports and prospective sports to shape up.

Rugby's turning circle was wider than most. Negative attitudes towards the women's sport were deeply embedded and had to be unpicked. Then sufficient nations had to be developed to the point where there were enough teams of sufficient quality to stage credible Olympic and global tournaments.

Finally in March 2009 we had the first Women's World Cup 7s and hey presto in October that year the IOC voted for Sevens to be included in the Games from 2016 onward. Rugby got there in the end.

My one suggestion going forward? If we are going to devote three full days to each tournament, I see no reason why the number of participating teams can't be increased from 12 to 16. You can run a 16-team tournament in two days let alone three. There was no room for some very good Sevens teams this time round because each continent must have its representative. Spread the love. Sevens is big time now within the Olympics, a massive revenue generator. Sports like swimming and cycling are constantly asking for and getting more events, rugby has earned the right for more teams.