The 'challenge of the game of sevens' reality check for Olympic hopefuls

The Olympic dream has enticed two of rugby’s biggest names to step away from their familiar 15-man code and pursue SVNS and Olympic glory.

Antoine Dupont and Michael Hooper are on track to begin their respective sevens journeys in January 2024 with the hopes of competing in the world’s greatest sporting event.

Dupont, arguably the greatest rugby player in the world, had his intentions to play in the Olympics confirmed on Tuesday by Fédération Française de Rugby Vice President Jean-Marc Lhermet, who said there’s a chance the halfback may feature in the Perth leg of the inaugural SVNS competition next January.

Rumours have also suggested Dupont’s France teammates Damien Penaud, Arthur Vincent and Sekou Macalou are also considering a move to feature in the Olympics.

“I think it’s good for the game, those big names from 15s coming across,” All Blacks Sevens coach Tomasi Cama told SENZ. “It’s good for obviously France and Australia, that those guys are putting their hands up to have a crack.

“It’ll be interesting to see how they go, obviously it’s a different game – it’s still a game of rugby, just less numbers, a bit faster, so will be interesting to see how they go.”

The French players will have a chance to exercise the demons of the Rugby World Cup, as the Olympics will host the sevens at Stade de France, the same stadium where South Africa knocked France out of the World Cup.

Hooper on the other hand has a chance to move on from what was a dramatic and controversial snub from the Wallabies’ World Cup squad.

Cama shared his observations of Hooper’s game and offered some advice to the Wallabies legend.

“I think what we’ve seen in 15s is he’s got a big tank, he’s obviously fit and I think it’s just the challenge of the game of sevens you’ve got to operate at that level where you’re going to be fatigued and tired, that’s when you’re going to see the difference.

“And that’s where the knowledge of the game will come into play, the awareness of space and what to do; when to ball carry, when to pass, what line to run, and you do all that under fatigue.

“We always discuss here, sometimes your default will come into play and the majority of the time you see the default in sevens, it’s not pretty. You operate at the level where you’re under fatigue and stress and the boys that have been playing a lot of sevens, they’ll pick up on those players really quick and they’ll pick on them.

“It’ll be interesting to see if they push them into that level and see how they operate.”

There’s a famous rugby adage of your smallest habits coming to the fore in the biggest moments, and so the challenge Cama projects for the newcomers will be how they perform when exhausted in a way only sevens can make you.

“You try and get them really clear on what’s their role when they’re not fatigued, and then what does their role look like under fatigue and the game changes, it might slow down a bit.

“I just shared with the boys this morning, I think when you’re fresh you can win games, but under fatigue, that’s when you win tournaments. That’s probably where you separate the big teams or top teams from others, because they operate at where most people won’t operate at.

“Being really clear when you’re under fatigue around what you’re seeing and what you’re trying to execute and communicate, those are things, I think, where the strength of most teams will be tested at that point.

“I think the people that can still be clear on what you want to try and achieve and what we try and do will probably come up at the right end of the tunnel.”