No one has ever mistaken Copacabana beach for Hove seafront but if you narrowed your eyes in Rio on Tuesday it could have been Brighton last September. Once again there was a scoreline to rocket the sport of rugby union from its comfort zone and once again the identity of the conquering heroes was the same.
All hail the samurai swordsmen of Japan, who have now skewered South Africa and New Zealand in major global tournaments within the same calendar year – outcomes in sevens tend to be more unpredictable than in 15s but by any standards Japan’s 14-12 success, their first win in 17 attempts against the Kiwis in sevens, was sensational. To add injury to insult New Zealand’s high-profile totem Sonny Bill Williams is out of the Games – and possibly sidelined for the next nine months – after partially tearing his left Achilles tendon. It is also a dent to the tournament’s profile but suddenly that is the least of New Zealand’s problems.
If World Rugby had wanted to make everyone sit up and notice sevens, they could hardly have improved on the last 24 hours. The final of the women’s event saw Australia enthrall everyone with the style and panache of their gold medal-winning win over New Zealand. On Tuesday at the Deodoro stadium it was Japan’s turn to shred casual assumptions in much the same way Eddie Jones’s Brave Blossoms did at the World Cup.
Their magnificent seven (The Brave Bonsais?) totally deserved their success, taking an early lead through Truya Goto and surprising the New Zealanders with the fast tempo of their rugby. The Kiwis went back in front thanks to tries from Scott Curry and Akira Ioane but suffered another serious-looking injury to Joe Webber at the worst possible moment. As they desperately tried to steady the ship, Japan attacked purposefully once more and, with less than two minutes left, levelled the scores when Kameli Soejima surged over. Katsuyuki Sakai landed a fine angled drop-goal conversion and, despite a late lineout turnover which offered New Zealand one last opportunity, that was that. Japan subsequently lost 21-19 to Great Britain but they have already given this event a serious shake-up.
Not a single All Black player was in any mood to linger in the media mixed zone and nor did their grim-faced coach, Sir Gordon Tietjens. The Japan players, in contrast, could scarcely believe their luck. “We thought that, if we keep on moving the ball around, the big guys will tire somewhere and eventually they did,” said one of their ecstatic squad members, Lomano Lemeki. “We had a game plan ... play at our pace and they would get frustrated. It is unbelievable.You never see a minnow beat a team which is supposed to be a gold medal contender. I am still shocked, to be honest.”
Amid New Zealand’s understandable shock – they are now down to 11 players having been permitted by the regulations to replace only one of their injured men – the positive impact on the rest of the world is potentially priceless. This was always meant to be rugby’s moment of maximum opportunity: their version of T20 cricket and the springboard to new countries and markets who are only dimly aware who plays at Twickenham. Anyone with even a passing appreciation of sport would have been wooed by the enchanting brilliance of Australia’s outstanding Charlotte Caslick; floating voters will fall in love with rugby afresh when they watch the Fijian men over the coming couple of days.
Fiji’s widely respected English coach, Ben Ryan, is leaving little to chance, even confiscating his players’ mobile phones to encourage them to sleep better. Craftily he has done likewise with Fiji’s women’s squad “because I know the boys would use their phones instead”. He is also closely watching their food intake. “I check their plates. Sometimes I take the odd sausage off but generally they’ve been really good. Hand on heart, I really don’t care if we don’t win this tournament if we play to our best and show everybody how Fiji can play. We just want to put in performances that get people off their seats.”
With even the Fijian prime minister in the stands – where are you, Theresa May? – the whole country is behind the squad. “Sevens is front- and backpage news in Fiji. It’s all anyone cares about,” says Chris Cracknell, the former England international who coaches Fiji’s women and helps Ryan with the men’s squad. “The boys are hotel bell boys, office clerks or work in the police, army and fire departments. It’s very much the people’s team. It’s 4am in Fiji now but everyone will still be watching.”
Interest elsewhere is also mushrooming. Thousands have flocked to Caslick’s Instagram account, which had a 10-fold increase in followers in 24 hours, and early TV audience figures are encouraging. Germany are showing interest and even Iceland play their first women’s sevens tournament this weekend. “There’s a lot of goodwill towards rugby,” confirmed World Rugby’s chief executive, Brett Gosper. A decision is due next year as to whether sevens will remain on the Olympic roster to 2024 and beyond. All the signs would suggest it is here to stay. “This game is expanding at a phenomenal rate,” said Ryan.
The prospect of a wide-open, gripping finale to the men’s tournament will help further; Australia were undone in the day’s opening game by France while Argentina needed a last-gasp score to avoid defeat by the United States. Team GB, meanwhile, opened their campaign with a comfortable 31-7 victory over Kenya, with Dan Bibby and Tom Mitchell impressing alongside the Scotland centre Mark Bennett and Welshman James Davies, younger brother of the British Lion Jonathan.
The nail-biting Japan outcome, clinched by a missed last-gasp conversion, was also encouraging, given this is the first time the 12-strong squad has started a tournament together. The ongoing club versus country politics of sevens means the Team GB men’s squad is not as studded with world-class talent as it might have been. This week, though, Simon Amor, suspects several Premiership players will be watching the Games on TV and making a mental note to be in Tokyo in 2020. Everything in rugby suddenly seems to be turning Japanese.
