A new report suggests its appearance in Rio 2016 has already been a game-changer for the development and growth of rugby as a global sport and will have greater long term impact than the recent Rugby World Cup. To mark the opening round of the men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, HSBC teamed up with strategic planning consultancy The Futures Company to produce "Breaking New Ground," a detailed look at rugby’s evolution and growth as it stands on the brink of a game-changing year. The inclusion of men’s and women’s rugby in the 2016 Olympic Games has been a catalyst for both funding and development. World Rugby has invested more than £350M across the game at all levels between '09 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, reflecting its commitment to grow the rugby family and build a sustainable, inclusive future. Additional rugby funding has come from national Olympic associations. The report will be published in full early next year, but initial findings also reveal:
- Growth of women’s participation has been explosive. The number of women players has grown from 200,000 to 1.7 million in just the last three years; and 30% -- nearly a third -- of the participants in World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby mass participation program have been girls.
- Rugby sevens is opening up the game in new markets on every continent in the world. Inclusion in the Olympic Games is proof of this, but rugby sevens also features at all major multi-sports events, including the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Pan-American Games and Youth Olympic Games.
HSBC Global Head of Sponsorship & Events Giles Morgan, a long term supporter of rugby, said, "As a global banking and financial services organization, we pride ourselves on opening up a world of opportunities for people and we want to help rugby union maximize this opportunity -- this is why we commissioned this report. ... However, all the right ingredients don’t automatically guarantee success, so it’s crucial that World Rugby, unions and sponsors are committed to converting this opportunity. The gold medal for the sport will be to use Rio 2016 as a catalyst to drive even greater growth, participation and engagement in the game." 2003 Rugby World Cup winning England coach Clive Woodward is in no doubt about what is at stake. He said, "Getting [rugby sevens] as an Olympic event is just colossal for the sport as a whole. I think Rio will be a huge event and act as the springboard to take it really global" (
Scoop Media).
