Why Quade Cooper’s Rio Olympics snub showed the gulf that now separates sevens and 15s rugby
The 58-cap Wallaby had his dream dashed, and it seems unlikely that many stars from the ‘big’ code will be in action in Brazil
A lot of the pre-Hong Kong Sevens hype last month focused on one man: New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams. A World Cup winner in 15s with the All Blacks, a star too in rugby league (and a half-decent heavyweight boxer just for good measure), it was a mouth-watering opportunity to see him in the flesh.
Not since the good ol’ pre-professionalism days, when most squads were packed with 15s greats willing to interrupt titanic drinking sessions with the odd game of sevens, had the tournament been graced with a bona fide superstar of the ‘big’ code. In the end, Sonny Bill was ... well ... sort of okay-bordering-on-not-great. Not that I’d say that to his face.
It was a reminder, not that we needed it, that 15s and sevens are completely different games now, with wildly different requirements in skills, fitness, tactics, etc, etc.
It’s a lesson Quade Cooper learned this week in painful fashion, as Australia’s coach announced that he wouldn’t be considering the 58-cap Wallaby for the Rio Olympics after a couple of unspectacular outings on the World Sevens Series.
