Opinion | What’s to become of the real game of rugby?

Where it began, I can’t begin to knowin’

But then I know it’s growing strong …

It began here in Hong Kong. Well, it began in Melrose, but here was where it went international, and here is where it grew strong, and now it’s getting stronger.

Yes, I know, you’re tired of hearing about the Olympics and Rio and Sevens and what it will do for rugby; me too, tired and a tad worried.

World series sponsors HSBC should be a tad worried too, as there are literally legions of sponsors willing to pay millions to snatch the series from them. Again, this is due to "Sevens as an Olympic sport" euphoria.

But what’s to become of the real game of rugby? Fifteens is real rugby, not some poor relation and I worry the International Rugby Board is not thinking strategically about the long term unintended consequences of this focus on Sevens.

The IRB maintain all member countries must have a 15s programme, but is it enforceable?