Aussies are now also-rans after years of neglect
You know that Australian Sevens rugby has seen better days when emerging nations like Portugal and Kenya are above them on the IRB World Series standings and team officials list a victory over the US as one of the season's highlights.
The Aussies are five-time champions of Hong Kong, but without a title since 1988. Their last appearance in a Cup final here was 15 years ago when they lost 32-20 to arch-rivals New Zealand. And their recent shortcomings have been further highlighted by the success of their female counterparts, the Wallaroos, who won this month's Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai as the men lost in the Plate final.
The former Sevens superpowers, who won four of their titles in a seven-year span until 1985, may have become also-rans but the appointment of dual international Michael O'Connor as coach is an attempt to turn things around.
'Australian rugby has neglected Sevens a bit, putting more emphasis on 15s,' conceded 49-year-old O'Connor, who took over at the start of the season. 'We certainly haven't utilised it as well as we can, but we're trying to change that.'
As a player, O'Connor took part in three Hong Kong Sevens in successful Australian teams of the early 1980s before switching to rugby league. He says Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has given the abbreviated version of the sport a greater priority in his plans.
'I believe Sevens should be taken seriously,' said O'Connor, a former national selector who earned 13 Wallaby caps and played 17 times for the Kangaroos. 'Robbie Deans has seen what great progress New Zealand has made in developing players through it.'
Gone are the days when the likes of future superstars such as George Gregan and Matthew Burke regularly caught the eye of the hierarchy by coming through the Sevens' ranks.
Ex-fullback Burke, the 81-cap international who lent a hand when he dropped in on Australian training at Causeway Bay Sports Ground this week, admits his nation faces a long road back to the top. 'We're not where we used to be in Sevens and it's affected our rugby at Super 14 and national level,' said Burke, who retired last May. 'A lot of flair is being blocked out and we've become very structured in the way we play.'
Burke, 36, believes the decline of Sevens in Australia can be traced back to the early-to-mid 1990s with the start of Super rugby, followed by the advent of professionalism.
Under coach Bob Dwyer and alongside legends David Campese and Michael Lynagh, Burke played in the inaugural 1993 World Cup Sevens in Scotland as a promising teenager when Australia lost the final to England. He was also part of a star-studded team featuring Tim Horan and Jason Little at the 1993 Hong Kong Sevens. But after returning home, Burke was handed an ultimatum.
'My New South Wales coach at the time told me: you go and play Sevens again and you'll lose your spot in the Waratahs 15-a-side team,' he said. 'That pretty much stemmed my Sevens career.'
Greg Growden, senior rugby writer for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, added: 'Since Super rugby, Australian officials have treated Sevens as virtually a minor sport. The occasional good player comes through but generally the team comprises the also-rans.'
Without access to active Super 14 players, the Australian Sevens side is comprised mostly of up-and-coming youngsters. At the start of this campaign, just one squad member - Sydney-based utility back Willie Bishop - had international Sevens' tournament experience.
On Australia's crowded sporting landscape, Sevens doesn't have the same high-profile it enjoys in other parts of the world. After losing their short-lived Brisbane stop on the IRB calendar in 2003, Australian rugby fans had to wait until 2007 before the city of Adelaide - an Aussie Rules-stronghold - got the green light to host a World Series event.
In Hong Kong last year, Australia's campaign ended in disappointment when they were knocked out by eventual runners-up South Africa in the Cup quarter-finals.
But they did unearth a star in the making in James O'Connor, now a starter with Super 14 franchise the Western Force. The 18-year-old centre, no relation to coach Michael O'Connor, went on to become the second youngest Wallaby in history when he made his debut against Italy in Padova last November.
This season, it's been a sharp learning curve for a playing group with an average age of just 22. After four of eight events in the 2008-09 season, the Aussies are equal 10th on the standings with just six points, 54 behind joint leaders South Africa and England.
The lows have been losses to the Cook Islands and the US, although they did bounce back to beat the Americans in the Plate quarter-finals at the World Cup three weeks ago.
'It's not embarrassing... it just reflects the high standard these days, ' said Australia manager Luca Liussu. 'There haven't been a lot of highlights in terms of results, but the fitness and understanding of the game have improved so much.'
In the wilderness
Australian sevens has suffered since the Super series came to light
The Aussies have won the HK Sevens six times, but the last victory was back in: 1988
