Brian O’Driscoll hits out at ex-Ireland bigwig’s ‘unhelpful’ comments as World Rugby ‘would encourage’ passing ‘loss-making’ sevens on
Ireland men's sevens team in action and legendary centre Brian O'Driscoll.
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll believes that World Rugby would be quite happy to pass the baton on when it comes to sevens after they were slammed by David Nucifora.
The global governing body currently run the SVNS series but, in the wake of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s decision to axe their men’s sevens programme, Nucifora was critical of World Rugby.
He stated that they “do not deserve the right to own the game of sevens” and that “the sooner someone takes it from them the sooner it will meet its potential.”
Nucifora was performance director at the IRFU between 2014 and 2024, and he was evidently frustrated that his work on sevens has ultimately gone to waste.
O’Driscoll disagreed with the Australian, however, and feels that World Rugby would be delighted to see someone else take over the shorter form of the sport.
‘Doesn’t hate sevens’
“There’s no doubt that [new IRFU performance director] David Humphreys doesn’t hate sevens,” he told Off The Ball. “Certainly, some of the comments from David Nucifora are probably unhelpful around his disgust for it and that World Rugby doesn’t deserve a sevens competition, and the sooner someone takes it off their hands the better.
“Do you know what, I almost think World Rugby would encourage that, I really do, because sevens works in some ways and doesn’t in others.
“It’s a loss-maker and I don’t know if it’s going to return a profit any time soon. Any functioning business is not going to continue going down that road.
“You see it in the club game over in the UK and France with these wealthy benefactors willing to lose money year-on-year because, for want of a better term, their play thing, or the enjoyment factor they derive from it, and they’re willing to lose a certain amount.
“But that can’t go on forever and World Rugby are no different than anybody else. They’re realists around needing to turn that corner.”
Brian O’Driscoll: Rugby avoided World Cup ‘catastrophe’ which could have ‘ended the game’
O’Driscoll believes that plenty of time and investment has gone into sevens from World Rugby, but that they have not had a return on it.
Not making money
“You look at the women’s game, the development of it and it’s going to turn a profit. It may be on the next cycle but it’s going to get there,” the Ireland legend said.
“Lots of time and investment and resources have gone into sevens but they haven’t just quite got what they need.
“If you go to a sevens event, you will have the best time ever, they’re phenomenal events. It’s so much fun, there’s fancy dress, but actually from a broadcast point of view, showing something over the course of three or four hours, and something where you have to wait for the Cup semi-finals and final but you have to watch all of the Plate and the Bowl, and lesser teams, no one has that time anymore.”
The IRFU have received a backlash for axing their men’s sevens programme but O’Driscoll was not one of those critics, with the 46-year-old suggesting that it may have been a decision based on World Rugby’s current issues.
“I think World Rugby don’t know what the sevens iteration is going to look like. Maybe that’s part of the decision-making process for the IRFU,” he added.
“As they’re working that out, they’ve got to go and make their own decisions around future-proofing their future and making the call, and making it early enough before it actually becomes a major issue down the line, which is what I imagine is transpiring.”
