Mon, Jul 13, 2015 page18

• Fans get look at new Olympic sport

  • AP, TORONTO
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  It is fast, there is plenty of contact, lots of scoring and games are over in 20 minutes.

  It is rugby sevens, and it is a bit of a mystery for some attending the Pan American Games, just as it is likely to be next year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where rugby returns to the Olympic Games after a 92-year absence.

  Not only is the game fast-paced, but it is compact. Organizers crammed 21 matches into two sessions on Saturday, nine of which were women’s games. Yesterday was to feature 21 more.

  

  Canada’s Michael Fuailfeu, left, is tackled by Argentina’s Axel Muller Aranda during their men’s rugby sevens match at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, on Saturday.

  Photo: AP

  “You can see a lot of different nationalities play because you get a few minutes of each, and that is it,” said Caitlin Russell, who traveled from the western city of Calgary to watch the Pan American Games. “You don’t waste much time.”

  The sport is easily understood and followed in rugby-playing nations such as New Zealand or Australia, but not so much in North America, or in Olympic-host nation Brazil.

  “I think it is very fan-friendly once people understand what it is they should be watching for,” Caitlin’s father, Tony, said.

  The game agreed with Canadian fans on Saturday as Canada won by lopsided scores. Canada’s women defeated Colombia 55-0 and Mexico 60-0. The Canadian men beat Guyana 45-0.

  The event drew largely a family crowd, good for organizers, but bad for Judy Hachiles, who was selling beer at Toronto FC’s soccer stadium, where the two days of sevens were being played.

  “To put it in context, today I only made about C$15 in tips, when usually it is up about 60. They did not drink much beer, that is for sure,” Hachiles said.

  The Olympic discipline of rugby sevens is one of three versions of the sport, with fewer players and shorter matches than the 15-a-side rugby union or 13-a-side rugby league. Sevens — the name comes from the number of players on each team — combines the passing and contact of American football, and the kicking skills of soccer.

  “It is really the best of all our favorite sports put together,” Caitlin Russell said.

  That is exactly the feeling of American player Carlin Isles, who is known widely as the “Fastest Man in Rugby.”

  “I love to have that title,” Isles said on Saturday after the US defeated Mexico 48-0 in one of their matches.

  The US have already qualified for the Olympics, and Isles figures Brazilian fans are likely to enjoy watching him run. He has world-class sprinter speed with a best of 10.13 seconds, had overtures from the NFL, but was drawn to sevens three years ago after seeing it on the Internet.

  “The way Usain Bolt is in track and field, I want to be like that in rugby,” said Isles, who grew up in Massillon, Ohio, and attended Ashland University.

  Isles said he had the same problem most new fans have trying to decipher the game.

  “It took me about a month to grasp as much as I could, but it still took me three years to finally start realizing different things. I’m still learning,” he said.
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