THE Cyprus Rugby Federation’s director of rugby sevens, John Long, has given an interview to the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation where he outlined the future for Cyprus in the game.
He also emphasised that his policy will be on producing home-based players, the development of the game in schools, and the need for specialist coaching.
Rugby Sevens has a World Cup and will be an Olympic sport at the 2016 Games, with Cyprus currently ranked 20th in Europe out of a total of fifty countries.
Laurence Vasilliades, president of the Cyprus Rugby Federation stated: “As the youngest member of the European Rugby Federation, we are delighted to have secured the services of John Long, the former Romanian coach and one of the most experienced sevens coaches in Europe, with a pedigree that stretches back over 25 years.
“John has been a supporter of the Moufflons since our inception and witnessed some of our major victories. He has volunteered his services to Cyprus and resigned from his position in Romania to help us secure the future of Cyprus rugby in the forthcoming years that will see us cast into the maelstrom of world rugby sevens.”
Sevens rugby is a fast and furious short form of the game and one of the fastest-growing team sports in the world. Many countries that would never hope to compete in the arena of rugby fifteens can challenge on equal terms with some of the game’s giants. Where a Kenyan seven can beat the All Blacks in a World Cup semi-final.
The game lasts for seven minutes a half, with a one-minute break for half-time. As Long has said: “there is nowhere to hide on the sevens field and I require total commitment from my players and they are left in no doubt about that when they turn up for training.”
Long is of Irish/Scots parentage and has balanced this mixture by becoming the Irish universities swimming champion and playing his rugby as a prop forward for Edinburgh where he was known as Scotland’s Irishman.
At Edinburgh, he was selected to represent the combined Ireland-Scotland side against an England-Wales team.
While in Scotland he founded and trained the famous Scottish Barbarians touring team known worldwide as the Saltires after the Scottish flag. The team went on to win sevens tournaments in the Scottish borders, Oman, America, France, Portugal and Northern Ireland.
Following his departure he was made president for life. Taking up the cudgels for the infantry he went on to win the Army Sevens, and when business transferred him to Romania he was snapped up by their federation to become national coach from 1992 to 1997 and again from 2003 until 2011.
During this period he took the Romanians to two World Cups as well as winning major tournaments in Hong Kong, Dubai and France.
Now a resident of Bucharest but with a house on the coast of Cyprus at Zygi, Long plays host to his friends and family, where unsurprisingly rugby may feature in the conversation given his background and the fact that his eldest son played for Scottish expat schoolboys and his son-in-law has an under-21 Welsh cap, while his youngest boy is a forward with Romanian champions Steaua.
Welcome to Cyprus John Long.
