GUEST BLOG: England sevens star Rob Vickerman on Olympic inclusion

England sevens star Rob Vickerman speaks to Sportsbeat's Luke Gray

I THINK the most appealing aspect of sevens to the Olympics is the format of it.

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Seeing as sevens tournaments are traditionally held over two or three days, nations who wouldn't normally get the chance to appear on the international stage get their chance in the opening stages.

As the tournament goes on, anticipation grows and there's a real buzz when it comes to the final day of competition. The three-day format really works and I think it will be employed at the Olympics.

It's a really fast intense game and obviously that appeals to wider audiences. Rugby enthusiasts can still associate with the laws but get the added bonus of it being end-to-end stuff.

I was involved in the Rugby World Cup this year and to be honest it was a bit of an anticlimax. The atmosphere was a bit flatter than it was say in the Dubai leg.

But with the Olympics taking place every four years I think it gives it a special appeal. It will certainly be the most sought after prize in rugby sevens and I expect the quality of players participating to increase.

I think sevens has got a real core group of followers who enjoy the game as it's much more expansive and a bit less focused on defence.

The Guinness Premiership is a very tough and very competitive league where games are decided by one or two points and are heavily reliant on defence and a good kicking game.

But now I envisage is that there will be a lot more funding towards the development of sevens rather than just rugby in general.

There may be a bit more pressure on clubs to release players for sevens. But I don't think any club could stand in a players way of playing in the Olympics.

You've got to prove yourself at sevens throughout the season however, and that could be a problem.

In terms of the way contracts work I think players may begin trying to get clauses written in their contracts saying if they are called up they will be released.

I know politics has been a big problem for the current England sevens management and that's why much of last year's core squad was made up of National League players, because the Premier Rugby rulings about releasing players was not an issue.

At the moment the key role of sevens is to develop premiership players, so if they are already playing regularly in the premiership all the boxes have been ticked really."

On a personal level, I made my debut in Paris in 2005 and winning the Wellington Sevens last year was definitely the highlight of my career.

It beats winning the London leg as we were surrounded by 30,000 Kiwis who hated every bone in our bodies so to come back from 19-0 down against them was pretty special.

A lot of people would say Hong Kong is the best spectacle but for me I would have to say New Zealand.

As far as this year goes I'm focused firmly on Newcastle. England Saxons is a real goal of mine for the coming season.

Watching the Commonwealth Games throughout my childhood was great so to be involved in Delhi next October would be exceptional.

Not many people question the fact that sevens helps you improve your attacking game but for me defensively you really learn how to read a game.

When you play sevens you become so much more aware of space and when you look at how many times in the premiership simple three-on-two scenarios aren't complete.

The only downside of the decision is that there will be no rugby sevens at Twickenham for the London 2012 Olympics.

Obviously it would be staged at Twickenham and would generate huge crowds and revenue so it's disappointing but I'm still hoping to be around for Rio 2016.