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In fact, World Rugby’s social media came out on top of all sports – with 11.02 million the sevens generated more total social media engagements than all the other surveyed sporting bodies combined.“Fans are very much at the centre of our strategies to grow the game and we are committed to ensuring that, as an international federation and a sport, we engage, listen to and seek opinion from fans to keep the sport as relevant, attractive and enjoyable as possible,” said World Rugby Chief Executive Brett Gosper.Much of the fuel for that social engagement came from the unprecedented exposure rugby sevens gained through Olympic broadcasters, who were themselves encouraged by the global competitiveness of the sevens competitions where the four men’s semi-finalists (Fiji, Great Britain, South Africa and Japan) came from four different regions and the women’s semi-finalists (Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain) represented three continents.“The quality of the rugby was fantastic,” added Egan. “Great credit to the athletes and the way they prepared for the tournament. “Broadcaster feedback was extremely positive. NBC actually showed 35 games, which was more than they intended. And in Germany the men’s quarter-finals had a reach of 3.25 million people, which was a record for rugby in Germany. So overall it’s been incredibly positive and we’ve got to build on that now and take it forward.”OLYMPIC REVIEW | INSPIREYEAR IN REVIEW 2016 WORLD RUGBY 19