It is fair to say the African nation’s first-ever World Rugby Sevens Series crown came as a surprise to one of my colleagues, when we checked the results of the eighth event of the 10-competition season. After all, Kenya strength supposedly lies in athletics, not rugby.

The result, however, should, perhaps, not have come as such a major surprise as the Kenyan team had finished in fourth position in the South African leg of the series and lie in seventh place in the overall standings.

Australian great Michael Lynagh, vice-captain of the team which won the 1991 Rugby World Cup, believes Kenya’s triumph has come at the right time, as sevens prepares to make its Olympic bow at Rio 2016.

Lynagh, who helped lobby for the sport’s inclusion at the Olympic Games, previously worked with the International Rugby Board – now World Rugby – on helping to drive the development of the game. The 52-year-old believes the development of emerging rugby nations in sevens, such as the Kenya and the United States, will be given a further boost post-Rio 2016.

“Six or seven years ago, when it was announced that rugby was coming onto the programme, countries looked and said we can win a medal, right what do we have to do?” Lynagh told insidethegames.

“What I think it [the Olympics] will do is give a huge increase in interest in sevens. I think there already has been in countries such as the United States, there’s central funding and that is really good for rugby.

“We saw Kenya win in Singapore and that comes at the right time ahead of the Olympics to create more interest, I think there will be a huge surge in sevens particularly and in rugby in general post-Olympics.”

Fiji are likely to head into the men’s Olympic tournament as the favourites to claim the gold, despite that 30-7 loss to Kenya in last weekend’s final. The defending World Rugby Sevens Series champions top the standings with two events remaining and look set to triumph for the second successive year. Their country’s first-ever Olympic medal looks a real possibility.

The lure of Olympic glory has proved too strong for several stars of the 15s game to ignore. In contrast to golf, where several big names have announced they will skip Rio 2016 because it does not fit in with their schedule, a number of rugby top players have negotiated deals with their respective clubs to pursue Olympic success.

Lynagh expects several well-known 15s players to feature during the Games, with 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill-Williams of New Zealand and  Australia’s Quade Cooper among those to bid for selection. But he believes they have found the transition difficult.

“A lot of them have realised that there is a different skill set and different physical requirement in sevens, so they are taking time to adapt to it, it is a specialised game sevens, it does take a bit of time,” the former fly-half, whose 911 points remains an Australian record.

“You’ve got the fact that a lot of these teams have had their squad, which has been on the tour for a number of years and just because the Olympics are on 'superstar X' wants to come back and we should pick him.

“The coaches have to be careful how they do that. We’ve seen a number of them come in and have a go and maybe we won’t see them at the Olympics. There are others that will.”

Lynagh is excited by the potential surge in growth in sevens but has warned that World Rugby could face a similar challenge to cricket, where the shorter Twenty20 format of the game has become more popular than the five-day test format. The Australian claimed the governing body would need to be “careful” in ensuring there was a place for both sevens and 15s.

The traditional 15s format was handed a boost after the 2015 World Rugby, which saw New Zealand successfully defend their title. Improved performances from a number of the second tier nations such as Georgia and Japan, who claimed arguably the biggest shock in the competition's history by beating South Africa 34–32 in the pool phase, were seen as huge positives for the sport.

The continued development of the so-called smaller nations has proved the subject of much debate and will be high on the list of priorities for England’s Bill Beaumont when he succeeds Bernard Lapasset as World Rugby chairman. The Frenchman is due to step down on July 1 to focus on Paris’ bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Lynagh believes the continuing the success of the Rugby World Cup will be fundamental to helping to close the gap between the emerging nations and the elite.

“What rugby needs at the World Cup, what every sport needs, is more and more teams who are able to win the thing," said Lynagh. "Instead of having four or five teams that can win, it’d be great to have 10, as that would increase interest.

“It think Bill needs to ensure that the success of the Rugby World Cup continues, but also use that success to continue to develop those nations that are improving. Also, there has got to be some solution and I know they have been trying to do this for a long, long time, for the islands, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.”

Lapasset recently angered Italian Rugby Federation chief Alfredo Gavazzi after suggesting a proposal to introduce promotion and relegation to the Six Nations, European rugby’s premier event. At present, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales always contest the top tier of the annual Championships.

Italy’s continued struggles have raised suggestions that other nations deserve a chance to take on the continent's best, especially Georgia and Romania after their strong displays at the Rugby World Cup.

The proposal is one that Lynagh believes is worth considering, as World Rugby look to strength the standard of national teams across Europe.

“I don’t see it as an automatic, who comes last goes down, but maybe the last place team plays the top place second tier team and if they win they come in,” he said. "That would give other countries a chance. One year it might be England or Ireland that come last and Romania or Spain, whoever it might be come first and they are in.

“It is a worthwhile discussion having, I really do. It might be that Italy, who have struggled over the last few years does come last but beat the team in the second tier, so they are there on merit.”

Certainly, the momentum appears to be with rugby as the sport prepares to showcase sevens at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. With the continued development of smaller nations seen as a key issue for the governing body to tackle in the coming years, maintaining the momentum and ensuring rugby sevens place on the Olympic programme looks key to raising interest in the sport in key markets, like the United States and 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts Japan.