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Spain are the giant killers on Day#1 in London

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 13, 2012 at 8:54 am {no comments}

Spain played their way into the top 15 sides for the 2012-2013 IRB World Sevens Series by making the final of the qualifier division at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens.

This was no mean feat. They beat ranked sides Zimbabwe, Tonga and Japan. The only team they lost to was Canada (in pool play and the final).

That means they will play in all 10 tournaments rather than the 3 they played in this season (London is their 3rd).

Spain’s arrival

Spain continued their rise with a convincing 22-7 upset over Wales.

It’s one thing to cause an upset but Sain needed to hold their nerve against Zimbabwe to finish second in Group C and earn their place in the Cup Quarter Finals.

In their first match against Fiji, they were 14-0 down after 5 minutes but they came out strongly in the second half, scoring first and hold Fiji scoreless until the final 12 seconds.

Despite the Pacific Islanders typically sluggish start, Spain earned the 19-5 scoreline.

Wales are out!

Wales currently sit in 7th place on the World Series table but they will be playing for minor prizes a the 2012 London Sevens.

They were not convincing against Zimbabwe in their first game (17-12) and then stumbled against Spain meaning they had to beat Fiji to make it into the Cup Quarter Finals (which they did not 43-7).

Wales are without their captain Richie Pugh – out with an injury suffered at the Japan Sevens and young speedster, Harry Robinson.

Is the 2011-2012 World Sevens Series a foregone conclusion?

Filed under England by Maru on May 10, 2012 at 3:10 pm {no comments}

New Zealand have an 11 point lead over Fiji in the World Series with just one tournament to play.

Winning the cup is worth 22 points but series points are awarded at very small increments (i.e. 19 for second place, 17 for third) so it is very difficult to make up such a large amount.

No coach is ever going to admit that they got the best pool draw outcome but even the most one-eyed supporter would have to admin that the prospect of Argentina, Kenya and Russia is not the most daunting pool challenge at the 2012 England Sevens to a well prepared, well coached side with experience, talent and fire power.

That said, a (relatively) easy pool is still going to land you a quarter final against Samoa or England – and that is no easy prospect.

But in terms of the Series, the permutations are straight forward enough.

New Zealand have an 11 point advantage over Fiji on the table.

So Fiji need to make that up in one tournament to win the World Series

What will it take for Fiji to win the series?

With their draw, the Kiwis are likely to make it to the Cup quarter final stage (by finishing first or second in Pool A).

In the series, this is worth a minimum of 10 points because a loss in the Cup quarter final puts them into the Plate semi-final.

If the Kiwis were to be put out at that stage (the Plate semi-final) – thus netting 10 series points – then Fiji would need to win the cup to get the 12 points they need to win the Series.

Winning the Cup is worth 22 points.

This is the likely worst case senario for New Zealand.

Should New Zealand make the Plate final, then they will win the series because that would net them 12 points or 13 if they win the Plate.

On top of their 11 point advantage, that would make the margin 23 and winning the cup is only worth 22.

Going further than the Quarter final stage in the Cup will yield a minimum of 15 points and hence the Kiwis will win the series because the margin between finishing 4th in the Cup and winning the Cup is only 7 points and Fiji need 12 to win.

For New Zealand, the simple fact is – should they finish in 1st or 2nd place in their pool, they need to win only one more game to win the series.

Obviously it’s never over until the final whistle and no-one will be out to do the Kiwis any favours, least of all England, Samoa or Fiji (or South Africa or Australia for that matter).

Also, New Zealand don’t have a wonderful record at Twickenham.
- New Zealand have not won in London for 5 years (last cup win: 2007) and it was another 5 years before that since their previous victory
- NZ have a 3 from 11 record in London

Can South Africa win without Cecil Afrika?

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series, Scotland by Maru on April 12, 2012 at 12:40 pm {no comments}

South Africa are the only team from the top 6 that have not won a tournament during the current World Sevens Series.

They came very close in their home tournament when they had New Zealand on the rack going into the last minute of the final in Port Elizabeth (which the Kiwis won 31-26 with a Frank Halai try).

Can they get themselves up for the final 2 tournaments of the series in Glasgow and London?

Player of the year Cecil Afrika left the field with a knee injury at half time in South Africa’s quarter final against Samoa in Hong Kong when they were down 14-5.

Paul Delport came on as replacement and that was the last that Cecil Afrika will play in the 2011-2012 World Series.

The Blitzbokke managed to surge ahead of an in-form Samoan side that had looked very dangerous on the first 2 days of play including a 27-0 hammering of Argentina.

South Africa then lost in the semi-final to New Zealand by 19-12 before caning England 28-0 to secure third place in the tournament with a very strong finish.

In Japan, South Africa beat Scotland and Portugal in pool play but were convincingly beaten by Samoa 38-7 at the end fo Day#1.

In another tight rematch from Hong Kong, South Africa faced England in the quarter final on Day#2 but this time the tables were turned and South Africa were out of contention, losing 21-17.

They eventually lost the Plate final to Fiji 14-10.

But it was a very gutsy effort after Boom Prinsloo had been knocked out and Frankie Horne was also ruled out with injury.
[Paul Delport sustained injury in Hong Kong and was not in Japan]

Frankie Horne, Boom Prinsloo, Kyle Brown

Kyle Brown was the only man left standing from South Africa's starting forwards

On to Scotland and England Sevens

South Africa finished the 2010-2011 series in spectacular fashion, winning the last two tournaments in London and Edinburgh to claim second place in the overall standings.

The 2011-2012 series has 9 tournaments. It is a long and arduous journey for all teams and injuries take their toll.

New Zealand have not won a tournament since Frank Halai’s injury in Las Vegas. They lead the series but coach Gordon Teitjens would dearly love to have his try scoring big man out wide for the Glasgow and London events.

If Cecil Afrika was playing, South Africa would be a genuine chance. Without him, they need their remaining creative players (Branco du Preez, Steven Hunt, Cornel Hendricks) to really step up and, at the same time their hard-working forwards must to stay fit.

South Africa will give a solid account of themselves but without Cecil Africa, winning a tournament is a very big ask.

(I am from New Zealand but) I kind of hope they do win one of these events (if not both). Paul Treu is a passionate, dedicated coach. Frankie Horne is a rock and Kyle Brown’s work rate and ability with the ball make him one of the most effective forwards in the series. Branco du Preez is capable of taking over matches on attack and there are young men with pace out wide.

Go the Blitzbokke!

Branco du Preez, South Africa

Fiji looked the most convincing on Day#1

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 22, 2011 at 9:37 am {no comments}

Despite a very close call in their first match against Portugal after a red card late on the first half, Fiji showed great strength, skill and pace to finish the day strongly.

Despite a 19-0 lead, a brain explosion from the youngest player left the Pacific Islanders a man down in the first half against a spirited Portuguese side who are good enough to win in that situation – and they nearly did.

But Fiji showed great composure and patience to score after the final hooter.

Fiji then put an improving Russian side to the sword, 41-0.

Their last match was a physical encounter with South Africa. The Fijian forwards showed great strength and accuracy at the breakdowns to win a lot of ball and rattle the South Africans, winning 12-7.

There is still a lot to do as Fiji face Samoa in their quarter final first up on day#2 – a very tough assignment.

In their favour should be a better mental focus than they had when these 2 sides met at the same stage in New Zealand in February. On that occasion, a Fijian defender was red carded for a bad spear tackle. Hopefully this time, they have that moment behind them and can focus on the job.

England’s worst nightmare – losing to the French and being put out by Argentina

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 22, 2011 at 8:15 am {no comments}

The efforts of the highest all time IRB Sevens points scorer, Ben Gollings were not enough for England this time

England were in second place on the World Sevens Series standings going into their home tournament. They had been playing very well all season, making the final in 3 out of the 6 tournaments played this season and winning the Dubai event.

They have an excellent balance of strength, pace and skill and the highest points scorer of all time in the wonderful Ben Gollings.

Added to the huge crowd support at Twickenham, England had every reason to be confident.

But it wasn’t to be.

A loss to France and a draw with Argentina left England playing for the Bowl on day#2 with their championship hopes all but dashed.

In a post-match interview on day#1 the prospect of engineering a quarter-final against New Zealand was raised. This way England might knock the Kiwis out of contention for maximum points, keeping them for themselves and leap-frogging their foes on the series table.

While not ruling the prospect out, England coach Ben Ryan was not comfortable about the idea of deliberately losing a rugby match, especially on home turf. He did not think it fair on the Twickenham faithful and was weary of Group B opponents – things could easily back fire.

It would mean losing to either France or Argentina – something no English sportsman would want to do regardless of the bigger picture.

But the standard of world sevens has improved markedly. Europe has produced teams capable of beating anyone.

Portugal beat England in the first round in Dubai
Portugal beat Kenya in South Africa
France beat the USA in South Africa
France beat South Africa in pool play in New Zealand
Russia only just lost to England by 2 points in the quarter finals in Hong Kong

It was only a matter of time before one of them threatened the dominance of the top echelon in world sevens.

The truth is that England were in a very tough pool and they had the burden of expectation on their shoulders. Something that New Zealand have battled with at their home tournament in the past.

They were ranked top with Argentina second but both France and the USA are very capable sevens teams and Argentina are one of the toughest opponents in a sevens match. They are physical and accurate at the breakdown with playmaking abilities that are sometimes forgotten when they often play in a seemingly disorganized manner.

As it happened coach Ryan’s worst nightmare occurred as England lost to France 21-14, heaping pressure on his side for a must-win encounter at the end of the day.

That said, England remained confident as the cameras were allowed into the changing room before the match, Ryan was heard saying that England ‘needed to get past Argentina so they could meet New Zealand to tomorrow’.

Perhaps a slight indcation that England may have been playing one match ahead of themselves.

So what happened?
In my opinion, it was down to the sum of 2 factors

Several squad changes

Delon Armitage is a good player but he hasn’t played sevens for several years and he comes into a side that has been together for a long time with many months of travelling, training and playing together.

One of the warnings for Australia and New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games was succumbing to the excitement of choosing from the best players in the 15-a-side game to the detriment of team cohesion.
Mental focus

To say that ‘they are all professionals’ does nothing to explain the pressure that 2 seven minute spells of intensely competitive, high pressure rugby can bring at the end of a day’s play.

Add the weight of expectation in front of a 50,000 strong home crowd willing their team to overcome New Zealand on the series table and you have a recipe for pressure to overcome focus.

It happens.

I can empathize with the English fans. I have sat in Wellington’s Cake Tin and endured New Zealand losing before even making the final of their own tournament. The stunned silence is gutting.

It happens …

London Sevens 2011 – Early highlights on day#1

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 21, 2011 at 11:09 pm {no comments}

Scotland’s bravery
Samoa 19 – 15 Scotland
Samoa often play at a canter in the early rounds, doing just enough to secure victory.

Had Scotland made their conversions, they would have drawn this match but I suspect had they got either of the first two kicks, Samoa would have upped their game in response.

The Scottish should take confidence in their performance however and take that into their next matches against Australia and Canada.

Australia strong despite lots of player turnover
Australia 19 – 14 Canada
No James Stannard, Bracken Karauria-Hemry, Nick Phipps, Clinton Sills, Kimami Sitauti, Ed Quirk or Luke Morahan. The turnover in the Australian Sevens ranks have been the biggest of any of the top sides in the IRB World Sevens Series from last season to this.

The addition of a 5th Super Rugby team in 2011, the increase in the size of the super rugby squads (with 2 additional players for each squad) and the significant injury toll have exhausted Australia’s rugby stocks.

The Australians have a huge ask to defend the title they won here last year but they started well against a strong Canadian side.

The Foley brothers, Ed VanderGlass and Ed Jenkins are the only recognized names in the squad but they play like a team and are well coached by double wallaby Michael O’Connor.

Russia hold their own
South Africa 17 – 7 Russia
Backing up from their remarkable performance in Hong Kong where they beat Kenya and went within 3 points of beating England in the cup quarter final, Russia scored at the end of tue first half to lead high flying South Africa 7-5 at the break.

Committed defending, competing at the break down and pace out wide are a potent mix that serve Russia well. This is an up and coming side that we will see more of in the future.

Fiji sneak home in dramatic fashion after early red card
Fiji 24 – 21 Portugal
Portugal were no match for the awesome Fijians in the first 6 minutes when they scored 3 tries on the hop to go out to a 19-0 lead.

But then a Fijian player was ordered off for a brain-explosion dangerous tackle on an airborne Portuguese player (Esteves).

Portugal were a man up for the remaining eight and a half minutes and made the most of it with a try just before the break 2 more in the second half to claim a 2 point lead with the conversions.

But Fiji came back in high drama with a try at the death to win by 3 points. They looked down and out from having to defend for long periods with a one man disadvantage. Portugal had possession with 40 seconds to play but Fijonkept theor composure and made the telling break when it counted.

Australia were brilliant in London

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 30, 2010 at 10:58 pm {no comments}

Karauria-Henry - Instrumental for Australia

Capping off a very strong first day at Twickenham, Australia finished Day 2 in style, lifting their first World Sevens Series Trophy in 8 years beating South Africa 19-14 in a thrilling final.

Australia have played well this season. They beat Fiji in Las Vegas and had narrow losses to Samoa and New Zealand.

But they went through a lot of changes coming into the London Sevens. Coach Michael O’Connor lost all of his junior internationals for this tournament. In a team with an average age of 20, that meant whole-scale changes.

Kimini Sitauti had been a consistent performer, Liam Gil had really come of age and pacey loose forward Ed Quirk capped off a great year with a Super 14 debut for Queensland but none would be available in London and Edinburgh.

But O’Connor was able to welcome Ed Stubbs and Bernard Foley back from injury. Foley and Henry Vanderglas partnered in the forwards to cause the South African defense a lot of problems and Stubbs was instrumental in Australia’s second try.

Australian speedster Clinton Sils was having the best tournament of his career. He had 9 tries to that point and may well have top scored for the event had he not been injured in a dodgy tackle by Mzwandile Stick a minute and a half into the first half and limped off. The remaining players really stepped up.

Brackin Karauria-Henry took up the wing spot leaving James Stannard as the primary playmaker in the middle of the field. Karauria-Henry stepped his way to Australia’s first try after Fabian Juries opened the scoring for South Africa. Juries was not required by the Stormers in their Super 14 finals campaign and so he joined the sevens team for the last 2 events of the season.

The star of the London 7s, James Stannard

The real star for Australia was James Stannard who scored one try and converted two en route to a tournament high 67 points.

The 27 year old is by far the oldest player in the Australian squad but his quick thinking and turn of pace had opposition defences scrambling to try and stop him.

Henry Vanderglas was the standout up front. He scored Australia’s third try to put them in front at the 8 minute mark of the second half.

The margin was 5 but South Africa were not finished. A promising attack from long range saw Cecil Afrika go through. It looked liek it might be the winning of the match but somehow Stannard caught him in the corner from the sweeper defence position to seal the match for the men from down under.

Draws & upsets to close out Day 1 in London

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 23, 2010 at 8:23 pm {no comments}

Australia trounced England in the last match of the day

Australia were without their captain (Pat McCutcheon) who was playing in the semi-final of the Super 14 in South Africa and their young stars who are lining up for the Junior World Cup (Kimami Sitauti, Liam Gil, Ed Quirk, Robbie Coleman and Dominic Shipperely).

But they welcomed back the experienced Bernard Foley, Ed Jenkins and the pacey Clinton Sils.

Playmakers James Stannard and Karauria-Henry remained, with the latter having gained Super 14 experience since the Hong Kong Sevens in March.

Ed Stubbs was back and so there is considerable familiarity, pace and experience in the Australian side.

England have depth and speed but no Ollie Phillips. It’s hard to see that that was the difference as Ollie Lindsay-Hague had been playing very well in the halves with Ben Gollings.

Tom Varndell brought his considerable pace back to the England side after the Premiership ended. Apart from Phillips omission, this is the strongest England have looked (on paper) all season.

But it was the Australians who made more of their opportunities and took first place in Pool D

Kenya draw with New Zealand

Kenya looked comfortable but not convincing in their first match of the tournament against Portugal but their loss to Wales left them fighting for their lives against New Zealand in the second to last match of the day.

The Kiwis looked composed and dominating against the Welsh and Portuguese so the draw with Kenya should be a wake-up.

The result was not enough for the Kenyans who are relegated to the Bowl.

South Africa draw with Fiji to win Pool C

Fiji were pushed by Canada in their first match of the day but the result was comfortable enough.

South Africa suffered further injury in the lead up to the tournament, losing stand-in captain Kyle Brown and the very fast Sampie Mastreit but they welcome back Mzwandile Stick, Fabien Juries and Renfred Dazel.

Like Australia, the changes to the South African squad gave them considerably more experience.

Fiji are always there-abouts but they have not looked convincing since the Wellington event back in February.

Italy beat the USA

to leave the Americans to fight for the Bowl as well.

The USA had beaten Argentina and so probably thought they would finish their pool in second place (behind the Samoans) to earn a place in the Cup quarter finals but it wasn’t to be.

Argentina beat Samoa

in the upset of the tournament.

The vastly experienced Uale Mai scored Samoa’s 2 tries but the normally brilliant Lolo Lui missed the conversions and that was the difference between the 2 teams as Argentina converted their 2 tries.

Samoa have been in devastating form in the last 3 events and despite finishing the pool on equal points with Argentina they are second.

What it all means …

England face South Africa

Up until today, England would have been favoured but South Africa looked better on day one and so this should be a great match-up bound to get the crowd to their feet.

Our pick: England to bounce back

Argentina v Wales
Argentina’s victory over Samoa is well-rewarded with a Cup quarter final match-up with Wales. Samoa’s superior points difference dis not matter because Argentina won their game and therefore the top spot in the group.

This was a fortuitous circumstance for the South Americans who would have otherwise met New Zealand.

Wales have been so-so but improving and they have a stronger team this time around. That said, Argentina will take great confidence from their wins over Samoa and the USA.

Our pick: Argentina too strong

Samoa will play the Kiwis

The Pacific Islanders have had the wood on their neighbours in 2010, beating them 4 times out of 4.

It remains to be seen whether NZ’s re-jigged squad and immense experience of coach Gordon Teitjens will be enough.

Our pick: New Zealand to break the hoodoo

Australia v Fiji – our pick of the Cup Quarters

Clinton Sils is full of confidence and looking very good. Karauria-Henry and James Stannard are probably the best playmaking duo in the tournament and the Australian forwards are experienced and work very hard.

Fiji are young, raw and wonderfully skilled. Coach Tanivula is giving several new players an opportunity and they are rewarding his faith.

This one will go to the wire but if Australia get an edge I believe they have the discipline and execution to close the game out.

Our pick: Australia in a boil-over

Australian Sevens stars feature in second half of the Super 14

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on May 15, 2010 at 11:52 pm {no comments}

Pat McCutcheon, Australia

Australian captain Pat McCutcheon was supposed to be joining the New South Wales Warratahs at the start of the 2011 Super 15 campaign but injuries sped up his introduction to the southern hemisphere’s professional league.

McCutcheon featured in the last 3 games of the round-robin, starting the last 2 on the blindside flank. That included the do-or-die final round against the Hurricanes – testament to his performance at this level.

Given that the Warratahs won that match and are playing in the semi-finals, it remains to be seen whether McCutcheon will be joining the Australian Sevens team for the final 2 events of the World Sevens Series.

Ed Quirk made his debut in the last game of the season for the Queensland Reds.

The 18 year old came off the bench to replace 2008-09 Australian 7s standout, Scott Higginbottham.

Quirk entered the match just after 2008-09 Australian Sevens standout Richard Kingi who unfortunately spent most of the 2010 Super 14 season on the injured list.

2010 Australian Sevens play-maker Bracken Karauria-Henry was part of the ACT Brumbies squad in the last 4 weeks of the season.

He was part of the squad since week 10 and got a start on the wing against the Reds in Week 12. Henry got few opportunities but the experience will have given him confidence and additional motivation for the rest of the season.

With each nation clearly focused on the world cup, it will be interesting to see what will happen to the Australian Sevens side for the last 2 tournaments. Their age will cause additional exclusions as the international under 21 side takes 5.

Is Solomon King the answer for New Zealand?

Filed under England, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on April 16, 2010 at 7:41 pm {no comments}

Will we see the return of Solomon King to the New Zealand team for London and Edinburgh?

Solomon King first joined the New Zealand Sevens squad in 2006 at the age of 21. Earlier that year King made the New Zealand Colts for the junior world cup in France.

King then went on to play for Bay of Plenty in the NPC competition where he has staked a claim in the loose trio alongside Colin Bourke. But injuries have stifled the progress of King at crucial times in his career.

A hamstring cost him a place in the London Sevens in 2008 and he is currently recovering from surgery on a knee following last year’s NPC. This kept him out of contention for the Chiefs in this year’s Super 14 squad and the first 6 tournaments of this season’s IRB World Sevens Series.

He has been playing well for Bay of Plenty in the New Zealand NPC competition but faces tough competition for a place in the Chiefs Super 12 team from the likes of All Blacks Sione Lauaki and Liam Messam and the highly skilled BOP captain, Colin Bourke.

King’s loss is Gordon Teitjen’s gain.

He is been back in training. He was running with the New Zealand team in their buildup to the Adelaide and Hong Kong events. He appeared to take a full part in the sessions but may have been lacking condition.

Paul Grant, Solomon King and DJ Forbes at training

New Zealand need Solomon King

Samoa have an edge over New Zealand at the moment.

The rivalry was in the New Zealander’s favour early in the season when they defeated Samoa in final in Dubai but the new year belongs to Samoa thus far.

They have beaten the Kiwis in the last 4 tournaments

- Semi-finals in Wellington

- Final in Las Vegas

- Semi-final in Australia

- Final in Hong Kong

Samoa are a very physical side. Their strong forwards impose themselves on attack and not many teams can contain them. While Mikaele Pesamino is the best finisher in world sevens, it is often the forwards who make the breaks that release his blistering pace.

Treviranus, Otto, Fa’osiliva and Mikaele have speed, strength and ball skills. Their style is more direct than Fiji and it is more effective as they manage to get the ball away in the tackle or just brush tackles away and create overlaps.

In a bid to come up with answers, Coach Teitjens is likely to want to combat like with like and get King into the middle of New Zealand’s defense.

New Zealand’s other forwards are fair players. DJ Forbes is one of the best in the game, Ben Souness has pace and strength and Tim Mikkleson is a rangy runner who plays on the wing in the 15-a-side format.

Fritz Lee looked impressive in pool play in Adelaide but (somewhat surprisingly), he was hardly used in Hong Kong. He has strength and ability to break tackles but has not really gelled with the team’s attacking flow just yet.

The return from injury of King, Sherwin Stowers and Lote Raikubula should give Teitjens a full roster to choose from for the last 2 events of the IRB World Sevens Series for the 2009-10 season.

Teitjens has stayed true to his original squad so it is likely that Fritz Lee, Toby Arnold and Leka Tupuola will make way for the returning players.

New Zealand then have the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in September/October where they will revive their rivalry with Samoa.

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