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
- 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.
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
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 …
Argentina are back
Filed under Australia, Commentary, IRB Sevens Series by Maru on April 2, 2011 at 11:31 pm {no comments}Argentina are on the improve
Argentina had their heyday when try scoring sensation Santiago Gomez-Cora was in the thick of things. But the all time top try scorer hasn’t played for 2 years and Argentina’s fortunes have one with him.
They won the 2009 USA Sevens after having won back in 2004. They also made the World Cup final in 2009 in Dubai.
Unfortunately Argentina haven’t threatened since then.
But now they appear to be back in form.
They easily accounted for Papua New Guinea in their first game at the Australia Sevens and then Scotland in their second.
They stumbled against England in their final match of Day#2 by 2 points but they lead until the last 2 minutes and have looked very strong throughout the day.
They will meet the table-topping New Zealanders in their Quarter Final tomorrow which won’t be easy.
That said, Argentina are capable of beating the Kiwis. Their confrontational style can be very difficult to break down.
Regardless of how they go tomorrow, Argentina have re-affirmed their top 12 status and will be very competitive in the last 2 tournaments of the season.
We look forward to seeing them in London and Edinburgh.