2015/16 Rugby 7's Round 4 - Sydney 6/7 February

[Hugh Jarse]

The SFS playing surface looked a bit dodgy in places with fairly large chunks being ripped up at times.

Will the turf be able to handle a full on Super Rugby Scrum in a couple of weeks time?

Reminded me a bit of Lang Park when they had "problems" after the floods.

 

[Pfitzy]

Tom is one player who has not shown any talent for 7s at all and should be allowed to return to the Tahs, if he still has his contract there.

Rebels?


EDIT: Nup. Not on their list.

 

[terry j]

if there is one game around which should ban the quick tap I have found it.

 

[wamberal]

I've watched quite a bit of 7s over the pat 2-3 years and the more I watch, the more I have come to believe that it's almost impossible to bring guys in who haven't been regularly playing 7s.

Almost, but not quite. A player from outside the squad who was able to achieve the aerobic requirements for Sevens (that is a given, one good reason that Quade was omitted, I imagine) - and who had the skills that the squad needed, might be able to play a role as a finisher.

Apart from Cooper (subject to Sevens fitness, of course) a player like Hooper could be a great finisher.


Cooper can kick goals, something that could win a tight game, apart from his magical attacking flair. Hooper can break any defence, and is seriously fast with ball in hand.


Luke Jones would have been my captain's pick for the Rio campaign, subject to him training and playing Sevens full time.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Rebels?


EDIT: Nup. Not on their list.

Released by the Rebels after season 2015, along with Jed Gillespie (Woodies) and some others that I can't recall.

 

[wamberal]

Rebels?


EDIT: Nup. Not on their list.

Don't blame them. I have never seen anything in this player, never, ever.

 

[Highlander35]

Released by the Rebels after season 2015, along with Jed Gillespie (Woodies) and some others that I can't recall.

Ben Whittaker and Radike Samo. Everyone else was signed on by another Super Side, Japanese side or European side.

On players that should be playing Sevens, I still think that Benny Lucas should had been heavily pursued by you guys after his Reds contract hadn't been released. Ideal skillset for a Sevens Back.

 

[Quick Hands]

@TOCC, I would be only too happy if Henry came back to the Brumbies full time, but it's not going to happen. He is improving at 7s with each outing and will be much more proficient by the time Rio comes around.

As far as losing the final is concerned, you are off the mark by placing the blame on Henry. The T'bolts regained possession after that turnover, only for Kingston to be penalised 2 seconds from the end for not releasing. That was the critical mistake and I might say was typical of Tom's involvements throughout the whole tournament. As soon as he started his run I predicted to the family that he would lose it and NZ would have a last chance to score. Exactly how it turned out. Tom is one player who has not shown any talent for 7s at all and should be allowed to return to the Tahs, if he still has his contract there.

Not so sure about Speight long term, but I agree with your Kingston analysis. In fact I made the same comment to my family as soon as he caught the ball.

 

[Quick Hands]

Almost, but not quite. A player from outside the squad who was able to achieve the aerobic requirements for Sevens (that is a given, one good reason that Quade was omitted, I imagine) - and who had the skills that the squad needed, might be able to play a role as a finisher.

Apart from Cooper (subject to Sevens fitness, of course) a player like Hooper could be a great finisher.


Cooper can kick goals, something that could win a tight game, apart from his magical attacking flair. Hooper can break any defence, and is seriously fast with ball in hand.


Luke Jones would have been my captain's pick for the Rio campaign, subject to him training and playing Sevens full time.

Hooper and Folau have the necessary attributes, but not enough 7s experience.

In respect of Quade, for all his ball skills and running ability, I think that the game of 7s has changed significantly over the past 2 or 3 years. Once upon a time a player like him would have been one of the first picked, but now the game is so much more physical. Mostly this physicality is one on one and I don't believe that he has the physicality to match it with some of the guys I've seen playing. There's simply nowhere to hide a player either defensively or in the ruck/maul area in 7s.

 

[TOCC]

As far as losing the final is concerned, you are off the mark by placing the blame on Henry. The T'bolts regained possession after that turnover, only for Kingston to be penalised 2 seconds from the end for not releasing. That was the critical mistake and I might say was typical of Tom's involvements throughout the whole tournament. As soon as he started his run I predicted to the family that he would lose it and NZ would have a last chance to score. Exactly how it turned out. Tom is one player who has not shown any talent for 7s at all and should be allowed to return to the Tahs, if he still has his contract there.

Right, so you don't like someone blaming Speight but you're all too happy to blame Kingston for the loss..

If you're going to blame Kinstong for the loss then you take those pony glasses off and acknowledge that had Speight not made that mistake, Australia would have won.

He is a good player, but he made plenty of crucial mistakes.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Right, so you don't like someone blaming Speight but you're all too happy to blame Kingston for the loss..

If you're going to blame Kinstong for the loss then you take those pony glasses off and acknowledge that had Speight not made that mistake, Australia would have won.

He is a good player, but he made plenty of crucial mistakes.

I think you're still a way off the mark TOCC. Henry certainly was held up and turned the ball over, but the goodies regained possession and would have won the game had Tom K not gone one out and been penalised for holding on with 2 seconds left on the clock. Showed a significant lack of game awareness and it did in fact cost the game.

Henry did make mistakes during the tournament, no question. But it doesn't take pony glasses to see that he is improving, as others have acknowledged on this very thread. I'm afraid that Tom isn't showing any aptitude at all yet for the game.

So, in summary, I'm right and you're wrong on this particular subject.

 

[Highlander35]

Kingston was shit. Speight was less shit.

But crap is crap, regardless of size or consistency.

If Henry isn't going to play all 6 of the remaining tournaments, they need to cut their losses and play without him. Kingston's played 4, hasn't looked like improving, need to find someone else.

 

[Piglet]

I hope that they don't drop Lewis Holland for Quade. He seems to have found some form.

 

[Marcelo]

WTH is this?????!

 

[Tangawizi]

WTH is this?????!

Massively embarrassing for World Rugby?

It happened but they'll hopefully have it sorted out prior to the Olympics.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[Marcelo]

World Rugby say the result will stand but disciplinary action could follow after New Zealand had eight players on the field when they scored a post-siren try to snatch a draw with Australia at the Sydney Sevens on Saturday night.

"World Rugby can confirm that it is investigating an apparent breach of Law 3 (number of players on the field if play) by the New Zealand sevens team," the governing body said in a statement on Sunday.

http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/se...ter-new-zealand-field-eight-players-in-sydney

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ finger on the pulse stuff, that

Watched the vid a few times now & I think it's pretty clear that a NZ player comes off at bottom-left of screen just as the play that leads to Savea's try gets underway but it's questionable whether he was fully off before his replacement was on. So a minor, technical breach of the subbing protocol at worst (but one they'll need to tighten up on, obviously).

 

[TOCC]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ finger on the pulse stuff, that

Watched the vid a few times now & I think it's pretty clear that a NZ player comes off at bottom-left of screen just as the play that leads to Savea's try gets underway but it's questionable whether he was fully off before his replacement was on. So a minor, technical breach of the subbing protocol at worst (but one they'll need to tighten up on, obviously).

This has been done to death so I'm reluctant to comment..

But 8 players were involved in the phases leading up to that try, even the player who apparently goes 'off' the field was responsible for a clean out in the phase before the try. It's all relative, if he didn't clear out, one other player comes in, that means there is no overlap in the backline for the try to be scored.. New Zealand scored from a one player overlap, which was done by having 8 players on the field.

I don't think it's a minor issue, if such a mistake were made in a finals match it would have massive ramifications, and New Zealand should be stripped of the points/win. Fortunately the outcome of this match had no bearing on whether the teams would make the finals.

 

[Brumby Runner]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ finger on the pulse stuff, that

Watched the vid a few times now & I think it's pretty clear that a NZ player comes off at bottom-left of screen just as the play that leads to Savea's try gets underway but it's questionable whether he was fully off before his replacement was on. So a minor, technical breach of the subbing protocol at worst (but one they'll need to tighten up on, obviously).

WOB you are generally a very fair-minded poster, but the clip above clearly shows all 8 players participating in the play leading to the winning try. Not a minor technical breach by any measure.

Not much can be done now, but there really does need to be some sanction so that there can be no arguments in future if any team conveniently forgets to take their subbed player off. Maybe a ban on participating at Vegas would be appropriate.

 

[zer0]

A ban from a whole tournament A) seems somewhat disproportionate and B) will unbalance the whole competition.

Two, more sensible, repercussions would be either a fine, or for NZ to automatically forfeit a game in Vegas. Though the latter would bring with it it's own problem of which game to automatically forfeit.

Given that a fine is far simpler to implement, that'll probably be the final outcome.