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

[terry j]

what is it with maths education in NZ? It's obvious they cannot count.

I mean they do it every game if you take notice. Proof...'guard Pacific's triple star..'

Now, I ask you, how many stars are there on their flag??

yep, as I said, cannot count.

 

[Braveheart81]

Losing two or three series points would seem like a fair result (three points would move then down to equal with Australia for the tournament, two points will still see them awarded the most points for the Sydney event).

It wasn't a minor infraction and there has to be a level of responsibility placed on each team to ensure they can't play with more than 7 players. If you put it down as purely being the fault of the match officials then it encourages teams to try and get an extra player on the field.

I don't know how anyone can watch the replays and say that NZ didn't benefit from the extra player. They very clearly had 8 players actively involved in the match for that series of breakdowns and ultimately the try. It doesn't matter that not every player touched the ball. They're still lining out there and the opposition is trying to mark them.

 

[Grant NZ]

'guard Pacific's triple star..'

Now, I ask you, how many stars are there on their flag??

It's not the flag they're asking to be guarded....

The 'triple star' is the 3 main islands, North, South & Stewart.

Now, you could argue they're being a bit mean to the Chatham.....

 

[terry j]

don't kiwis usually regard any third island of theirs as the big one to the west?

anyways, thanks for clearing that up, was genuinely curious

 

[cyclopath]

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.

You're probably right but fines are meaningless. The NZRU will pay it out of loose change. Wet lettuce leaf.

 

[GTPIH]

If World Rugby had overturned the 8 man result our path to the final would've then been on the Fiji side of the draw and I didn't see us beating Fiji, so apart from losing the final it turned out ok.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

It seems that there was a fairly big error made by the interchange referee, which was compounded by a lapse from the NZL Team management, and the actions/inactions from the two NZL players in question (the substitute and the substituted player).

World Rugby were pretty quick to throw Joubers under the bus after the Scotland v Australia game in RWC15. In doing so, a precedent was set for World Rugby to publicly (and rapidly) make comment on the performance of one of their appointed Match Officials. Consistency??

Not being one to push a Tin Foil Hat Conspiracy, but the referee in game 24 (Day 1 NZL v AUS) was Old Mate Joubert.
http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/stage/1614/match/23111#lineups

 

[MonkeyBoy]

It seems that there was a fairly big error made by the interchange referee, which was compounded by a lapse from the NZL Team management, and the actions/inactions from the two NZL players in question (the substitute and the substituted player).

World Rugby were pretty quick to throw Joubers under the bus after the Scotland v Australia game in RWC15. In doing so, a precedent was set for World Rugby to publicly (and rapidly) make comment on the performance of one of their appointed Match Officials. Consistency??

Not being one to push a Tin Foil Hat Conspiracy, but the referee in game 24 (Day 1 NZL v AUS) was Old Mate Joubert.
http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/stage/1614/match/23111#lineups

Harsh Call. Having referee coached a few 7s games recently the likely hood of the Referee having time to manage and monitor the players coming on and off is very slim; if the team came through the ARs before the player went on it should've been fine if not there would have been a lot of yelling from the sidelines

 

[Highlander35]

Incident aside, Joubers is still a very good 15s ref. I've definitely not been convinced by his performances in 7s.

There's certainly some good Referees who've been on the series multiple seasons. With fewer refs likely needed (unless male referees get to do the women's sevens too?) surely the likes of Rasinvhenge, Adamson and O'Brien should get first shot at the big games?

 

[TOCC]

Player ratings, Speight and Kingston both given 4... Fair rating for both I reckon..
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/a...rss&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed



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[RugbyReg]

I would've given Henry a point more than Kingston for two vital one on one tackles. So Kingston a 3 and Speight a 4.

 

[Piglet]

If World Rugby had overturned the 8 man result our path to the final would've then been on the Fiji side of the draw and I didn't see us beating Fiji, so apart from losing the final it turned out ok.

The problem is that this didn't just affect Australia, even though it resulted in a more favourable draw. It affected all of the other teams as their likely opponents changed. Who is to say that Fiji would not have won the tournament, or South Africa, or any of the other quarterfinal qualifying teams.

New Zealand should lose points. World Rugby, by their immediate inaction on this matter, showed what a joke that they truly are. I don't like to suggest that this is the case but it appears that the governing body treads lightly when the big boys are involved in serious infractions.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I would've given Henry a point more than Kingston for two vital one on one tackles. So Kingston a 3 and Speight a 4.

I agree RR. At least Henry is acknowledged as having a couple of positive impacts, but I can't say that I saw anything similar from Tom.

Otherwise, I would have given Myers an additional point for his aerial skills at kick-off time.

 

[fatprop]

It was quite average one on one defense throughout the match that lost the final, I was amazed we kept so close.

Everytime they got the ball wide to one of their giants, they ran over or around and then away

 

[Strewthcobber]

The problem is that this didn't just affect Australia, even though it resulted in a more favourable draw. It affected all of the other teams as their likely opponents changed. Who is to say that Fiji would not have won the tournament, or South Africa, or any of the other quarterfinal qualifying teams.

New Zealand should lose points. World Rugby, by their immediate inaction on this matter, showed what a joke that they truly are. I don't like to suggest that this is the case but it appears that the governing body treads lightly when the big boys are involved in serious infractions.

This cant be the first time its happened in 7 years of the series can it?

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

As expected eighthplayergate has died with a whimper:

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/new-zealand-sevens-escapes-punishment/

Translation: NZ were in too much of a hurry to replace their player & WR (World Rugby)'s sideline officials didn't prevent it from happening.

As an aside, they've gone to rolling subs with a limit of five, but has the rule that subs can only be made when a stoppage occurs also been changed?

 

[TOCC]

It's simple, you high five the player you are replacing as you run past each other.. Ignorance isn't an excuse nor is blaming the sideline officials for not identifying it, New Zealand should have been docked a couple of points.

What commercial value is placed on that loss for Australia, it would have gone down as a great upset, and had Australia won it could have boosted coverage before the final day, perhaps it would have given the Australian team the confidence in knowing they can defeat New Zealand . All hypotheticals of course, but this 'nothing to see here' mentality of World Rugby seems like the easy way out.


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[qwerty51]

What about just allowing 7 on the field at all times. Player can only come on the field once the other has completely left, league and soccer do this.

 

[Piglet]

This cant be the first time its happened in 7 years of the series can it?

I've been following 7s for a long time now and I can't remember an incident of an extra player having such an impact on the game. I'm sure that in the earlier days of 7s, with less strict policing on the sidelines, players would be coming on and off resulting in extra players. The difference on Sunday was the extra NZ player actually had an impact on the game as he was in the AB line of attack.

In 15s, England had an extra player at the 2003 RWC. They paid a 10k pound fine.

I can't say that I'm surprised that NZ escaped without sanction. Inadvertent cheating. Ha!

 

[Brumby Runner]

"Having fully investigated the incident, the designated disciplinary officer has concluded that the laying of a misconduct charge is not appropriate or warranted given the circumstances as the threshold had not, in his determination, been met".

No sanction and really no action to place the onus and responsibility solely on the infringing team's shoulders in future - no reason to expect it won't happen again.

IMO this should have been an investigation by a panel of rugby experts. To make a finding based on one individual's opinion of whether the threshold was met is questionable. Another individual could just as easily have had a different opinion of the same circumstances. The decision would have more validity if reached unanimously, or by majority, by a panel of say 5 or 7 independent reviewers.