HSBC Sevens World Series 2014/15 - Round 3

[kiap]

Good start against the Saffers in the semi

YC perhaps harsh

10-nil up HT

 

[kiap]

O'Connor did some good work but was there for a long time.

Re: Team GB, they've nominated England as their proxy for a shot at the 4 spots in the HSBC series, so it's pretty simple. The Aus boys need to make sure they don't get our spot.

Lead lost now.

 

[qwerty51]

SA crowd has got them home. Still a cracking effort. Pushed SA the most in the last 2 tournaments.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Cup Semi Final:

Saffers must be favoured to win the cup after our mob were unable to hold the ball for long enough.

NZL are looking a little off the pace.

SF Final Score: SAF 19 AUS 10.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Plate Final: USA beat Fiji 21-14.

Sign of things to come as the Septics get serious about Rugby 7's?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

3rd vs 4th Playoff:

 

[Hugh Jarse]

ARG vs AUS (3rd/4th playoff)
1st half:
6:33 left Palmer Fou scores out wide. Con misses. AUS 5 AUG 0
5:00 left Ed Jenkins scores off kickoff. Stannard converts. AUS 12 ARG 0
4.00 left Nick Malouf scores off kickoff. Stannard converts. AUS 19 ARG 0
1:28 left ARG (Tuculet) score & convert after finally getting hands on the pill. AUS 19 ARG 7
0:24 left ARG (Sabato) score out wide 1 phase after kickoff. Converted. AUS 19 ARG 14

ORANGES
5:12 left ARG (Cordero) score out wide. Not converted. AUS 19 ARG 19
2:43 left Palmer Fou scores near touch after AUS finally breakout. not converted. AUS 24 ARG 19
1:41 left Palmer Fou hat trick after Alex Gibbon turnover. AUS 29 ARG 19. That's the game.
Siren sounds, but game keeps going.
Tom Cusak gets some final meat. Unconverted.

Final Score: AUS 34 ARG 19.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Pools drawn for Round 4 - Wellington

Pool A
SAF
USA
France
Japan

Pool B
NZL
England
Canada
PNG

Pool C
Australia
Fiji
Wales
Portugal

Pool D
Argentina
Scotland
Kenya
Samoa

Can we keep on beating Fiji?

 

[Omar Comin']

Good win over Argentina. They're a key rival for olympic qualification. At this stage I think South Africa, New Zealand and Fiji will be top 3 at the end of the series and the last automatic qualifying spot will come down to us, England and Argentina. Would have included Samoa but they seem to have imploded. A few other teams are competitive at their best but not consistent enough.

This final between SA and NZ is electric. Amazing atmosphere. If sevens is successful at the olympics it could grow so much over the next 5-10 years.

 

[Lee Grant]

Geriant John has worked magic. I rated Michael O'Connor but now I'm not so sure.

The team seems to have more depth now; whether that is from better selections or better coaching I don't know.

The Aussies still caused some disappointment compared to what might have been against South Africa, who looked a bit nervous in front of their home crowd in the semis and were down 0-10. They were there for the taking but our blokes were a bit nervous themselves in the second half and leaked 19 unanswered points.

I thought it was going to be a similar story in the play-off for third spot. After leading 19-0 against Argentina and seemingly getting some easy revenge for their pool loss to them the day before, the spunky young Pumas drew level.

However this time the Aussies came back and had a good win 34-19.

Geez the final was a top match. Congratulations to both teams for a stirring game but there could be only one winner and South Africa won 26-17.
.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Saffers win 26 - 17 despite losing Cecil Afrika to the Sin Bin for 2 minutes.

Never looked like losing.

Great game.

HT: SAF 12 NZL 10

 

[Lee Grant]

World Series table after Rd 3:

South Africa - 59
Fiji - 51
NZ - 47
Australia - 46
Argentina - 40
England - 37
Samoa - 29

It looks more and more like the mission of the Aussies is to stay ahead of the Argentines and England for Olympic top four automatic qualifying.

All three teams will be scrapping for every single point, especially when they play each other.
.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Geriant John has worked magic. I rated Michael O'Connor but now I'm not so sure.

O'Connor wasn't bad, but Geraint John also once took Canada to a cup final. John may be just that much better.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Plate Final: USA beat Fiji 21-14.

Sign of things to come as the Septics get serious about Rugby 7's?

Septics?

Carlin Isles seems to really be developing a sense for the game, which is helping. The way to shut him down is by anticipating the space he'll look for, but he's learning how to anticipate defenders' anticipation. Looking forward to Perry Baker doing the same. Danny Barrett has grown in the last couple tournaments, and he's becoming a more important part of their team. Madison Hughes already has a good sense for the game and should just keep improving. Also good to see Duratalo using his physicality more effectively -- he punched one try through two or three Fijian defenders on the try line.

 

[Omar Comin']

World Series table after Rd 3:

South Africa - 59
Fiji - 51
NZ - 47
Australia - 46
Argentina - 40
England - 37
Samoa - 29

It looks more and more like the mission of the Aussies is to stay ahead of the Argentines and England for Olympic top four automatic qualifying.

All three teams will be scrapping for every single point, especially when they play each other.
.

New Zealand aren't out of that scrap either. Though it is hard to see them ever missing the quarter finals (and very rarely do they not make at least the semis), while the likes of Australia, Argentina and England seem more prone to upsets.

Amazing how quickly Samoa have fallen away. 14th place finish in South Africa after losing to Portugal in the Shield final. In round 1 they came a close 2nd to Fiji, which included an impressive win over the South Africans in the semi final. Crazy!

 

[Brumby Runner]

Saffers must be favoured to win the cup after our mob were unable to hold the ball for long enough.

NZL are looking a little off the pace.

SF Final Score: SAF 19 AUS 10.

Judging by the stats, the difference must have been the amount of kicking the Aus boys did. Lost balls etc were otherwise even.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think the biggest improvement in our squad has come from investing time in players over the last few years.

Jenkins, Fou and Clark are all world class players now and have considerable experience as well. Stannard has been around forever but now he just needs to play a certain role more than trying to direct everything the side does.

The next string of players like Holland, Myers and Foley are generally stepping up as well.

We have to play such a precise game because we're a very slow side and any missed tackles pretty much result in a try, but the physicality is working pretty well. The good sides force a turnover so quickly if a player is even remotely isolated and we're certainly up there with the best teams in achieving that.

The skills we display putting the ball through the hands and making our long(er) passes is much better than it was a year or two ago. We're playing a really strong percentage game which I think is all we need to do. This looks like the most competitive we've been on a consistent basis for years.

 

[wamberal]

Plate Final: USA beat Fiji 21-14.

Sign of things to come as the Septics get serious about Rugby 7's?

Frankly, it is deeply worrying that Samoa and Fiji (to a much lesser extent) are struggling.

The NRL must be chuckling. Sevens is the only advantage we have in the Pacific Islands, and that seems to be going fast,

 

[Braveheart81]

Frankly, it is deeply worrying that Samoa and Fiji (to a much lesser extent) are struggling.

The NRL must be chuckling. Sevens is the only advantage we have in the Pacific Islands, and that seems to be going fast,

Samoa's sudden fall is certainly worrying but I don't think there's much to read into Fiji.

We've managed to upset them twice in a row but they did win the Gold Coast 7s to start the season.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Septics?
<snip>

Septic Tanks - Yanks.

And speaking of the Yanks, anything happening to Perry Baker over this?