Maximising the opportunity of Rugby 7s in Australia

[I like to watch]

This tournament is designed to dovetail in with the IRB 7's event on the Gold Coast, typically around October-ish.

They need to move this event in the calendar as well.
NZ has their 7's tournament in feb, and HK in March.
Logic suggests somewhere in between would be an ideal time for the Gold Coast event.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I think it has more to do with opportunity.Many 7's players are pigeon holed as just 7's players.
Didn't Bernard Foley on a stint on the 7's circuit?
I think it's much easier for backs to play both.The mobility required to be a forward,generally indicates a lack of size when compared to similar positions in 15's.

BF started out in the Aussie Thunderbolts.

In a very simplistic world, using rugby 15 aside numbers, a 10 man Sevens squad would be:
Forwards:
1. #6, #7 or #8
2. #6, #7 or #8
3. #6, #7 or #8
4. #2 or #4 or #5. #4 or #5 need to be lean and fast not dreadnaughts.

Utlilty
5. #12 or #13 that can "3 man scrum" and jump if needed

Backs
6. #9 or nimble #10
7. #12 or #13 (preferred to have a side step bigger that Warnies ball deviated to get Gatting out)
8. #13 or 14
9. #11 or #14 (must be able to run like the wind)
10. #13, #14, #15, #11 (must never miss a tackle)

 

[Jets]

They need to move this event in the calendar as well.
NZ has their 7's tournament in feb, and HK in March.
Logic suggests somewhere in between would be an ideal time for the Gold Coast event.

When it was in Adelaide it was on close to Easter. I guess the issue now is that it's not the ARU who decides when the event is on it's the IRB. Maybe they could swap with Las Vegas.

The other thing to take into account is that the club sevens program in Australia is Sept-Nov. Should we change the event to fit into the schools program or can it be worked out the way it is?

 

[I like to watch]

What sense is there in playing Las Vegas a week after NZ, then coming back to Oz 6 months later?
I think you are right that the IRB controls the schedule, but I would have thought they would receive feedback before issuing the calendar each year.
From my POV ,I would have thought it easier to convince Schools to try 7's as a pre season activity,rather than to keep the squad going for a month after an already long season.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

http://www.waratahs.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/157/ArticleID/10191/Default.aspx

Hills Sports High beat St Gregory's to claim the NSW Schools 7's title.

Westfield Sports High beat Lloyd McDermott Team to be the 3rd NSW qualifier (along with Winner and runner up) to go to the National Schools 7's representing NSW.

Good luck to the boys going to Nationals.

 

[wamberal]

When it was in Adelaide it was on close to Easter. I guess the issue now is that it's not the ARU who decides when the event is on it's the IRB. Maybe they could swap with Las Vegas.

The other thing to take into account is that the club sevens program in Australia is Sept-Nov. Should we change the event to fit into the schools program or can it be worked out the way it is?

I would guess that the timing of any leg is actually arrived at by consultation between the bid city and the IRB, with (in our case) the ARU involved as well.

Any bid city would want some input into the timing, apparently Adelaide had a different requirement to the Goldie. But obviously the bigger picture needs to be taken into consideration by the IRB.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

http://www.rugby.com.au/tryrugby/Playing/CompetitionsResults/NationalSchoolsRugbySevens.aspx
ARU National Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament is for Open aged Schoolboy and Schoolgirl players from around the country. The Tournament represents the conclusion of the Individual State Union Tournaments with each state supplying winning teams into this finals day.

Nine Schoolgirl State representative teams will contest the Tournament ‘finals’ held at a TBC venue on the Gold Coast, on Saturday 12th October 2013. Two teams from Queensland, two teams from NSW, one from ACT, one from NT, one from SA, one from VIC and one from WA will be vying for ARU National Schoolgirl Rugby Sevens Cup and Plate honours.

Twelve Schoolboy teams will contest the Tournament ‘finals’ held at a Bond University venue on the Gold Coast, on Sunday 13th October 2013. Three teams from Queensland, three teams from NSW, two from ACT, one from NT, one from VIC, one from SA and one from WA will be vying for ARU National Schoolboy Rugby Sevens Cup, Plate and Bowl honours.

Boys:
Pool A
NSW 3 Westfield Sports High School
QLD 1 Keebra Park HS
VIC VUSC

Pool B
NSW 1 Hills Sports High School
QLD 3 The Southport School
WA Aranmore Catholic College

Pool C
ACT 1 Marist College
NSW 2 St Gregorys Campbelltown
SA Rostrevor College

Pool D
QLD 2 Brisbane State High School
ACT 2 St Edmunds College
NT Taminmin College

 

[torps77]

Marist in Pool C, Eddies in Pool D among some others
http://www.rugby.com.au/tryrugby/Playing/CompetitionsResults/2013NationalSchoolsRugbySevens.aspx

 

[torps77]

Marist in Pool C, Eddies in Pool D among some others
http://www.rugby.com.au/tryrugby/Playing/CompetitionsResults/2013NationalSchoolsRugbySevens.aspx

tournament draw has been slightly updated, although still no QLD team names??

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Who/what is VUSC, the Victorian State Representative?

Victorian University Secondary College - Interesting name.

QLD last year were Keebra Park HS, Brisbane State HS, and St Brendan's.

Keebra Park has won the last couple of years, so they will probably be QLD 1. Not sure about QLD 2, and QLD 3.

Edit: Qld teams confirmed as Keebra Park, TSS, and BSHS.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

QRU seem to have grasped the Rugby sevens bull by the horns with this event:

The Queensland Sevens Festival is a week-long event run in partnership with Tourism Events Queensland.

The Festival began last weekend with the Noosa International Sevens, which included the Oceania Women’s Sevens Championships for the first time. The tournament was won by Australia’s National Women’s Sevens side, which conceded just 22 points over the two days of competition.

Events continue throughout the week and include the popular Try Sevens Program, the Primary School Q7s carnival, the Queensland Under-18 Boys Sevens Championships and Queensland Rugby’s Gold Coast Corporate Tag Sevens.

Queensland Rugby is also hosting the Moreton Bay Pasefika Invitational Youth Sevens as part of the event for the first time this year. The tournament is at Caboolture Snakes Rugby Club, on Thursday, 10 October.

More here:
http://www.redsrugby.com.au/News/NewsArticles/tabid/581/ArticleID/10360/Default.aspx


What does NSWRU/SRU do to promote Sevens Rugby?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

National Schoolboy 7's Results:

Round 1
Pool A: Keebra Park SHS 24 v Victorian University Secondary College 10
Pool B: The Hills Sports HS 12 v Aranmore Catholic College 14
Pool C: Marist College 40 v Rostrevor College 0
Pool D: Brisbane State High 42 v Taminmin College 0

Round 2
Pool A: Keebra Park SHS 25 v Westfield Sports High 5
Pool B: The Hills Sports HS 12 v The Southport School 34
Pool C: Marist College 5 v St Gregory's College 35
Pool D: Brisbane State High 37 v St Edmunds College 5

Round 3
Pool A: Westfield Sports High 36 v Victorian University Secondary College 12
Pool B: The Southport School 24 v Aranmore Catholic College 17
Pool C: St Gregory's College 27 v Rostrevor College 17
Pool D: St Edmunds College 27 v Taminmin College 17

Finals
SF Bowl 1: Victorian University Secondary College 22 v Taminmin College 12
SF Bowl 2: The Hills Sports HS 37 v Rostrevor College 7
SF Plate 1: Westfield Sports High 22 v St Edmunds College 12 (Official results show this as BSHS)
SF Plate 2: Aranmore Catholic College 19 v Marist College 29
SF Cup 1: Keebra Park HS 31 v Brisbane State High 10 (Official results show this as St Eddies)
SF Cup 2: The Southport School 24 v St Gregory's College 12

11th/12th Playoff: Taminmin College 21 v Rostrevor College 24
7th/8th Playoff: BSHS 33 v Aranmore Catholic College 15
3rd/4th Playoff: St Edmunds College 31 v St Gregory's College 29
Bowl Final (9th/10th): Victorian University Secondary College 24 v The Hills Sports HS 24 (shared title?)
Plate Final (5th/6th): Westfield Sports High 24 v Marist College 25
Cup Final: Keebra Park HS 24 v The Southport School 10

Timings are QLD timings. 1 hour behind the enlightened States.

EDIT: ARU results seem to indicate that St Edmunds topped Pool D despite losing to BSHS 37 - 5 in round 2. Who knows what the interns have got wrong?

 

[TOCC]

The QLD Schoolboys 7's tournament has grown quite rapidly since its inception 4 years ago, they now have a primary school tournament for both boys and girls.. I guess the ultimate goal would be to have a statewide tournament with teams competing for each age group.

“Q7s has reached new heights once again in 2013 with more than 5,000 players across the state taking part.​

“With Sevens now an Olympic sport, it’s great to see the sport growing exponentially each year.” ​

​

Q7s is a school-based Sevens program developed by Queensland Rugby to introduce new participants and schools to Rugby using the exciting seven-a-side version of Rugby.​

​

Q7s is a crucial piece of the 2013 Queensland Sevens Festival held in October, which also includes the record-setting Try Sevens program, the Reds Gold Coast Corporate Tag Sevens event and the popular Noosa Sevens tournament.​

Try Sevens set record heights in 2013, attracting 24,261particpants across 123 schools, a 47% rise from 2012 figures. ​

​

http://www.redsrugby.com.au/News/NewsArticles/tabid/581/ArticleID/10371/Default.aspx

 

[Hugh Jarse]

3 Queensland teams progress to the Semis, and only one from NSW.

The NSW team was the 2nd place getter from the NSW competition and did not face any QLD teams in their pool to progress to the finals.

Time for NSW to get serious about 7's footy if they want to have success on the national stage.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

3 Queensland teams progress to the Semis, and only one from NSW.

The NSW team was the 2nd place getter from the NSW competition and did not face any QLD teams in their pool to progress to the finals.

Time for NSW to get serious about 7's footy if they want to have success on the national stage.

Greg's

I agree. We do need to get more serious about 7s in NSW. It could also be a fantastic development tool for the game as well.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

ARU Schools Sevens » Girls
Round 1 - 12/10/2013
Pool A: NSW W 7 v SA 12
Pool B: ACT 24 v VIC 19
Pool C: WA 36 v NT 0

Round 2 - 12/10/2013
Pool A: QLD R 24 v NSW W 14
Pool B: NSW B 27 v ACT 0
Pool C: QLD W 19 v WA 14

Round 3 - 12/10/2013
Pool A: QLD R 27 v SA 7
Pool B: NSW B 27 v VIC 0
Pool C: QLD W 45 v NT 0

Finals - 12/10/2013
Plate Playoff: Victoria 34 v NT 7
SF1 Plate: SA 24 v NSW White 0
SF2 Plate: ACT 29 v Victoria 17
SF1 Cup: QLD Red 33 v QLD White 5
SF2 Cup: NSW Blue 24 v WA 12

7th/8th Play Off: NSW White 36 V Victorian Schools 5
3rd/4th Playoff: QLD White 12 v WA 20
Plate Final (6th/7th): South Australia 22 v ACT Brumbies 5
Cup Final: QLD Red 10 v NSW Blue 22

 

[TOCC]

Why does Ireland have a reluctance to get involved in 7's rugby?

They have had a few cracks at it over the year's but never fully committed to it and currently don't have a team, the only major rugby playing nation not to have a 7's team.

 

[JSRF10]

Why does Ireland have a reluctance to get involved in 7's rugby?

They have had a few cracks at it over the year's but never fully committed to it and currently don't have a team, the only major rugby playing nation not to have a 7's team.

The IRFU simply don't want to pay for a professional 7s set up, with limited cash available they've opted to invest in their provincial set ups as opposed to 7s.

 

[wamberal]

Interesting the the Paddies don't play Sevens. Their rugby culture is not all that amenable to such a light-hearted game. They do produce some great backs, but overall their style of play is at the stodgy, calculating end of the spectrum - the opposite of the Islander Sevens mentality.

 

[TOCC]

The IRFU simply don't want to pay for a professional 7s set up, with limited cash available they've opted to invest in their provincial set ups as opposed to 7s.

Seems extremely shortsighted, the ARU operated the Australian 7's at an amateur level for the past 10 years, I suspect this will be a decision which comes back to bite them in to he future..