Monday’s rugby news has New Zealand triumphant in the Sevens, the Aussies coming fifth, the Brumbies hit by rule changes and a poaching allegation against the NZRU.
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SBW helps NZ to Sevens win
Sonny Bill Williams helped New Zealand Sevens to a 24-21 over South Africa in Sunday’s final of the Wellington leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, defending last year’s title. New Zealand beat Kenya 33-0 in Sunday’s quarterfinals and England 22-5 in the semifinals while South Africa defeated Australia 26-14 and World Series leaders Fiji 31-0.
South Africa seemed on course for victory when they led 21-7 just after half time but Reiko Ioane scored twice in the second half and Joe Webber crossed from an SBW offload with the last play of the match. SBW has committed to forgoing this Super Rugby season due to Sevens commitments, agreeing to make himself available for all 10 tournaments on the World Sevens circuit.
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Aussies win plate final
An under-strength Australia have had their best performance of the sevens season, beating Argentina 21-5 to win the Plate final in Wellington. Unbeaten in pool play, they lost their quarter-final 26-14 to South Africa on Sunday, mirroring their losses at the same stage of the first two tournaments, in Dubai and Cape Town.
“Overall we came to Wellington with a reasonably inexperienced team,” interim coach Scott Bowen said. “I was really impressed with the character of these guys and how they worked for each other to get the job done.” The win lifts Australia from eighth to seventh after three of 10 rounds, with pressure mounting on the players to solidify their world Cup positions.
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Brumbies maul ruled illegal
The ACT Brumbies have been told that a new referee interpretation of the rolling maul rules will result in the team being penalized unless they change their execution of the line-out. The Brumbies’ maul was one of their biggest attacking weapons last year, creating 10 tries. “[Super Rugby] felt teams were trying to exploit the laws by slipping the ‘ripper’ all the way to the back of the maul and have guys form in front of him,” coach Stephen Larkham said.
The Brumbies will also have to adapt to the change in the bonus point system of Super Rugby. While bonus points have traditionally been reserved for teams that score four or more tries, the tournament will introduce bonus points for teams that win by three or more tries.
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NZ poaching argued to be illegal
Fiji Sevens coach Ben Ryan has said that many Pacific Island players are being recruited to play for New Zealand clubs in ways that are actually illegal. He said that many players are offered the chance to play professional rugby in New Zealand but aren’t told the full picture about eligibility rules or visa requirements.
Allegedly some rugby clubs around New Zealand are creating low wage jobs for Pacific Island rugby players, dangling the possibility of an ITM contract. However, it is not made apparent that these contracts are only available if players are eligible for New Zealand rugby, and in many cases players are not registered or are given the wrong visa to play.
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