Rio Olympic Sevens Womens August 6-8th Mens 9-11th

Men’s draw

Pool A: Fiji, USA, Argentina, Brazil

Pool B: South Africa, Australia, France, Spain

Pool C: New Zealand, Great Britain, Kenya, Japan

Women’s draw

Pool A: Australia, USA, Fiji, Colombia

Pool B: New Zealand, France, Spain, Kenya

Pool C: Canada, Great Britain, Brazil, Japan

Twelve teams start the tournament, and pool play reduces this to eight for a quarter final round. The top two teams automatically qualify, along with the two best losers.

In the Men's draw, Brazil, Spain and Japan look most likely to finish out of the running but Spain did beat Samoa, so a turn-up is very possible. NZ, Fiji and South Africa will almost certainly qualify, but the other team to miss the cut could be any of the other six

The quarter finals will match up as follows for both Mens and Womens:

Winner pool A vs Second best 3rd place finish
Runner-up pool B vs Runner-up pool C
Winner pool B vs Best 3rd place finish
Winner pool C vs Runner-up pool A

If you go by form, that could look something like this in the Mens:

Fiji vs Argentina
Australia vs Great Britain
South Africa vs Kenya
New Zealand vs USA

The quarters, semis and final will all be played on the 11th August.

With Kenya and NZ we are going to have to be on top form to get even 2nd place in the group

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:With Kenya and NZ we are going to have to be on top form to get even 2nd place in the group

I got that wrong anyway, since Kenya finished a place above England in the recent series. If we do qualify as one of the best third place finishers, then Fiji or South Africa will likely be on the menu.

Now that the summer Tests have finished, I thought we might see some press coverage this weekend of the sevens. However, most of the British press has gone straight on to speculating about the Lions.

In fact, Team GB played the Sevens and the City tournament in London this weekend. GB Lions beat GB Royals to take the title. That's an interesting result, because they had a lot of Scots, while the Royals probably had more first choice England players. There were also some names from outside the 25 man training squad, like Scotland's Lee Jones & Joseva Nayacavou. It's unclear whether they will also be considered for final selection.

GB Lions

   Richard de Carpentier
   Charlie Hayter
   Lee Jones (Scotland)
   Warwick Lahmert
   Gavin Lowe (Scotland)
   Ruaridh McConnochie
   Joseva Nayacavou (Scotland)
   Scott Riddell (Scotland)
   Mark Robertson (Scotland)
   James Rodwell
   Luke Treharne © (Wales)
   Marcus Watson

GB Royals

   Cory Allen (Wales)
   Mark Bennett (Scotland)
   Dan Bibby
   Phil Burgess
   Sam Cross (Wales)
   James Davies (Wales)
   Alex Davis
   Alex Gray
   Ollie Lindsay-Hague
   Tom Mitchell ©
   Luke Morgan (Wales)
   Dan Norton

Good to see James Rodwell back after that bad injury. He said that his lungs were busting, so he feels short of fitness, but his knee held up.

Not sure when the final cut is due. New Zealand have already named their squads, while South Africa expect to do so by the middle of the month. There's a tournament next week in Exeter, and another in Poland the following weekend, so you'd expect an announcement shortly after that.

http://ur7s.com/news/team-gb-begin-to-find-some-form-ahead-of-olympic-games-in-winning-sevens-and-the-city-in-london

Not at all surprising that the press don't cover Sevens because there is no real drama in the sport.

The players are generally unknown to anyone outside rugby and there are no head to head histories. The mini-league format of tournaments means the crowd struggle to keep up with what exactly is needed in each game. For a team sport to have only 42 minutes of action before going home is bad enough but the finalists will have won the gold after a taxing 86 minutes spread over three days - surely darts needs to be brought in before 2024?

The Great Aukster wrote:Not at all surprising that the press don't cover Sevens because there is no real drama in the sport.

The players are generally unknown to anyone outside rugby and there are no head to head histories. The mini-league format of tournaments means the crowd struggle to keep up with what exactly is needed in each game. For a team sport to have only 42 minutes of action before going home is bad enough but the finalists will have won the gold after a taxing 86 minutes spread over three days - surely darts needs to be brought in before 2024?

So what you are saying is that nobody writes about it because nobody is well known because nobody writes about them?

Wonderful to see Mark Robertson (Scotland centre Keith Robertson's son if you're a Scotland rugby fan) kicking arse in that final. Terribly underrated player. 

Gavin Lowe and Lee Jones (two more jocks) also scored in the final. All very interesting.

Love the fact that these two teams faced off in the final. 

Will this have any bearing on final selection? Who knows?

George Carlin wrote:Love the fact that these two teams faced off in the final. 

Will this have any bearing on final selection? Who knows?

In theory, Simon Amor runs both teams, so goodness knows how he handled the team talks.

I'd be very disappointed if we didn't swap players between the teams over the next two weekends. One of the sides in Poland should be Armor's Rio 12 so they can get a competitive run together.

New Zealand teams:

Mens.
Scott Curry (C).
Sam Dickson
D.J. Forbes
Akira & Rieko Ioane
Gillies kaka
Tim Mikkelson
Gus Pulu
Teddy Stanaway
Regan Ware
Joe Webber
Sonny Bill Williams.

Womens
Shakira Boha
kelly Brazier
Gayle Broughton
Theresa Fitzpatrick
Sarah Goss
Kayla McAllister
Hurian Manual
Tyla natha-Wong
Terina Te Taraki
Ruby Tui
Niall Williams
Portia Woodman

Niall Williams is the sister Of Sonny Bill.
Kayla McAllister is the sister of Luke.
Portia Woodman is the daughter and niece of former All Blacks Fred and Kawhena Woodman.

Laurie - the hype about Rieko Ioane is becoming deafening. 

Is it justified? 

Reiko is only 19, and we probably shouldn't get too carried away with hype at this early stage. as a centre/wing in 15s he could go all the way, what both brothers have done this year of real note (well it impresses me) is the ability to play as impact players for the Blues off the bench, Akira is a number 8, for a couple of games then seemlessly go off and play sevens, and then come back a week later and play 15s again as if they hadnt been away.

Their father played for Manu Samoa in the early 90s as a lock.

I wondered why Joe Simpson was missing at the weekend. he dislocated his elbow in training and will miss Rio.

http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/16674275/dislocated-elbow-rules-joe-simpson-rio-2016-contention

I see from the list laurie posted above that Liam Messam missed the cut. He's apparently on standby for New Zealand but will now go back to Super Rugby.

Brett Gosper said he wanted rugby's top stars in Rio but it looks like most of the converts from the 15-a-side game couldn't get up to speed with sevens. Sonny Bill Williams looks like being something of an exception, although Habana is in the mix for South Africa.

Sevens is a young mans game, Messam already has two Gold Commonwealth medals from ten years ago, to make this squad in 2016 was going to be sheer madness, luckily common sense reigned. and your right he should be back with The Chiefs.

aucklandlaurie wrote:...Sevens is a young mans game...

It is, so all credit to DJ Forbes for making it, since he's older than Messam. He's a very smart player. Habana is 33 too, so it'll be interesting to see if he gets selected.

Forbes has mostly always been a sevens player that played a bit of 15s, but nothing more than ITM cup level.

His rugby relation is his uncle, former Manu Samoa captain and prop Peter Fatialofa.

lostinwales wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:Not at all surprising that the press don't cover Sevens because there is no real drama in the sport.

The players are generally unknown to anyone outside rugby and there are no head to head histories. The mini-league format of tournaments means the crowd struggle to keep up with what exactly is needed in each game. For a team sport to have only 42 minutes of action before going home is bad enough but the finalists will have won the gold after a taxing 86 minutes spread over three days - surely darts needs to be brought in before 2024?

So what you are saying is that nobody writes about it because nobody is well known because nobody writes about them?

... er no, what I'm saying is that nobody writes about it because there is no real drama in the sport.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Forbes has mostly always been a sevens player that played a bit of 15s, but nothing more than ITM cup level.

His rugby relation is his uncle, former Manu Samoa captain  and prop Peter Fatialofa.

It's ironic that there are so many players who could have represented Samoa going to Rio yet Samoa aren't going.

Or more is the point, that if it werent for the shortsightedness of the Samoan Rugby Union over the last forty-fifty odd years they could be inheriting many talented players from the Auckland/Samoan Rugby community.

It'll be interesting to see how much coverage and interest the Sevens gets as an Olympic sport.
The "normal" sevens circuit appears to sell itself as a couple of days out on the lash in fancy dress with some very fit people running around in a field that's to big for them to watch between trips to the bar and outside the core rugby nations is primarily aimed at the "expats", quite how this will play in a country with pretty much zero interest in rugby I'm not sure.

Kurt Baker was a surprise omission from the NZ squad. A lot of the other coaches on the sevens circuit were dumbfounded. The player himself sounds mystified.

Kurt Baker can't hide his disappointment and confusion at missing out on the New Zealand Sevens team for the Rio Olympics.

The 27-year-old could argue he was New Zealand's best, most consistent player for large parts of the past season as his side finished third in the World Rugby Sevens Series.

He was New Zealand's second top try scorer with 20, the second top points scorer on 148, second in runs made, third in clean breaks and the third top tackler. Only one man played more games than Baker's 44 in 2016, with Gillies Kaka pipping him at 45, meaning he was also reliable when it came to fitness.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/81851312/kurt-baker-finds-olympic-sevens-omission-interesting-after-superb-world-series

http://2016riopreviews.sportsblog.com/posts/21187529/rio-2016-rugby-sevens-preview.html

CJB wrote:http://2016riopreviews.sportsblog.com/posts/21187529/rio-2016-rugby-sevens-preview.html

Some penetrating analysis there - my personal favourite part being:

I believe Britain can overcome Britain

The Brexit vote would suggest that this is true.

Sky 3 are scheduled to show the Exeter Sevens this weekend. The GB Royals and the GB Lions will be looking to outdo each other. There's another tournament next week, but most of the decisions about who will go to Rio will take place next week, so performances this weekend will be crucial.

The final announcement will be on the Tuesday the 19th, so the bulk of the squad will effectively be decided before the two teams take the field again in Poland.

Amor would probably now like to split his squad into a Possibles and Probables but the rules say he can't do that. Our two GB teams are filling the spots of England and Wales, so everyone has to stay with the team they were first named to, in order to maintain the integrity of the competition.

That's just another way in which our preparation stinks. Assuming Amor ends up selecting players from both teams, we'll end up with a squad which has never played together in a competition before they take the field in Rio.

http://ur7s.com/news/simon-amor-names-team-gb-squads-for-exeter-sevens-this-week-on-rugby-europe-grand-prix-series

Yet another article in the NZ Herald on Kurt Baker's Olympic exclusion. Some suggestion that the All Blacks Sevens is not a happy camp.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11671571

Te Nana admits rumours have been swirling around for a number of months about a fractured sevens environment, which may have impacted on New Zealand's star All Blacks not committing to Rio.

"That's disappointing to hear, and our ethos on why the 15s guys would always like to come back is because of that environment.

"I mean, if the players are butting heads with the management and the 15-a-side guys say that, it's pretty disappointing."

Hard to know where the truth lies. NZ are usually the masters of joined up thinking about all levels of the game but perhaps that's just not possible when you need to do it over two very different codes.

I have some sympathy with Tietjens, since he wanted Baker as 13th man, and it's not impossible that one of the twelve man squad will have to cry off.

Both GB teams unbeaten and through to the knock-outs at the Exeter 7s.

http://www.englandrugby.com/news/royals-and-lions-unbeaten-exeter/

Ollie Phillips in the commentary team was highlighting the dilemmas for Amor, especially when one selection can change the requirements in other positions. Basically, when you choose a shorter guy over a taller guy, you need to ensure you have height in another position. Phillips thinks Cory Allen has done well, and believes Lindsay-Hague is on a tear but doesn't always fit the gameplan.

Rugby Fan wrote:Both GB teams unbeaten and through to the knock-outs at the Exeter 7s.

http://www.englandrugby.com/news/royals-and-lions-unbeaten-exeter/

Ollie Phillips in the commentary team was highlighting the dilemmas for Amor, especially when one selection can change the requirements in other positions. Basically, when you choose a shorter guy over a taller guy, you need to ensure you have height in another position. Phillips thinks Cory Allen has done well, and believes Lindsay-Hague is on a tear but doesn't always fit the gameplan.

Good summary of the games - nice from a cycloptic perspective to see Bennett and Farndale showing up strongly.

Another poser for Amor.

The Royals beat Georgia in their Quarter Final but the Lions lost to Russia 7-5. Amor is almost certainly going to select players from the Lions for Rio but they haven't been racking up the results.

We won't get to see a Royals vs Lions match-up this weekend.

The Lions beat Georgia 22-7 to go onto the Plate final, which will be against Germany.

The Royals face Russia to get to the Cup Final. The winner of that match will face either Spain or France.

Lee Jones is walking around on crutches after his leg gave away under him. He was in good form but it's possible that'll keep him out of the final squad.

Incidentally, there's legal coverage here online:

http://rugbyeurope.tv/en/content/160710-sevens-grand-prix-series-exeter-2016-day-2

Royals did what the Lions couldn't, and beat Russia. It was a close run thing, though, ending 12-10.

The Royals took the Cup by beating France, and so went through the competition unbeaten. The Lions took the Plate by beating Germany.

http://ur7s.com/news/great-britain-royals-defeat-france-to-claim-exeter-sevens-title

Awkward decisions for Amor this week, Mitchell and Bibby are the most experienced sevens half backs in Britain. On song, they can beat the best. I don't think they've really looked their best in recent matches. Still, it would be a big call for Amor to overlook one or both. Among other England stalwarts, Phil Burgess faces a lot of competition, and may miss out. Amor likes James Rodwell, so his selection will come down to fitness. Dan Norton isn't a certainty in my book because a lot of the other finishers offer more elsewhere.

It sounds like Allen, Farndale, Bennett, Treharne and Davies have all had their moments.

Incidentally, Jarryd Hayne has been told he isn't going to Rio.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/07/11/jarryd-haynes-olympic-dream-crushed/

It was always a real long shot. I'm not sure Hayne ever realized how hard it would be to get up to speed. He's now ineligible for anyone other than Fiji in Union, so that might limit his earning opportunities in the code.

It sounds like he would have left the NFL anyway. One of the barriers for him in American football was learning the playbook. He'd just got one set memorized, when the coach was changed, and he had to do it again. Easy for players brought up with that kind of requirement but not for a newcomer.

I am sure a Toulon type side will pick him up and offer a lucrative contract.

Interestingly France only selected 7s specialist for their 12 men squad for Rio, despite trying A few top14 players recently.
Jérémy Aicardi ; Steeve Barry ; Terry Bouhraoua ; Julien Candelon ; Damien Cler ; Manoël Dall'Igna ; Vincent Inigo ; Pierre-Gilles Lakafia ; Jonathan Laugel ; Stephen Parez ; Virimi Vakatawa ; Sacha Valleau.

It feels so weird and wrong seeing the words 'Great Britain' in a rugby context

No offence meant its just... demoralising.

Australian mens squad:

Nick Malouf, Jesse Parahi, Henry Hutchison, Lewis Holland, James Stannard, Con Foley, Cameron Clark, Pat McCutcheon, Ed Jenkins, Allan Fa’alava’au , John Porch, Tom Cusack

Not ideal prep for the 2 GB squads to be playing against European sides - surely the real tests could have been against PI sides (the traditional 7s power houses).

Habana didn't make the SA 7s either -
The Springbok Sevens Olympic team:
Kyle Brown (captain), Tim Agaba, Philip Snyman, Werner Kok, Dylan Sage, Kwagga Smith, Rosko Specman, Cheslin Kolbe, Cecil Afrika, Justin Geduld, Juan de Jongh, Seabelo Senatla. Travelling reserves: Chris Dry, Francois Hougaard.

Notch wrote:It feels so weird and wrong seeing the words 'Great Britain' in a rugby context

No offence meant its just... demoralising.

In what way ?

Has anyone paid any attention to the makeup of the Lions and Royals team each tournament? Has he kept generally the same squads or mixed them up?

i.e. is one team essentially the first choice squad and the other one playing for backups?

RDW_Scotland wrote:Has anyone paid any attention to the makeup of the Lions and Royals team each tournament? Has he kept generally the same squads or mixed them up?

Amor couldn't mix them up. We had two places in the European series because one was for Wales, and the other for England. Under series rules, once a player was name to one team, they couldn't play for the other (just as Wales and England would not swap players).

That's one of the reasons our preparation will be substandard. Assuming Amor selects players from both teams, we'll go to Rio with a squad which has never played a competitive match together. None of our opponents will be in that position.

Luke Morgan is confirmed to be out of contention for Rio after he ruptured his ACL last weekend.

Marcus Watson and Dan Bibby have hamstring strains, while Cory Allen has concussion, so all three will miss this weekend's tournament.

This last round of European matches is in Poland. You can watch it live here:

http://rugbyeurope.tv/en/content/160716-sevens-grand-prix-series-gdynia-day1

These early matches are usually one-sided but GB Lions only just managed a 15-14 win over Georgia in the first round. It took a last minute try by the Lions to get the win.

They've had to bring in two outsiders to cover injuries but the Lions aren't looking much cop again. They should still beat Poland in the next game, but Olympic rivals France will be a tough one in the last pool match.

The Royals have two comfortable wins under the belt and only have Germany next, which shouldn't be too difficult.

GB Lions defeated France 26-12, so both GB teams are through to the quarter finals unbeaten.

In the quarter finals today, the Royals have Italy, while the Lions have Georgia. The Lions only just sneaked a win over Georgia in the pool stages, so that could be another banana skin.

I hope, when we look back at our Olympic preparation, we decide never to do it this way again, even if we go on to do well in Rio.

Amor initially selected a squad of 25 players. Basically, this was equivalent to two squads of twelve, with a recovering James Rodwell added to the mix.

Although all players trained together, for competition purposes, the squad was formally split into GB Lions and GB Royals. Fielding two sides has ensured that all squad players have had some game time but it's meant we've had no coherency.

No player from one team has been allowed to switch to the other, so we've missed a chance to see how other combinations might look in matches with something at stake. Worse, when some players have been injured, we've ended up drafting in yet more people from outside to make up full squads. If we'd had just one team, we would have just rotated players from the initial selection, and kept some playing consistency.

With brand new players from outside, it's not easy to assess whether some of the stuttering performances are down to poor form or lack of familiarity.

Both GB teams are through to the semi-finals. The Lions beat Georgia 12-0 but it was a close fight again.

France lost to Spain, which means they won't win the series title. Spain, of course, qualified for Rio by beating Samoa, so they will be chuffed with that scalp.

Lions eventually beat Russia 17-14 but it took an extra time penalty to split the teams.

Royals beat Spain 22-10, so we'll see a GB final.

The last round of matches is under way now.

https://twitter.com/rugby_europe/status/754667522281046016

GB vs GB final at 17:55

Live coverage here:

http://rugbyeurope.tv/en/content/160717-sevens-grand-prix-series-gdynia-day2

Royals beat the Lions 26-14

Hard to know what to make of that final tournament. The Royals came out on top, and have often looked better than the Lions, but neither side really impressed. Lots of penalties and odd mistakes. For instance, a Royals player kicked a long penalty to touch but the referee noticed he'd been in two minds, and had tapped it to himself before hand. Consequently the kick was judged out on the full, and brought back, with possession handed over.

Dan Bibby and Tom Mitchell were both absent but Cameron Cowell had a good tournament as playmaker for the Lions. The only problem is that he was a late call-up, so isn't in the frame to go to Rio.

Amor probably still favours Mitchell and Bibby, even though they haven't been in great form. As long as Rodwell is fit, then he will probably go, and Dan Norton showed some nice touches, which might just tip the balance in his favour. Aside from those four, I'm not sure any regular members of the England sevens squad are guaranteed a slot. Among those brought in, Simpson is injured but, if Amor wants sheer unpredictability then Lindsay-Hague will go. Marcus Watson in a competitive position, so no idea on his chances.

Welsh and Scots showed up well, I thought, but I can't see Amor completely rethinking the basis for his squad to put them at the core, even though there's a fair case to do just that. If he sticks with experience and gameplan familiarity, then it will largely come down to what skills he wants to complement those English players he does select.