HSBC Sevens 2016/17

First topic message reminder :

Men's Dubai leg started today. England managed a clean sweep of pool wins, including a 12-26 victory over New Zealand. Scotland dropped a match to South Africa, and Wales dropped one to Fiji, but both are in the Quarter Finals.

Fiji beat Argentina 22-19 but had to survive two yellow cards along the way.

Short highlights:



Quarter Finals:

Fiji vs France
England vs Scotland
Australia vs Wales
South Africa vs New Zealand

South Africa beat Fiji in the final.

Bit of a scrap at the end. Fiji had just scored a try, and needed to reclaim the start to get another. One of their players ended up taking out a South African in the air, grabbing his legs and making him fall on his head. The player was fine but bounced up, and started angrily shoving the offender.

It was a clear red card, but the reaction almost deserved a card too, as he caught him in the face.

Cheers for the updates RF

We are now halfway through the World Sevens Series, and the standings are below. South Africa are a class apart, having won four tournaments, and finished runner-up in the other one. They are the only team to make the Cup semi-finals in every round so far.

The winner of each tournament gets 22 points, so the current 24 point gap means the Boks lead by more than one round. When you consider that a losing quarter finalist gets at least 10 points, another team needs to win a couple of titles, and hope South Africa crash just to get close.

South Africa - 107
Fiji - 83
England - 81
New Zealand - 71
Australia - 52
USA - 52
Scotland - 50
Argentina - 45
Wales - 43
France - 40
Kenya - 35
Canada - 34
Samoa - 23
Russia - 17
Japan - 10

Rugby Fan wrote:When you consider that a losing quarter finalist gets at least 10 points, another team needs to win a couple of titles, and hope South Africa crash just to get close.

Wouldn't be a huge surprise if that happened, given SA's history over the last 2 or 3 tournaments.
They've also lost a couple of top players to Super Rugby.
What's working in their favour so far is that the chasing pack are quite evenly-matched and dropping points to each other.

England beat Kenya and (eventually) Chile in the pools, with a match against South Africa to decide who topped the group. England are the only team to regularly trouble the Blitzbokke this season, and managed a 12-12 draw with a late converted try. It meant we finished second, however, which puts us up against New Zealand again in the quarter finals, while South Africa gets Canada.

The full Cup quarter finals line-up is:

South Africa vs Canada
USA vs Argentina
Fiji vs Australia
NZ vs England

Scotland have had a bad start, losing to NZ, Canada and Russia. Wales lost to Fiji but looked to have done enough to finish second by beating Argentina and Samoa. However, Argentina beat Fiji, which left three teams with two wins apiece, and Wales missed out on points.

The other notable result was USA demolishing Australia 29-5. The Americans had a good tournament in Vegas, and have carried that form over to Vancouver.

England gained revenge for Vegas by beating New Zealand 12-14 in their quarter final. They are up against Fiji now in the semi-final, after the Fijians beat Australia 28-10.

South Africa faced USA in the first semi final, and the Americans almost won. The final score was 14-10 to the Blitzbokke but USA had a final play where only desperate defence, and perhaps a couple of poor options, kept them from scoring. The match finished with America held up over the try line.

England just beat Fiji 40-7. That's one of the highest points totals Fiji has ever conceded, and the most England have ever scored against them.

England win the cup in Vancouver!

They scored three tries to beat South Africa 7-19. England are the only team to beat South Africa this season, and have now done so three times.

They had a hard route to this Cup, needing to beat the other three teams in the current top four to take the title.

South Africa were hit by injuries along the way but had the better of the first half, only slipping up to let England draw level at the break.

Not many upset results in Vancouver. Japan looked in better form, scoring a win over Russia, and only losing in extra time to Scotland in the lower tier competition. Scotland are currently a shadow of the side which started the season so well.

England leapfrog Fiji to regain second place in the standings, while South Africa have a healthy 23 point lead over them in first. There are only four rounds left, so it's not enough for someone else to do well: South Africa would need a horror show somewhere to give anyone else a sniff.

Arguably. England have benefited from fielding the same squad all season. The only change was when 13th man Charlton Kerr came in for Lindsay Hague in Vegas (and stayed for Vancouver). One of the commentators suggested we set some kind of series record for consistent selection.

By contrast, Scotland have been heavily disrupted by injury, and have gone from Cup contenders to low table finishers over the last three rounds.

It's a measure of South Africa's strength that they have seen some top players go to Super Rugby but are still going strong. Rosko Specman looks like he did a hamstring against England, so that might prove a challenge, as he's been a star.

Incidentally, Dan Norton went level with Collins Injera for all-time tries on the world series. Both have 244.

All in all a pretty successful weekend for English Rugby Young & old, male & female ......

Congratulations to them all.

England's three knock-out matches were all good games. They are on YouTube:

Dan Norton has just scored his 245th series try in the match against Korea. That makes him the all-time leading try scorer in the World Sevens series.

It's the early rounds in HK. Australia beat Samoa, while England have just put over 50 against Korea. We play the other two sides tomorrow to see where we end up in the pool.

Quirky fixture given world events: USA are playing Russia right now.

England through to the Cup Quarter finals after a 12-10 win over Samoa. It was a tight affair, especially after we got a yellow card for a challenge in the air. Samoa just made too many mistakes to punish England.

The match later against Australia will decide who tops the group.

England just lost to USA in the quarter finals. James Rodwell was injured but the whole team has stuttered in Hong Kong after taking the title in Vancouver.

Fiji and Australia are also through to the semis, and now we have a SA vs NZ quarter final to settle the last place.

South Africa continue their record of reaching every Cup Final this season, but USA made them work hard. The final score was 24-29. They'll meet Fiji, who put Australia to the sword.

England lost to NZ to finish 6th in HK. We finished with three losses (Australia, USA & NZ) so that's a poor tournament for us.

Spain beat Germany in the qualifier final, and will get core status for next season.

Germany looked great over the weekend but cracked under the pressure, and picked up a yellow card to hurt their chances. World Rugby might privately have preferred Germany to win but there you go.

Spain last played 2013-4, and made it to the Olympics, so they are no mugs.

Fiji won the Cup, so South Africa have still never won a title in HK.

Singapore Sevens underway.

Scotland almost beat NZ but went down 22-21. Wales almost beat the Kiwis in HK, so they have been vulnerable.

Meanwhile, England got off to a poor start by losing to France. Luckily, France went on to lose to Japan, so England can still qualify for the Cup by beating South Africa, but it'll tricky if we lose, because points difference will count.

Match is on now, and it's 7-5 to South Africa with the second half just started.

England managed to beat South Africa 12-17. Only two teams have beaten South Africa this season, and we're the only side to do it more than once. Today makes it four, I think.

If France had managed to beat Japan, then it might have made things interesting, since three teams would have had two wins in our pool.

Fiji look good so far, and USA have also been purring, so they are the best bets for the title right now.

Its amazing how no ref see's the Fijians offside...

My prediction about Fiji and USA has coming crashing down because they will now face each other in the quarter final. USA looked strangely out of sorts in a loss to NZ.

England ended up topping their pool, so will face Kenya instead of Australia. That's probably better, but Kenya did win the title in Singapore last year.

Wales and Scotland are both in the trophy competition. Their pool head to head was entertaining.

USA v Canada final, after Kenya won the tournament last year. Wonder if the bookies on going to take any bets on the tournament next year.

Wild tournament for results in the Cup. In the Quarter finals:

USA beat Fiji
England beat Kenya
Canada beat NZ
Australia beat South Africa

That looked great for England to get to the final but Canada turned us over. As Galted says, they meet USA, who did a number on Australia in the other semi-final.

Fiji and USA did look the form teams until USA stumbled against NZ in the final pool match. NZ have lost to Canada before, so that's not a total shock given their recent form but it still counts as an upset.

England play Australia for third place. We haven't really clicked this tournament except for the performance to beat South Africa.

Meanwhile Scotland and Wales ended up facing each other in the Trophy final. Scotland took an early lead but Wales repeated the result of their pool match and came out on top.

The Trophy is a new innovation this season. Previously, we had plate, shield and bowl competitions outside the main Cup. It's now like this:

In this series, World Rugby abolished the minor trophies of Plate, Bowl and Shield that were previously awarded in the finals play-offs at each tournament. While the winner's Cup was retained as the major trophy, the awarding of gold, silver and bronze medals to players from the three respective top-placed teams was introduced for this series. A Challenge Trophy was established for teams competing in the lower bracket of the finals play-offs at each tournament. Additionally, the playing time for Cup final matches was reduced from 20 minutes to 14 minutes, in line with all other tournament matches.

NZ beat South Africa in one of the play-off matches. That's the first time in 12 months.

South Africa had only lost to Fiji and England this season but lost to England, Australia and NZ in this round alone.

England won the bronze medal match with a tight 14-12 win over Australia.

Canada win their first title!

Great match against USA as they ran out to a big lead but got hauled back in before claiming a winning score.

O Canada!

Err..sorry about that...this is the thread I meant to use:

Match 1 in Paris: Samoa beat Fiji 17-19

Match 5 in Paris: Scotland beat South Africa 12-19

Match 10 in Paris: Samoa beat Australia 14-21

Samoa will qualify from the pool, so now either Fiji or Australia will miss out. [NB Fiji just beat Australia]

Match 14: Scotland beat Canada 19-26

This makes the Canada vs South Africa fixture a key match. Canada just won their first sevens title while South Africa lead the overall table. One of those sides will miss out on Cup qualifications.

Scotland defeated Fiji in the quarter final, and now face England in the semis. That's quite a nice pair of scalps for Scotland, who started the season well but fell away after injuries.

England beat USA, who were probably slight favourites given we have a couple of injuries. Our squad is down two players, which can start to count when you go deep into a tournament.

Rugby Fan wrote:Scotland defeated Fiji in the quarter final, and now face England in the semis. That's quite a nice pair of scalps for Scotland, who started the season well but fell away after injuries.

England beat USA, who were probably slight favourites given we have a couple of injuries. Our squad is down two players, which can start to count when you go deep into a tournament.

3 scalps, RF old son. We beat South Africa, Fiji and the winners of the last tournament, Canada.

And England go down next!

What a run we have had. What a masterclass of ball retention in that second half as well!

NZ or SA in the final, it just keeps getting harder.

Scotland have beaten the three teams at the top of the overall series standings and, as GC pointed out, the winners of the last round.

England beaten by NZ in the bronze medal match. Not too upset, as we never had more than three regular starters on the pitch at any time. Then again, we haven't got much time before the final round, so we may need these inexperienced guys to get better faster, in case our injuries don't heal.

Scotland against South Africa now...

Either the final's taking a very long time or Scotland didn't do it.

Galted wrote:Either the final's taking a very long time or Scotland didn't do it.

Rugby Fan wrote:Scotland have beaten the three teams at the top of the overall series standings and, as GC pointed out, the winners of the last round.

The first harbingers of The Toonie Effect?

Galted wrote:Either the final's taking a very long time or Scotland didn't do it.

Sorry, lost my connection. Scotland lost shape against the Blizbokke and suffered for it. The lineout had been a strength in Paris but they lost key throws in good positions.

South Africa had already claimed the series title, so were probably feeling a bit buoyed but they weren't put under as much pressure as in the pool match.

Rugby Fan wrote:

Galted wrote:Either the final's taking a very long time or Scotland didn't do it.

Sorry, lost my connection. Scotland lost shape against the Blizbokke and suffered for it. The lineout had been a strength in Paris but they lost key throws in good positions.

South Africa had already claimed the series title, so were probably feeling a bit buoyed but they weren't put under as much pressure as in the pool match.

Must've felt like a right kick in the balls beating all the top teams on offer then losing to a team they'd already beaten.

Watched the 2 Canada games so far.
They look a decent team.
Good win against Fiji and unlucky not to beat NZ.
Justin Douglas looks a decent player.

Moonlight is decent. Hirayama isn't bad, is he in the 15's squad? Name rings a bell.

Not a huge 7's fan but a I do like Canada both 7's and 15's.

westisbest wrote:... Hirayama isn't bad, is he in the 15's squad?...

Hasn't played a Test since the last World Cup but does have a few caps.

Ah ok thanks. Thought he was in the last World Cup

This Wales v Samoa game is good.

Still not sure I could do a whole day of 7's but it's alright in the background.

Scotland beat NZ for the first time. They came back from 21-0 down and did it even though NZ fielded eight players at one point.

I just don't know what to say.

Dan Norton scored at the death to beat South Africa. Canada are leading Argentina. so we could see USA, Scotland, England and Canada in the semi finals. Doubt that has ever happened before.

Scotland beat USA in a great match to claim a place in the final to defend their Twickenham title.

Looking like an England-Scotland final.

Could be epic. Will be emotional - Callum McRae's last game in charge of the soapdodgers.

It's a mouthwatering Scotland vs England final!

Scotland finished last season well, and started this season with good results. Injuries derailed them, and it looked like they had flattered to deceive. Two finals at the end of this series is a fantastic comeback.

England are confirmed runners-up this season, but I don't think other sides fear us as much as a rampant Blitzbokke or Fiji team. We work our wins more than destroy other sides, but I do get the sense that our players are getting more respect. Pleased Lindsay-Hague has done well this weekend because he could be a Serevi for us.