HSBC Sevens 2022 Series

The season's schedule has been announced. This won't be at all confusing:

Great Britain will compete in the opening two rounds of the Series in Dubai, as part of the standing agreement to play the calendar year 2021, before reverting to compete as national unions for the remainder of the 2022 Series, with England, Scotland and Wales participating in the men’s Series and England in the women’s series.

There'll be four legs in Europe, with Malaga & Seville added to the usual French & English rounds. There was talk of skipping Hong Kong because of China's crackdown but it appears to be back in the schedule.

https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/news/667216?lang=en

Blitzboks just won their third tournament in a row

Old Man wrote:Blitzboks just won their third tournament in a row

A deserved win too.

I'm usually all over sevens, and did watch some of this tournament, but it was hard to work out what was going on. Usually, you have some idea of the players, and what kind of trajectory the teams are travelling, so you can follow stories within the bigger tournament. Not so in Dubai.

Here, Team GB are playing, with the Olympics coach but hardly any of the Olympics players. It's unclear how the squad selection came about, and what the squads will look like when they split back up into England, Scotland and Wales. Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallists NZ aren't at the tournament. While there is a bit more continuity in other squads, my experience watching this tournament is probably similar to the one average rugby fans have watching sevens. In other words, no real sense of engagement, and an geneal indifference to the results.

Even people who keep abreast of sevens seem a bit in the dark about how the scoring system will account for some teams missing several rounds, and this is before Omicron loomed on the horizon.

None of this should take away from a Blitzbokke team who weren't really troubled by anyone except Argentina.

Yes, the sevens series is in a bit of disarray at the moment.

Biltzboks have been playing a couple of newbies as well, so I think they are using this opportunity to blood new stars for the future.

What strikes me about the Blitsboks are just how well these smaller players are doing at this level, SA has been quite successful in sevens over the past number of years unrouting new talent from all walks of life and playing a very exciting brand of rugby.

If only Jaques Nienaber can take from this the rugby plYing talent and skills that exist in our country and morph that exciting style of play to the Boks.

We will be truly formidable then.

We are still in Dubai for week 2.

France beat Fiji for the first time in nine years. France were beaten to an Olympics place by Ireland. Nevertheless, they are one of the more improved sides. If England continue to ignore the code, then France may take over our spot as the strongest European side. Ireland could pose a similar challenge but just don't have the resources of the French.

Ireland looked like they might beat GB today, coming back fom 12-0 down to a 12-21 lead. They couldn't control the resets, though, and let GB escape with a 24-21 win. Next up for both teams is South Africa who smashed Japan.

Spain beat Fiji for the first time. Spain ran Argentina close, and Fiji look a bit ot of sorts, with a lot of unfamiliar combinations. Even so, that's a good win any day of the week.

A good mate of mine is in Dubai. Sent a text this morning saying going from New Jersey to Dubai was going from 30°F to 30°C. &%#$$$!

Team GB men and women both played their last matches, as the home unions will be represented individually on the circuit next year.

The commentators were describing it as an emotional moment, as the whole Team GB concept had been put together on the fly, with last-minute lottery funding, when the individual unions cut sevens programmes.

While the players and coaches deserve a lot or respect, this is not so much a feelgood experience, as a shameful episode in sporting mismanagement by the home unions, which has gone largely under the radar.

Blitzboks four tournaments in a row, 24 consecutive wins. Well played. Aus pushed them hard in the final.

Old Man wrote:Blitzboks four tournaments in a row, 24 consecutive wins. Well played. Aus pushed them hard in the final.

They remain the class act on the circuit, especially with a young Fiji side not clicking. It was a harder tournament than last week. It took a last gasp score to beat France in the semi-final too.

France and Argentina have been generally competitive, although Australia smashed the Pumas in their semi-final. Crowds were allowed back this week, and the commentary teams spent a lot of time speculating about which teams benefitted most from that. You could say Australia got a boost, though we won't know until the next legs.

Spain looked quite handy at times. There will be two legs held in Malaga and Seville, so there's a chance they will get a home boost.

The RFU has given contracts to a core group of seven players: Jamie Adamson, Jamie Barden, Api Bavadra, Tom Bowen, Max Clementson, Alex Davis, Freddie Roddick.

That's a very different look for the sevens side.

Other players will apparently be contracted from camp to camp. Hard to know what kind of side will turn out for the next round if HSBC sevens. Dan Norton was in the commentary team for the last round, and he said he hasn't completely ruled out having another season

So who are the guys to watch out for in that new England side RF? Honestly I don't recognise any so have no clue!

yappysnap wrote:So who are the guys to watch out for in that new England side RF? Honestly I don't recognise any so have no clue!

I was scratching my head too. Then again, the England squad has been pushing older for some time now, compared with the competition, so a clean start with younger names is not a bad idea. Might mean we have some lean times ahead of us, though.

Tom Bowen is 28, and has been involved with the Sevens programme since 2014, so he's the most experienced player with a contract. Alex Davis is a year older but has had a lot of injuries. He was an original pick for Team GB in Rio before he got crocked. He did win medals at the Commonwelath Games and World Cup sevens in 2018. Both players went to Tokyo with team GB.

Jamie Barden is usually the hooker. He's 22, and made a handy sevens debut in 2018. He has already turned out for Team GB this year on the circuit. Likewise Freddie Roddick who must be the same age. I assumed Roddick was Scottish, as he was playing for Musselburgh. Turns out he is English, and was at university in Scotland. He stood out on the Super Sevens circuit, playing for the Samurai, which is one of the leading invitational sevens side.

Api Bavadra is a 21 year old Fijian, with a handy offloading game. He played for England at the 2019 Paris Sevens. Players with a Pacific Island heritage have often done well for England. We haven't had many lately, as there's no money in sevens, and there's little crossover with Premiership sides any more, so it's not the best career route. Not sure what the story is with Bavadra. Here's a clip:



I know nothing about Jamie Adamson, beyond the fact he's 21 or 22. Max Clementson comes via London Irish & Hartpury, and that's all I've seen on him.

Tony Roques is England coach. As Team GB coach, he selected a squad of backs, which left us short of power. Still, we came close to an Olympic medal. Not clear yet whether he just went that route for the Olympics, or if he thinks it's the best sevens strategy.

The Malaga leg has kicked off today.

NZ, Fiji and Samoa are all no-shows. While Germany and Jamaica have joined to make up the numbers, Fiji's pool fixtures will all be byes.

England announced this Men's squad:

Jamie Adamson
Jamie Barden
Blake Boyland
Tom Bowen
Joe Browning
Max Clementson
Ed Coulson
Alex Davis (C)
Will Homer
Hayden Hyde
Calum Randle
Freddie Roddick
Will Trenholm

Six of those players are among the seven core names announced earlier. At total of 10 players will be making their England debuts, so it's really a brand new start.

From the old squad, Former captain Tom Mitchell picked up a contract with the L.A. Giltinis, and other players with a few miles left on the clock have resurfaced in the longer code.

Is this on TV?

Oakdene wrote:Is this on TV?

Free to watch on YouTube:



Germany just scored a last-second try to snatch a draw with Australia.

Scotland and England met in the pool stages, which was the first chance to see both new-look sides in action.

Scotland started stronger, and had a good try overturned when the TMO judged a player had crawled to the line, when it looked like he wasn't held. Still, they were 12-0 up just going into half time but lost concentration, and let England break from their own 22. Worse, a player was yellow-carded when he stopped the follow-up illegally, and England got a try afterwards anyway to make it 12-5 at half time.

The man advantage allowed England to score straight after the break, to level things up. That was quite a turnaround, after Scotland had controlled virtually all of the first half. Scotland then broke the line, and just needed a support runner to score. Instead, it went to a ruck, the ball went loose at the back, and an England player picked it up and ran away to score at the other end.

Scotland weren't done, with an uncoverted try making it 19-17 with 30 seconds left. England gathered the restart, then almost fumbled it. Scotland were a bit over-eager trying to capitalize, which gave England captain Alex Davis enough room to race awayand score a final try.

England and Scotland well-matched, with Team GB players on both sides. Neither looks like a top class team, however. If they get more time together, then they should kick on. Too early to know whether that will be enough to compete with champion sides like Fiji, NZ and South Africa.

Last minute try saw Ireland beat Australia 5-12 to top the pool.

After getting smashed by South Africa in their last pool game, England drew France in the quarter finals. Commentary team labelled England the underdogs, and it did look like that for large parts of the match. Nevertheless, England prevailed 5-12. It was a brave performance, and France made some key errors, which let us off the hook. They didn't score a try in the second half, and went a man down for the last minute, which let England wind down the clock.

England did make a couple of clean line breaks, only to be chased down by defenders, which suggests the team lacks out-and-out pace. At one point, the camera flashed on Dan Norton on the sidelines, who would have put such chances away. Apparently, Norton, 34 in March, may be in line to rejoin the sevens set-up.

France looked to have all the pace and power. The Olympics will be in Paris in 2024, and there's talk of some high profile 15s stars (Antoine Dupont!) switching to the short code for a chance to win a medal. Not a bad scalp for England to get in Malaga.

Ireland were well outplayed by Argentina, going down 5-29. That means England face Argentina in the semi-final. A better outcome than drawing South Africa or Australia, but still a stiff challenge for a young England side.

Incidentally, for all the talk of the dominant England Women's XV, the same cannot be said for the women's sevens side right now.

As with the men, this was the first time to see an England side run out in a while, as a combined Team GB has been playing for the last year or so.

England have so far lost to France, Russia, USA and Ireland, with only a win over Brazil to their name. A match later today against Poland will decide if we finish in 7th or 8th.

England beaten 17-26 by Argentina in the semi-final. Argentina were much stronger at the breakdown, and took their chances well. After the second try left them down 0-14, England were always at least two scores behind.

Give the early performances, especially the shellacking against South Africa, making a semi-final wasn't a bad outcome for England. There's a bronze medal match against Australia still left to play.

South Africa will be favourites to continue their streak. Mind you, Argentina beat them at the Olympics, so it is not a foregone conclusion.

England beat Australia, and claimed the bronze, which puts a cherry on the top for the weekend.

The performance showed the best and worst of the team. Over-eagerness and ill-disciplne saw England go down to five players early ine the first half. If the other team gets the ball, then a two-man advantage means a guaranteed score. Consequently, you have to try to retain the ball until your men are back. Finally, England played clever rugby, keeping it tight, When Australia over-committed to a ruck, it left a gap and England slipped through to score.

When England stopped giving penalties away, they exerted pressure, and capitalized on Australian errors. When they got to a 24-15 lead, the game was won, though Australia scored a consolation try after the hooter had gone.

Australia and France are both decent scalps to get. The team will need to play that smartly all the time to have a chance against the Boks.

South Africa won the final, as expected. Still, Argentina gave them a run for their money. The Pumas are a big side, which nullified the Blitzbokke physicality. The South Africans have also been poor at restarts, and Argentina took advantage. It was 17-17 as the clock went into the red. A small defensive slip let the Boks through under the posts. A few seconds earlier, when Argentina had the ball, you felt the result could have gone the other way.

All in all, not a bad tournament, given all the limitations. Argentina and France look like being consistent threats in the future. Too early to say what trajectory England are on, though a bronze in Malaga will mean other sides won't take them lightly.

Yep, that last receipt on the Argentina restart was very poor, and the Argentinian player too' the perfect positioning to collect off the error

In the first Mens Quarter Final in Seville this weekend, Scotland briefly led South Africa, before losing a man to the bin, and going behind. The Scots then got back to five points behind before gifting possession in fron of their own posts, from which South Africa went two scores clear. Scotland did get a consolation score, which makes them one of the few sides to put four tries on the Blitzbokke during their current winning streak.

England play Ireland in the next Quarter Final.

Ireland making light of England, Two minutes left, and they lead 5-24.

The warning signs were there, when the commentary team started praising England's defence before the match.

Final score, 12-24

Ireland now meet South Africa in the semi final tomorrow. Someone is eventually going to end that winning streak. Scotland showed you can score tries against South Africa. The hard part is trying to stop them scoring against you.

Well, Blitzboks are still far off the NZ record of 47 matches.

Germany beat Wales 17-7.

Losing to Germany is not the embarrassment it might have been a few years ago. Still, nothing much seems to have changed in the Welsh sevens set-up since they nearly dropped off the HSBC circuit.

England just edged out Scotland in the 5th place semi-final. The two sides have looked evenly-matched in recent outings.

South Africa's streak is intact. In the end, the final against Australia, and semi-final against Ireland were the most comfortable victories over the weekend. USA and Scotland both pushed them harder, and broke the Blitzbokke defence.

Ireland had a good showing in Seville. The Men came fourth, and the Women came second, both beating England along the way. The women will be disappointed to miss out on gold, losing to Australia. The men's bronze medal match against Argentina was a close affair, finishing 5-12, which meant it was always in the balance. The Pumas are probably a better team right now, however.

The Word Rugby sevens stream on YouTube is a good way to watch these tournaments. You can catch games live, or just scroll back to see them. If you have a copy of the day's schedule, it is relatively straightforward to find specific matches. Previously, if you didn't watch a match live, there was little chance of ever seeing it again, beyond an appearance in a very limited highlights package.

Singapore Sevens this weekend.

IRELAND BEAT FIJI!!

They went 14-0 up in the first half, with a lovely try just before the whistle. Fiji then scored two quick tries in reply after the break, and it looked like the tide had turned. However, Ireland kept them out, before sealing it with another nice score with half a minute to go. The tournament is available to watch in full on YouTube. Ireland vs Fiji was the second match of the day.



Wales played Scotland in the 50th sevens series match between the two sides. Scotland ent in with a 25-24 edge, and managed to get a victory, after initially going 0-14 behind. Edmonds for Scotland got four tries, which is quite a feat.

It's been an entertaining day. Australia vs Samoa, Spain vs England, NZ vs Argentina and France vs Fiji are all worth a watch if you like competitive sevens matches, and Saturday's matches haven't finished yet. As I type, Scotland have gone at at half time against New Zealand, leading 7-5.

Rugby Fan wrote:Singapore Sevens this weekend.

IRELAND BEAT FIJI!!

They went 14-0 up in the first half, with a lovely try just before the whistle. Fiji then scored two quick tries in reply after the break, and it looked like the tide had turned. However, Ireland kept them out, before sealing it with another nice score with half a minute to go. The tournament is available to watch in full on YouTube. Ireland vs Fiji was the second match of the day.



Wales played Scotland in the 50th sevens series match between the two sides. Scotland ent in with a 25-24 edge, and managed to get a victory, after initially going 0-14 behind. Edmonds for Scotland got four tries, which is quite a feat.



It's been an entertaining day. Australia vs Samoa, Spain vs England, NZ vs Argentina and France vs Fiji are all worth a watch if you like competitive sevens matches, and Saturday's matches haven't finished yet. As I type, Scotland have gone at at half time against New Zealand, leading 7-5.

Just seen the Ireland result. Brilliant win.
Followed up by a heavy win against Japan.
Beat France to top the group. (Hopefully).

As an aside, this has been a rough old tournament for England. We beat Spain, in a close contest, then got taken apart by Samoa and Australia. You can see that we have a couple of decent-looking players but, currently, there's no cohesion.

Fiji ended South Africa's lengthy unbeaten run today, beating them in the quarter finals.

Meanwhile, Ireland beat USA and will have a semi-final against New Zealand.

Rugby Fan wrote:

Oakdene wrote:Is this on TV?

Free to watch on YouTube:



Germany just scored a last-second try to snatch a draw with Australia.

And if you download the HSBC7’s app. Just register.

Hard luck Ireland. Really thought we were going to make the final.
A mistake in the first half when on the attack costing us.

Still a great effort to make the semi finals and making New Zealand sweat.

Chance to take the bronze against Australia.

Rugby Fan wrote:Fiji ended South Africa's lengthy unbeaten run today, beating them in the quarter finals.

Meanwhile, Ireland beat USA and will have a semi-final against New Zealand.

Was actually the US who ended the run in the last game of the group stage. 36 consecutive wins to 3 straight defeats.

Fiji and NZ back with a vengeance, gutted for Ireland losing out like they did.

Galted wrote:Was actually the US who ended the run in the last game of the group stage.  36 consecutive wins to 3 straight defeats.

Thanks, hadn't seen that.

This was a dreadful round for England but a great tournament overall. Ireland were a joy to watch, and just needed a bit wiser game management to grab the win over New Zealand. There's been a changing of the guard for a lot of teams, and this was the first time we had a chance to see the character of different sides.

England look a bit like the Welsh side of the last couple of seasons: we have a couple of talented players but are playing like sevens novices. All the team GB sides were inconsistent in Singapore, and they may be suffering having such a confused season compared with other sides. At this rate, though, GB can forget participating in the next Olympics. We aren't looking like getting one of the automatic slots, so will have to win the European qualifier. Even with France going through as hosts, Ireland and Spain might well shut us out. If that happens, I wonder whether the RFU, WRU and SRU will think they cut sevens funding too much, or else just conclude it's not worth it.

Not a good tournament for the Blitzbokke, the hiatus was not good for them

Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa were the only unbeaten teams on the first day of play in Vancouver.

England lost to Fiji and USA but managed to scrape through to the quarter finals on points difference, after USA slipped up against Kenya. We play Argentina tomorrow.

Ireland missed out on the quarter finals, after losing to France and Argentina. On recent form, those three teams are evenly-matched, so Ireland were slightly off their game compared with Singapore. Scotland couldn't quite do them a favour by beating France.

Dan Norton saying goodbye to the Sevens circuit, after England's loss to Argentina in the quarter finals. The New Zealand team said some words, as they came on to play their match.

A great result in Vancouver, as Argentina beat Fiji 29-10 in the final.

They last won a trophy 14 years ago, when the sevens circuit was much less competitive (one of the players back then, Santiago Gómez Cora, is the current coach). The pecking order in sevens is undergoing a major change.

Samoa beat South Africa at the quarter final stage, which confirms they are making further progress back to the top table. They were seconds away from beating Australia to take bronze but just couldn't hold out.

As some teams rise, others must fall, and it is sad to see that England remain well off the pace. Ten years ago, England were one of the top three sevens sides. Then, we slipped to being only one of the top five sides, with the knack of raising our game at World Cup, Commonwealth and Olympic knock-out tournaments. However, we were just squeezing the last drops of performance out of the same generation of players.

Now, we have a completely new side, which is probably no better than ninth or tenth in the world. That means we will often struggle to get out of our World Series pool. Our defensive organization is currently non-existent, so there is easy room for improvement. However, we might just not have the calibre of players in the set-up to be competitive any more.

Today, Fiji, NZ, SA are consistently good. After that, Argentina and Australia are pushing to be a top three side. Following them, in no particular order, would be France, Samoa, USA and, probably, Ireland. While England aspire to be counted in this group, we are bringing up the rear, though ahead of teams like Canada, Spain, Kenya, Scotland, Wales and Japan.

The French leg starts today. The opening men's match will be South Africa vs Ireland, which pits a champion, with a couple of recent stumbles, against a team on the rise. Sould be worth a watch.

It is being carried live on YouTube. The women's matches have started first, and the men's matches will start in about an hour (11:00am UK Time)

Final score is 12-21 and Ireland get the win! That's their first victory over South Africa.

Well-deserved, with some excellent tries, and good defence.

Ireland tripped up against Samoa, who are starting to resemble the team which was once a sevens powerhouse. They should beat Spain but will need to rack up a big score, to make sure they have at least the second-best points difference. If Samoa beat the Blitzbokke - which is not out of the question - then Ireland will advance anyway. If not, then Samoa, South Africa and Ireland will all be on two wins, and points difference will separate who goes through to contest the Cup.

England managed two wins - against Canada and Japan - which would ordinarily see them through. However, Argentina unexpectedly lost to Canada, so, unless we also beat Argentina, then our pool will probably also have three teams on two wins, with points difference deciding the top two places.

If we do beat Argentina, then the Pumas will go out of the Cup (unless Japan can get a win over Canada). That would be a bit of a comedown, after taking the title in the last round.

Incidentally, while the Red Roses might be a powerhouse in the longer code, England Women's sevens are a bit of a shambles right now. This round, they lost comfortably to France, Ireland and Brazil, and finished bottom of the pool.

Ireland got the win over Spain but it was a hard-fought match. Also, Spain nicked a seven point score at the end, so Ireland only improved their points difference by 5, which could prove significant,

Samoa did Ireland a favour by beating South Africa, so the Blitzbokke miised out.

Turns out to be an historic Sevens weekend.

South Africa have not failed to progress to a quarter final since 2013, and New Zealand have never failed to progress. Both teams have now missed out in France. While South Africa lost to Ireland and Samoa, New Zealand lost only to Australia but went out on points difference, as USA and Australia also had two wins.

Unbelievable scenes at the end of England's match against Argentina. Canada beat Japan comfortably, so had a chance to progress at the expense of Argentina or England. Argentina then went a man down but, remarkably, proceeded to put 19 unanswered points on England, which would have put England back in third place.

With two minutes to go, England went through for a score under the posts, which - even unconverted - took our points difference above Canada again. Our player, Will Homer, decided to run down the clock, by not immediately touching the ball down. Usually, an opposing player will trot up, to force the issue but the Pumas decided to stay where they were. A 19-5 or 19-7 scoreline meant they would progress, and they were just as unwilling to give the other side a chance to score, to put that in jeopardy. As they were down to six players, two minutes of not getting tired playing, were fine by them.

So, we had a stand-off for two minutes, counting down to full-time. The officials could do nothing, and some of the players looked very embarrassed, but the match ended with Homer touching down to score when he was sure there would be no time to restart.

(Incidentally, even allowing for Argentina turning it on, England were guilty of inept game management. Down to six men, it was clear Argentina would try and slow everything down but we failed to harry them. Instead, we chased lost balls, and gave away a string of penalties).

Presumably, World Rugby will now have to bring in a time limit for touching the ball down, as this could just as easily happen in a fifteen-a-side match. Not just for tries either, as the same situation happens when the ball crosses the dead ball line for other reasons. Rather than a specific time limit, it might just be better to have the referee move play along, just as they do with the "use it" call.

As Argentina face off against Ireland, the debate over the end of the England match continues:

https://twitter.com/WorldRugby7s/status/1527990232737619970

(Tweet includes video)