The Adelaide Rugby Sevens 2011 thread

Yes, they should move it. Everyone is too far from the action. Any rectangular venue would do.

Got back into Syd yesterday after 3 nights In Adelaide...Was enjoyable for sure, but would I go again??? Probably not. The oval is beautiful, without doubt, and the cricketing history of the place, the massive scoreboard, the hills in the background & of course, St Peters church just to the north all add up to a very pleasant setting... But, for me, that's all it was. Pleasant. The event must be held in a rectangular stadium. I would go for AAMI in Melbourne, but would be open to NIB in Perth...there was even talk in the local Adelaide paper that the Gold Coast is keen too, so perhaps Skilled is another option...either way, I don't see a long term future for the event in Adelaide...these events are supposed to be a party &, try whilst they might, the small crowd just didn't cut it. Apparently there were just under 27k for the 2 days, but the biggish oval made it look a lot less than that.

Barry, I never mentioned or insinuated racism; purely a small nation vs big nation thing and perceptions. happens in many sports. But I watch these matches closely and if you want specifics, watch again the final 30 seconds of the first half of the semifinal between England and Samoa in HK and especially the final two minutes of the same game. There were several other instances involving Fiji in their game against NZ. And please, I pride myself on objectivity and fair play, and hate to see small nations being punished for offences that the ref doesnt not bat an eyelid for when committed by a superpower of the game. Having said all that, I must concede that the Adelaide tournament was very well refereed in general -- Anthony Moyes wasn't there! -- and the best team won, fair and square. No complaints this time.

Shasan, move past insinuating racism, nepotism, favoritism, ratings, is behind who gets to the finals NZ & England desrved to be there & the refereeing standards did not refelect any bias that the rest of the world could see. The Pacific Islands will get no fairer deal this week as you hope for as they already are & will be referreed as fairly as any other team in the competition.

Adelaide 7s semifinal lineup decided: NZ vs Samoa and South Africa vs England. Samoa look slower than last year and lack the sharpness of last year in midfield. But remember that NZ couldnt beat Samoa at all last season so the Samoans, with their experience to boot, have a psychological edge. But NZ look fit, fast and sharp and will probably win the whole thing. The other semi is weaker, with England having the better forwards and speed to burn outside and a great playmaker in Gollings. But they are slightly off colour, as shown by their close games with Argentina and Wales. . The South Africans look good but raw. Lots of speed and they have Cecil Afrika who is a real matchwiner. Too close to pick.

Port Adelaide had there first home game in adelaide yesterday, and now that the ground has doubled in capacity (from last years 7s) it does look sparse but still plenty of atmosphere. Will post crowd figures at the end of play today.

Very very poor crowds on the first day for Adelaide. Well down from Last years Adelaide 7s from Memory. Also a complete lack of interest from most on the roar.. So. Yep. End of this article for me.

looks like Aus will be bundled out in the quarters in win the plate! what has the crowd been like and I hear it will be held on the GC fom next year onwards. Thats a venue I like the sound of

Wow.. No one even updated the thread.. :lol: Anyways.. Samoa defeated Japan 40 - 7 in the first match. In Pool A results Kenya 19 - 12 Cook Islands NZ 36 - 10 Wales (ouch) The match going on at the moment is Pool B match: England 17- 7 Scotland.. 2nd half Next match: Argentina vs PNG Pool B Fiji vs USA Pool C

Yes, i agree with both of you. Russia and Portugal should be given every chance to develop. Canada and the US have been around for a long time but haven't made enough big strides. The US did well in the past two seasons, but have faded away a bit. Both countries need to step up or lose their core places.

Im relying on the collective efforts of the Rugby fans here on the roar.

I agree with your comments Shahsan!

I hope the Pacific Islands teams get a better deal this week, in terms of refereeing. In the HK semis last week both Fiji and Samoa were pinged and yellow carded for "offences" that NZ and England get away with with impunity. It is as though the refs have an eye on the TV ratings. It is slowly ruining my enjoyment of the series, every one of which I have watched (when available) since its inception. I thought they had eradicated this particular bias since the early days - when NZ's De Goldi got away with murder while any islander was punished on prejudice - but it is creeping back now. I'm watching you in particular, Anthony Moyes.

Will you be live updating mate?

Oh.. and please Roar Mods... Please keep this Article as a live update for the 7s in Adelaide please.. Keep it near the top! Or on the front page!

Kemani and Sefanaia have been included in the Aussie squad.

Aussies will go no further than the usual QF match. My observations of them so far this season is that they lack a stepper in the middle of the field and a flyer out wide. The non-selection of John Grant this weekend further exacerbates the problem. Bernard Foley is the only one creating while I like the look of Zack Holmes who has plenty of pace and will have a go. Those lucky to be there on current form are Shaun Foley, Jonno Lance and Ed Jenkins.

How Many Core teams are there again in the series? If Russia and Portugal accumulate more points then Canada at the end of the series.. Surely they should be a core team. Im sure we will be seeing Russia and Portugal in the London and Murrayfield 7s later.

Wales have been playing lots of academy players this year, as opposed to Sevens specialists, so I very much doubt they can compete with the best any longer. It is a shame portugal and Russia are missing from this round as they both are promising sides.

All right.. Here are the current standings for The HSBC IRB Sevens series. ----- 1 NEW ZEALAND 110 2 ENGLAND 105 3 FIJI 84 SAMOA 84 5 SOUTH AFRICA 72 6 AUSTRALIA 46 7 ARGENTINA 24 8 WALES 18 9 KENYA 12 10 PORTUGAL 8 RUSSIA 8 SCOTLAND 8 13 UNITED STATES 6 14 CANADA 5