The 2013-14 rugby sevens series is upon us once again as the Gold Coast Sevens kicks off this afternoon, where we will once again get the chance to sit back and enjoy fast and pulsating rugby.
With sevens rugby now listed as one of the sports in the Rio Olympics in 2016, it is ever more renowned with teams already having one eye on player development for Rio.
I have compiled my favourites going into this two-day tournament based on form, past history and current crop of players.
As in other years New Zeland will be the team to beat, bringing into this tournament the team who were crowned the 2013 Sevens World Cup winners in Moscow after beating England in the final.
However Gold Coast has not been a happy hunting ground for the Kiwis and they are yet to record their first win here after going down to Fiji in both the finals.
Fiji has recently hired Ben Ryan, former England sevens coach and once captain, so they should build on consistency.
Their squad has a number of familiar players from last season and have six players starting against Canada from last year’s Gold Coast Sevens.
If there is any team with gamechangers, it has to be Fiji with their unorthodox play and barring disciplinary issues they could win it for the third time.
The home nation, Australia, also look in good form, with more than eight weeks’ preparation under their belt and more experienced players within their ranks this time around as confirmed by coach Michael O’Connor.
The Australian team should be well tested during its pool play, where they will face, Samoa, and Argentina as their main threats.
Samoa has just recently beaten Fiji, in the Oceania sevens and Argentina, were runners up last week in the Fiji International Sevens.
Samoa have always been a powerhouse in sevens rugby and they have just convincingly beaten Fiji in the final 31-17 in the Oceania Sevens last weekend. This was their first ever win against Fiji in Suva.
I am sure we will enjoy the sevens dished out form the Gold Coast this weekend, and get a glimpse of the future stars of sevens and 15s rugby.
After all who can forget how players like Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Michael O’Connor, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Brian Lima and David Campese all started out in sevens before progressing to the big time.
shahsan
Guest
Which shows again how good the Boks really are, and how drained they became in the almost-meaningless match.
Angus
Guest
You seem to forget that England lost their Pool round to the Boks.
shahsan
Guest
+1
shahsan
Guest
I don't think Belgium played at all.
shahsan
Guest
Lots of excuses permitted: fatigue from a very tough semifinal which ended disappointingly, esp with the strange yellow card near the end; very tough opponents in the third-place playoff, a match no one is that interested in. The SA team is pretty good and I can see them winning a few legs of the circuit this year.
shahsan
Guest
The comment by "Johnno" is one of the most ignorant comments I've ever seen on this site, and there have been quite a few. No surprises, based on the identity of the author.
Mike
Guest
A lot of comments about SA going down 47-0 to England in play off for third. And yes, they would have been pretty drained by their match vs Australia. But another thing that its easy to forget is how good England were. They are a team capable of piling up the point rapidly if there is any weakness in the opponent's defence. And they got closer to NZ than anyone else.
ben
Guest
What??? Do you even follow the world series? Did you even watch the other games in this tourny?
kelefua
Guest
Strong start from Aussies but their epic semi with SA took it's toll. Kiwis need to have a garage sale not much room for all those cups:)
Dean
Guest
@johnno, that's an extraordinary comment re South Africa. You're basing your whole assessment of SA7's program based on one single match that lasted just 14 minutes. I think you misunderstand the inconsistencies and unpredictabilities of the 7 man game based on that reaction. Regarding the crowd, I agree with many comments here on the marketing. I have not seen any ads in any tv/radio/paper down here in country NSW. Some research just pointed me to an article where the ARU 7s program manager was talking about how these events take years to generate crowds, this article dated before this weekend. Real head in the sand stuff there from ARU. making excises before the event which suggests to me they knew they had sropped the ball before this weekend. I attended year 1 of the Wellington 7s event and through smart marketing strategies, and the NZRU actually caring and investing in the promotion of the event, the Wellington 7s was a huge success from the very first tournament, and 7s was a very minor sport even in NZ back then. I hate feeling like I'm always bashing the ARu but they never cease to amaze me with fuzzy thinking and complete ignorance of the marketplace.
Chan Wee
Guest
The winners Ambrose Curtis 17.04.1992 (21) 1.91m 92kg Belgium Tuatagaloa 19.09.1989 (24) 1.86m 95kg DJ Forbes ( C) 15.12.1982 (31) 1.89m 104kg Joe Webber 27.08.1993 (20) 1.85m 88kg Lote Raikabula 31.07.1983 (30) 1.93m 96kg Mark Jackman 27.05.1988 (25) 1.85m 95kg Sam Dickson 28.10.1989 (24) 1.92m 99kg Scott Curry 17.05.1988 (25) 1.93m 100kg Sherwin Stowers 19.05.1986 (27) 1.76m 91kg Tim Mikkelson 13.08.1986 (27) 1.91m 103kg Tomasi Cama 11.11.1980 (33) 1.76m 86kg Waisake Naholo 08.05.1993 (20) 1.85m 93kg
Johnno
Guest
Everything!
Chan Wee
Guest
" World Series champions New Zealand got their season off to a perfect start by defeating Australia 40-19 to win the Gold Coast 7s. The hosts raced into a surprising 12-0 lead through two tries from Ed Jenkins and Paul Stannard, before New Zealand found their rhythm. Debutant Ambrose Curtis scored two tries in the right-hand corner to put New Zealand in front after two excellent conversions from Tomasi Cama. Cama then added a try of his own before Waisake Naholo pounced on a loose ball to put daylight between the two teams. David Raikunu brought up the 40-point mark for New Zealand with their sixth try, with Cameron Clark grabbing a consolation for Australia late on. England sealed third-place with a convincing 47-0 hammering of South Africa, running in seven tries as new coach Simon Amor got off to a promising start in his first tournament since taking over from Ben Ryan. Australia were tied 19-19 with the Blitzbokke after the 14 minutes were up, forcing the second semi-final into extra time. Great drama saw Australia miss a penalty kick with three minutes remaining, but Jesse Parahi was on hand to finish in the corner with time running out to seal a 24-19 win for the hosts. Tries from Scott Curry and Tim Mikkelson, who was also sin-binned, secured victory for Gordon Tietjens' New Zealand side in their semi-final, although they conceded their first points of the tournament when Mike Ellery gave England the lead in the first-half. The victory followed New Zealand's 40-0 triumph over Samoa in the first quarter final, with last year's IRB Sevens Player of the Year Mikkelson scoring a hat-trick to book the defending Series champions spot in the semi-finals. Having trailed 5-0, Mat Turner, Mike Ellery (2) and Rob Vickerman all crossed for tries to give Simon Amor's England a 26-12 victory against their previous coach Ben Ryan and his Fiji side. Fiji would go on to lift the Plate after a convincing 36-0 victory over Kenya. Hosts Australia advanced to play South Africa after beating Kenya 24-12 while two-time defending champions Fiji beat Samoa 31-26 in the Plate semi-finals. Bowl France ensured they maintained a 100% record on day two as Julien Saubade scored in sudden death extra time to win the Bowl. Connor Braid had held his nerve to kick a last minute conversion to take the match into sudden death extra time after Sean Ferguson had crossed in the corner, but Saubade's try ensured France won in overtime for the second time in two matches. Canada made the final after they recorded a 19-14 victory over Scotland thanks to two Harry Jones tries while France's Julien Candelon was on hand to secure a 17-12 win over Argentina in sudden death extra time in the second semi-final. Geraint John's side progressed to the semi finals after beating Spain 29-5 with Ciaran Hearn scoring two of their five tries while France had defeated Portugal 26-12. Earlier, Struan Dewar scored the first try of the day before Alex Glashan scored twice to help Scotland win their Bowl quarter final against USA 19-10. Shield The USA beat Portugal 22-0 to lift the Shield final in Matt Hawkins' first tournament as head coach. Tries from Stephen Tomasin, Zack Test, Brett Thompson and Folau Niua ensured the USA took home some silverware from the Gold Coast Sevens. Folau Niua scored 16 points as USA beat Spain 26-7 in the first Shield semi final and will face Portugal in the final. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Results: Cup: Final: New Zealand 40-19 Australia Third Place: England 47-0 South Africa Semi-Finals: New Zealand 14-5 England, Australia 24-19 South Africa Quarter-Finals: South Africa 28 - 21 Wales, Australia 24 - 12 Kenya, Fiji 12 - 26 England, New Zealand 40 - 0 Samoa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plate: Final: Kenya 0-36 Fiji Semi-Finals: Kenya 12 - 7 Wales, Samoa 26 - 31 Fiji -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bowl: Final: France 19-14 Canada Semi-Finals: Argentina 12 - 17 France, Scotland 14 - 19 Canada Quarter-Finals: France 26 - 14 Portugal, Argentina 17 - 12 Tonga, Canada 29 - 5 Spain, United States 10 - 19 Scotland -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shield: Final: Portugal 0-22 United States Semi-Finals: Tonga 7 - 40 Portugal, United States 26 - 7 Spain "
atlas
Guest
Final: NZ beat Australia 40-19 Australia's captain Ed Jenkins is awarded Player of The Tournament NZ's Tim Mikkelson scored the most tries, 7, followed by Benito Masilevu (Fiji), Carl Murray (Portugal), Joe Webber (NZ) - all 6 tries New Zealand scored 189 points, and conceded 24.
p.Tah
Guest
And what did achieve today, superman?
Johnno
Guest
no excuses. 47-0
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Add to that they only got into the country relatively late and that wouldn't have helped the fatigue factor at all. The Semi was a cracking match. The Blitzbokke are a quality program and will remain so well into the future.
Batdown
Guest
Curtis Ambrose having an excellent tournament
Batdown
Guest
Awesome start by the WBs!
atlas
Guest
harsh! they played well till then, well into extra time in their qf when Australia beat them and until that game I'd have picked them v NZ in final. 0-47 certainly is throwing in the towel though, but I wouldn't write them off on just one poor performance, last year they finished second overall in the World Series and actually won one more tournament than overall winners NZ did.