The Aussie sevens women continued their merry way taking out the tournament while the men, after the euphoria of Hong Kong, hit a bit of a hurdle.
As an aside, the first ever women’s World Rugby Sevens Series started in Dubai in 2012, Sharni Williams is the only player to have played in all 11 Dubai tournaments
The pool stage was a trifecta, a draw with Kenya, a win over Great Britain and a loss to South Africa. When they hit the quarter finals they were not firing on all cylinders and it showed.
There were a couple of issues which you could not quite put your finger on. Someone mentioned Nick Malouf may have hurt his ankle, he is the talisman captain and an expert in regathering the kick restarts.
In addition, the loss of speedster Corey Toole, who is part of the Brumbies squad now, and James Turner getting injured in Hong Kong seemed to take away a bit of the men’s speed. In saying that, the excitement machine Maurice Longbottom played very well and is just a great watch.
In the quarter final the USA seemed to boss them around taking the game 24-19, it was close but no cigar. Then they had to play Argentina for the fifth place play off and that did not go to plan either. So the self-named ‘misfits’ will need to quickly regroup for Cape Town.
The men’s series seems more competitive than ever. Astonishingly Fiji did not make the quarter finals. So like the Australians they had an off tournament. Also in the mix are Ireland who ended up losing in the final to South Africa and Argentina are regularly competing for a podium finish.
The women kept on keeping on. In what is always a highlight (for us Aussie fans), they defeated the Kiwis in the final 26-19. The pool stage went according to plan with comfortable wins over China, Canada and a tighter win over USA.
In the quarter finals while the final score of 38-21 seemed comfortable the Fijiana made it difficult, scoring two tries before the Aussies got into the game.
The Fijiana are always a tough opponent, they are very physical, you have to starve them of the ball. The semi final was a pretty straight forward 38-5 win over France which was a bit of a surprise as the French are a quality side.
In the end the final came down to a dog fight again with the Kiwis. The Aussies seemed to have it under control for most of the final.
It should be noted the Kiwis were missing a couple of big guns, Sarah Hirini, Stacey Fluhler and Portia Woodman, but still had Kelly Brazier, Tyler Nathan-Wong, Niall Williams, Michaela Blyde, (with a hattrick of tries in the final), and Shiray Kaka.
Maddison Levi’s try in the final took her to the top of the all-time Dubai try-scorers list on 11.
Madison Ashby took out player of the final. She had a terrific tournament, apart from her usual playmaking she was also very strong over the ball, getting a few turnovers.
For the Aussie women the usual suspects performed as we have come to expect. A couple of player comments. The evergreen Sharni Williams just keeps on doing what Sharni Williams does, makes tackles, makes runs, makes the right decisions. Plus crucially kicked three conversions in the final.
As most would be aware the women’s team is chock full of gun players. But the player who is arguably most unique and possibly irreplaceable is Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea. The there is no other player that does what she does in terms of physicality in both attack and defence.
In addition, she seems to have been given the opportunity to show her playmaking and passing skills. She threw some terrific long passes to set up tries for the likes of Maddi Levi. Additionally it appears she is playing longer minutes so is having more of an impact.
Like the men, they are now off to the Cape Town stop, which starts this Friday, 9th December 2022.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Unfortunately it is on beIN on foxtel, not Stan. Some of the games are available later on YouTube
SDRedsFan
Roar Rookie
Hugh how can we watch the 7s here in Australia? I can't see it on STAN.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
At this stage it has to be Sydney to see how the new stadium goes. Interested to see how many attend next year.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
I did note Tim Walsh mainly uses her just in the first half of games. Think she is still doing more than enough to hold her spot, she still runs good lines, kicks goals and her defence is fine but yes they will have to work out who takes her role. Alyssa LF in my opinion is the most indispensable & has developed significantly. Personally I would be eyeing her to play 12 for the Wallaroos at the next World Cup, tackles hard, runs hard, off load, can pass & last week she even out in a kick.
Atlas
Roar Rookie
Hugh, on basis there will (surely) be one of the seven rounds held in Australia, where would you expect it to be?
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Whilst the changes from a player perspective is disappointing there is no doubt it costs World Rugby a lot of $$, so there must be some good savings by reducing the numbers. I get that.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Apart from enjoying watching rugby 7s it just needs to be promoted more, so I hope on a regular soapbox. Not sure why Rugby AU don’t use it more in its promotion when it has to compete with NRL/AFL it’s what makes rugby so different to the other sports.
Two Cents
Guest
Thanks once again, Hugh, for covering the stories that would otherwise fly under the radar as everyone obsesses over the Wallabies. I think the continued success of our Sevens it is an absolute proof that with the proper level of investment you can develop a world-class program for both men and women and one needn't be favoured over the other to achieve that success.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Tell that to the organisers, then we’ll see! In fact rugby here in Australia is only a secondary sport as club sport is preferred to international team sport!
Mark Baptist
Guest
Out of disclosure, I have been to HK, but not for the Sevens (family holiday). Despite being AFL territory, Melbourne has drawn excellent crowds for the NRL's Storm, Super Rugby's Rebels, and Bledisloe Cup games in the city - so the Sevens shouldn't be a problem.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Obviously you’ve never been to HK mate? This is the World Series tournaments which we are talking about, & TBH Melbourne, or even Victoria, for that fact, is really not known as rugby territory here in Australia. Your main game is AFL, as your known for. So good luck in trying to convince those running the tournaments in changing their established venues!
Mark Baptist
Guest
You’d never have the amount of teams, or nations there compared to HK. With the women's teams, you have their 12 core teams and 12 qualifiers, so 52 teams in total (and a slightly smaller number of nations) - quite the event indeed. In saying that, next year onwards will have 12 men's core teams to equalize it with the women's and align it with the Olympics, and all fixtures will be aligned, so barring any future changes, 52 teams will be unreachable. You would have 48 total at all future events, including my desired one at Melbourne (again, with a slightly smaller number of nations - so it is close). Also, I'm sure the idea of having 85,000-100,000 people pay their money to watch an event in Melbourne would be far too good for the Sevens Series to pass up.
Atlas
Roar Rookie
Big changes ahead for the Sevens – seven events, in seven locations, across seven months. For next year’s tournament beginning December 2023 there will be just seven rounds. “World Rugby’s new vision for the shortened game will see its world series reduced to seven rounds in seven iconic global destinations across seven months”. The seven venues are not confirmed, apart from New Zealand being advised they are not one of them, so Hamilton next month sees the last World Sevens in NZ, since its first year in 2000. Also, the men’s series will reduce from 16 to 12 teams (same number as for the women). The seventh round will see the top eight ranked teams after six rounds compete to be crowned Series champions. The remaining four teams will go into regional competitions to qualify for the next Challenger Series. I’m not surprised NZ is off the menu – unsustainable in Wellington with such low crowds; I was working in NZ 2016 or 2017 the company was a minor sponsor and we couldn’t give away tickets to staff, simply not interested; it was shifted to Hamilton . . . bye!
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Maybe so mate, but you’d never have the amount of teams, or nations there compared to HK. HK is the only World Series tournament that has 28 men’s teams there competing & now there’s the women’s teams coming on board. With the 28 men’s they have the usual 16 core teams competing along with 12 qualifiers. It’s the only WS tournament that has this.
Mark Baptist
Guest
While Hong Kong is the crown in the Sevens World Series jewel, I'd like to see the Series come to Melbourne myself, and at the MCG no less: you would sell out the place - we're talking 100,000 people - or at the least exceed any crowd that could be drawn in Sydney.
Dave
Guest
Can’t agree mate. She seems pretty damn ordinary to me unfortunately. Goes to contact at the wrong times, has slowed down fairly noticeably, decision making seems to be slipping as a result. 7’s is too cutthroat to have someone that isn’t at their peak. Only thing working in her favour is that she’s a big body, which we lack at the moment with only herself and the young Islander girl whose name escapes me atm.
Reds Harry
Roar Rookie
While I agree with the need for a long term replacement, Sharni Williams is actually indispensible for this team - remains so. Still doing most of the hard work when it really counts and the other teams challenge them. The younger players are all greatly improving I agree. Not sure they need to bring anyone over.
Dave
Guest
We need to find a replacement for Sharni Williams pretty soon. Shes been a great servant to the game but is becoming more and more of a passenger, our young team is now experienced enough that Sharni's experience isn't as valuable a commodity either. Maybe bring Kennedy Cherrington back across from League, similar build and has the added bonus of a big social media following. Or bring Mahalia Murphy back, I'm assuming she had a falling out with the previous coach because her play never warranted being dropped from the 7's setup
SDRedsFan
Roar Rookie
Nice story Hugh, I appreciate your promotion of the 7's and the women's game in particular. I see that Bella Nasser went well for the Aussie A team. Perhaps Josh Nasser is a bit like Mark Waugh now - not even the best footballer in his family.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Yep Thailand is good Phil, as is the Philippines. Having friends in Cebu & another friend who lost his wife back in 2010, to which he has brought a place in Pattaya with his now partner. Last time we went to HK, we actually did the round trip, to the Phillipines then on to Thailand. There's a good chance we might do that again in a couple of years or so. But yes I really liked the bar & club life in Wanchai, though. So many different nationalities.