Rio Olympics

[waiopehu oldboy]

For the record:

11th Place playoff Kenya 22-10 Colombia
9th Place playoff Brazil 33-5 Japan
7th Place playoff Spain 21-0 Fiji
5th Place playoff USA 19-5 France
Bronze Medal match Canada 33-10 GB

 

[redstragic]

I've always been a fan of Charlesworth, but his criticism is both ungracious and uncalled for in my view.



Firstly, this group of girls, like the hockey teams and basketball teams, have no doubt made enormous sacrifices to win this gold.



More to the point, one of the reasons that this is such a great win, IMO, is that the New Zealanders and Canadians in particularly, but also the Brits, US, are tremendous teams who would have seen themselves as having legitimate shots at gold before the tournament started.



I just don't see why he needed to make such an unfair comment.



As an aside, I genuinely feel for Portia Woodman. Such a talented player - just had one of those games.

Plus anyone who has tried 7's knows what a brutal, uncompromising and skilful game it is. I haven't played a tournament in over 20 years but still vividly recall how stuffed I got playing it. It's not soft.

 

[RugbyReg]

And I reckon Ric would find Tim Walsh somewhat of a kindred spirit too. Both hard task masters but both left field thinkers too.


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[Hugh Jarse]

So happy for our Women's Rugby 7's team and the deserved success that they have achieved.

Happy enough for NZL to get the silver, and how good is it for Team GB to miss out on the podium?

Rugby 7s can be a cruel game with the tournament often coming down to a single missed tackle or poor pass, but then many Olympic disciplines are similarly decided by a single lapse of concentration.

Opening the event to female athletes of all persuasions was a masterstroke. Perhaps the male version could follow suit for the 2020 Olympics.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'm really disappointed in those comments from Ric Charlesworth. The bloke is a legend in his sport, both as a player (one of the greatest ever) and coach. It should be noted though that the men's team under his leadership, again as player and coach, had a habit of choking at the Olympics. I have the highest regard for his credentials but this sounds like sour grapes on his part.

Does he realise how physically tough this sport is? Surely he must. You've got seven players on each side covering a full field, requiring the same high levels of aerobic fitness and skill that the hockey players do, but getting smashed in the tackle and at the breakdown every other minute. These girls are every bit as deserving of their gold medal as anyone. They're elite athletes and play on a highly competitive world tour.

So with the greatest respect Ric, eat a dick.

 

[RedsHappy]

I've always been a fan of Charlesworth, but his criticism is both ungracious and uncalled for in my view.

Firstly, this group of girls, like the hockey teams and basketball teams, have no doubt made enormous sacrifices to win this gold.

More to the point, one of the reasons that this is such a great win, IMO, is that the New Zealanders and Canadians in particularly, but also the Brits, US, are tremendous teams who would have seen themselves as having legitimate shots at gold before the tournament started.

I just don't see why he needed to make such an unfair comment.

As an aside, I genuinely feel for Portia Woodman. Such a talented player - just had one of those games.

He simply had no clue what he was/is talking about and, to boot, an extraordinarily ungracious outburst as you say which came across more as, implicitly, 'my achievements in my competitions were far better than this rugby 7s stuff'.

As much as I respect hockey as a wonderful sport, I could easily make an objective case that rugby sevens requires a far greater range of athletic skills and even higher standards of aerobic fitness for elite success.

 

[Braveheart81]

It should be noted though that the men's team under his leadership, again as player and coach, had a habit of choking at the Olympics. I have the highest regard for his credentials but this sounds like sour grapes on his part.

This.

Of course you can win all your preliminary rounds and then lose in a semi-final. The same could have happened to our Aussie 7s after going in as red hot favourites. Except they didn't choke. They won.

Charlesworth is a hockey legend but was part of a team that did choke despite heavy favoritism.

One of his points seems to be that the hockey tournament is longer. They do play 5 preliminary games but it is still only a field of 12 teams with an 8 team quarter finals. Having more preliminary games doesn't make it a tougher event to win.

 

[Lindommer]

1976 Montreal. Men's hockey final: New Zealand 1 Australia 0
2016 Rio. Women's Rugby 7s final: Australia 24 New Zealand 17

Sour grapes, Ric. Some of us have long memories.

 

[Pfitzy]

Eat a dick, Ric

 

[Strewthcobber]

I'm really disappointed in those comments from Ric Charlesworth. The bloke is a legend in his sport, both as a player (one of the greatest ever) and coach. It should be noted though that the men's team under his leadership, again as player and coach, had a habit of choking at the Olympics. I have the highest regard for his credentials but this sounds like sour grapes on his part.

Does he realise how physically tough this sport is? Surely he must. You've got seven players on each side covering a full field, requiring the same high levels of aerobic fitness and skill that the hockey players do, but getting smashed in the tackle and at the breakdown every other minute. These girls are every bit as deserving of their gold medal as anyone. They're elite athletes and play on a highly competitive world tour.

So with the greatest respect Ric, eat a dick.

Wasnt really a comment on Rugby Sevens as a sport though, just on the female event.

Now I'm not sure that's any better to be honest.

I think the women's rugby sevens is a soft event whereas the men's is a much more competitive event and gives a country like Fiji a chance at the Olympics, and that's wonderful," Charlesworth said.

 

[RedsHappy]

Wasnt really a comment on Rugby Sevens as a sport though, just on the female event.

Now I'm not sure that's any better to be honest.

Ric seems to have forgotten: Fiji has a women's 7s team that....we beat fair and square.

 

[Highlander35]

Just a quick question.

Do people know which channel the Sevens games will be on overnight? I can't afford to stay up switching channels, but I would like to be able watch all the games without having to deal with VPN, or pay Seven for awful, awful Internet coverage, particularly since I'm not particularly bothered about watching much else bar maybe Andy if he gets to the quarters/semis.

 

[RugbyReg]

dunno mate, its a fucking terrible system 7 have going. I recorded all three channels the other night. But that's a hassle, so I will get up tonight.

 

[mark_s]

Bloody great stuff from the women's 7s. My rugby highlight of the year (so far)

 

[Sully]

Okay gentlemen I need to remind you all of the forum rules regarding playing the man.

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[Highlander35]

 

[D-Box]

dunno mate, its a fucking terrible system 7 have going. I recorded all three channels the other night. But that's a hassle, so I will get up tonight.

7 just said 7mate

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[I like to watch]

I'm really disappointed in those comments from Ric Charlesworth. The bloke is a legend in his sport, both as a player (one of the greatest ever) and coach. It should be noted though that the men's team under his leadership, again as player and coach, had a habit of choking at the Olympics. I have the highest regard for his credentials but this sounds like sour grapes on his part.

Does he realise how physically tough this sport is? Surely he must. You've got seven players on each side covering a full field, requiring the same high levels of aerobic fitness and skill that the hockey players do, but getting smashed in the tackle and at the breakdown every other minute. These girls are every bit as deserving of their gold medal as anyone. They're elite athletes and play on a highly competitive world tour.

So with the greatest respect Ric, eat a dick.

Pretty sure he was talking about the depth of the field.
It's likely the top 5 this year will be top 5 in four years.
But the teams that finished 6th to 12th will be much more competitive.
Which will put much more strain on the weaker parts of our squad,making it a tougher event than this years.
Or at least,that's how I interprated his comments.

 

[No4918]

Pretty sure he was talking about the depth of the field.
It's likely the top 5 this year will be top 5 in four years.
But the teams that finished 6th to 12th will be much more competitive.
Which will put much more strain on the weaker parts of our squad,making it a tougher event than this years.
Or at least,that's how I interprated his comments.

Only 5 countries have medalled in the last 5 Olympics in women's basketball which he believes is a more open competition than 7's. The USA has won every one of them. Where does he then get off saying rugby is one sided. He is plainly wrong in the examples given.

You expect the USA to be good and they consistently are. The rest of the world needs to pick up their game. Complaining about being so far ahead of the competition that you can over many years be number 1 is strange and definitely doesn't make the achievement 'soft'.

 

[Jets]

The ARU should be sorting out Viva7's centres all over the country to take advantage of this.


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