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Rugby 7s general chat

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
I would not be quite as harsh. We have beaten all the biggies at least once in the last couple of years,


However we do need an injection of size (Luke Jones, please), speed, and creativity.

We seem at least one level below the big guns at the moment. Slow and uncreative. Very disappointing and a big contrast to the England/Scotland and NZ/SAF games which followed.

I'm not sure about Jones, If I was looking at a Jones, it would be Harry Jones from Warringah/NH Rays.
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
Fuck not this again. Luke Jones would be the worst 7s player of all time. You're kidding if you think size is our problem atm. We're too slow and have no creativity.


Oh, silly me. Of course he would. The worst of all time.

Where did you attain such wisdom?
 

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)
We're still fourth in the series standings so very much in the hunt for the four automatic qualification places for Rio, although England is one or two points behind!

Had the ref blew the whistle after England scored the try to have the score 19-17 in Scotland's favour in the semifinal as the full time siren blew, the picture would have been lot more comfortable for the Aussies.

This Wellington tournament has been marked by outrageous and weird decisions by the referees, namely Fiji's two players not yellow carded at least for tip tackles against the Aussies in the pool match, (they ended up serving a two match suspension each, alas they came back in time to beat the Aussies again!), USA not getting benefit of an advantage given before the full time blew when down by only two and then England getting a try after restarting when the full time siren already had blown.
 

Charlie Brown

Chris McKivat (8)
I've just been reading through the last few pages about trying to pick up classy sprinters for the sport of 7's. I am a highly qualified track and field coach, specialising in sprinters and jumpers. I also hold a level 2 rugby coaching qualification. I think we could probably take a leaf out of the USA book of tricks and at least try and get out to some Track meetings and local grade rugby games to look for speedy talent.
I know of one young fellow in my community who plays along side my sons in grade rugby, who is an extremely talented runner who just happens to play on the wing. His name was put forward by an S&C coach to the appropriate people who are in charge of trials for OZ 7's. Because they hadn't really heard of him in terms of School rugby representative stuff they weren't interested. He played a lot of league as a youngsters & has come across late to Union. This kid has a beautiful running technique and is extremely fast. I know he can out run Moggy any day of the week. (Ive seen him do it at club level) Either these guys have there own way of looking at talent, but it would be useful if they at least looked at some of the nominations that come in. Due to the disappointment of not getting a look in at 7's we have now lost another talented young player who has regrettably gone over to league where he will get paid $700 a game.
To retain speed it needs to be used. If you don't use it you lose it so to speak.
Again I think we need to look at how these players are getting trailed/chosen.
I'm sure theres some very quick youngsters around that may not be amazing rugby players but its not to say you can't develop them??
 

Omar Comin'

Chilla Wilson (44)
There definitely needs to be some sort of national sevens championship where guys like that have a chance to prove what they've got against incumbents.

Or we could run sevens combines like the US did recently (and which resulted in them plucking a guy out of obscurity, Ahmad Harajly for their Wellington squad).
 

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Oh, silly me. Of course he would. The worst of all time.

Where did you attain such wisdom?

What on earth makes you think Luke Jones would be a good 7s player? He would be considered an absolute behemoth in 7s, which current series player is even close to his size? Any player would beat him 1 on 1. If you want a forward with punch factor, Sean McMahon or Michael Hooper.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
I don't understand the Luke Jones selection either..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Highlander35

Andrew Slack (58)
Unless you're a literal freak (see Glasgow and Fiji Lock, Leone Nakarawa), Locks aren't the best choice for Sevens, even Lock/Blindsides.
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
We're still fourth in the series standings so very much in the hunt for the four automatic qualification places for Rio, although England is one or two points behind!

Had the ref blew the whistle after England scored the try to have the score 19-17 in Scotland's favour in the semifinal as the full time siren blew, the picture would have been lot more comfortable for the Aussies.

This Wellington tournament has been marked by outrageous and weird decisions by the referees, namely Fiji's two players not yellow carded at least for tip tackles against the Aussies in the pool match, (they ended up serving a two match suspension each, alas they came back in time to beat the Aussies again!), USA not getting benefit of an advantage given before the full time blew when down by only two and then England getting a try after restarting when the full time siren already had blown.

I agree with you about the refereeing, particularly in the USA v Fiji match and to a lesser extent the Scotland v England match.

Neither of which impacted on the poor Australian performance. I mean you receive the opening kick-off and kick for touch?:confused: A statistic came up towards the end of that game which showed that Australia kick the ball more than any other country.:confused: What's going on?:confused:
 

HighPlainsDrifter

Jimmy Flynn (14)
A bit harsh , Big Will would possibly take that mantle ... maybe we could lure Matt Dunning back ... seriously though JOC (James O'Connor) , Honey Badger , Karmichael , & McMahon may add some strike power ?
 

Strewthcobber

Mark Ella (57)
Neither of which impacted on the poor Australian performance. I mean you receive the opening kick-off and kick for touch?:confused: A statistic came up towards the end of that game which showed that Australia kick the ball more than any other country.:confused: What's going on?:confused:

I haven't seen any of the games but it must be a coach directed tactic surely and one of the reasons we're having close to our best ever season too.

The coaches can see we're slow and lack creativity as much as any of us can, so the've devised a way to overcome those shortcomings.
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
FWIW, I have been watching Sevens since I moved to Hong Kong in 1976.

Over the years there have been a lot of changes In the game, which is just stating the obvious.


Even in the last few years, we have seen teams with comparatively different strengths win.


I have made the point that size and strength do matter, Samoa proved that a few years ago, when they were regularly winning the forward battle. South Africa has big, tough, forwards, as does England.

No team can win unless they can win, and control possession, that is a given in Sevens as well as in 15s.

We have to pick the very best team we can, based upon our own strengths and weaknesses, and play accordingly.

Of course we need speed and creativity, who has ever suggested otherwise?

However, we cannot expect to outdo the Kiwis, or the Fijians, or the Africans in sheer foot speed, so we have to build on other strengths that we have.


The Poms, Africans, and Kiwis all have a core of strength at the breakdown, the scrum, the restarts.

We have to beat them there. Seems pretty obvious to me.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I think the point people are making about size is 'big' has a different meaning in 7s compared to the XV a side game. When McMahon and Gill played at the Commonwealth games they were massive in comparison.

The strength of our current team is that it is big and physical comparatively and strong at set piece.

I think Jones would be too big and the advantages he'd have would be outweighed by his deficiencies.
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
I haven't seen any of the games but it must be a coach directed tactic surely and one of the reasons we're having close to our best ever season too.

The coaches can see we're slow and lack creativity as much as any of us can, so the've devised a way to overcome those shortcomings.

No doubt it's a coach directed tactic. He could just pick players who do have speed and creativity, which might be a better way to solve the problem. The current style of play is great if you want to finish 4th or 5th. We're not going to beat the big guns playing like this.
 

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
You mention SA has big forwards yet most of those guys would be considered tiny forwards in 15s. Forbes sucks at 15s because he's too small.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
So anyone note the interesting name in the Japanese 7s team to compete at the Vegas 7s?

DH.JPG
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
He seems a little old for 7's as well.

Having previously qualified as a Wallaby, is this part of a stab at using the Olympics 7's loophole to get qualified for the Brave Blossoms?

Even so, I would have though that there would be limited longevity for him in the XV game, if he makes the switch to Japan.
 

Omar Comin'

Chilla Wilson (44)
Having previously qualified as a Wallaby, is this part of a stab at using the Olympics 7's loophole to get qualified for the Brave Blossoms?

Even so, I would have though that there would be limited longevity for him in the XV game, if he makes the switch to Japan.

I doubt Eddie Jones is looking at him as a long term player for Japan, but he could come in handy at the world cup. Just has to play in 4 world series legs and he'll be eligible. The 4th (if he plays all from here) would be in Scotland from 9-10th May. So plenty of time to prepare for the world cup if he manages it.
 
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