Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments
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I was there from the Womens Semi-finals onwards yesterday. First time being held in Tauranga and also switched to before Christmas. There were a fair few people there (not on TV as they were all sheltering from the sun) but it felt like most of them were "rugby people" rather than the general public. Of people I know I would expect to attend, everyone was already busy with other pre-Christmas activities.
There were some good food stands, entertainment for the kids etc but being Tauranga Domain it is all on the field next door and quite some way from the main grandstand.
Ta$man won the mens comp and looked the best team, beating Counties in the final - Manawatu won the womens comp again beating Waikato. I didn't see any individuals stand out for the men - lots of big guys with some pace but nobody that made you pay attention - maybe with the injuries to the AB 7s, all the next level have already been taken into the squad. One guy who surprised me was Jesse Parete in the bowl/plate/saucer final for Taranaki - didn't realise he had enough pace for Sevens and looks like he has a huge engine. The boy just needs to start playing with his brain as well.In the womens, it was the usual suspects who stood out - the 7s and 15s internationals were a step up in class. Selica Winiata is such a good player.
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I arrived at a similar time. Yes, seemed mostly like family and friends of the players there. Bit of an odd setup. Lots of expense for the sunny grandstands, but few people there. The corporate tents blocked out the view of one end if you sat too low.
Not many standouts, but the Ta$man team was great. Pittman, Lash, Stephens - the usual suspects. Warwick Lahmert was a threat for Taranaki and Parete powerful. Enjoyed watching Valynce Te Whare bump off players and accelerate away. Ropati and Tagicakibau were good for counties. Winiata, Goss and Mayes were standouts in the ladies event.
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@higgins said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
Have been flicking over to the 7s coverage to keep up with scores etc between overs in the cricket and can't help but notice that there have been no men officiating womens matches. The increasing number of female referees must be a valuable new resource to rugby given they are, presumably, winning those appointments on merit against all referees available.
You think they are winning the appointments on merit and not gender? I dont.
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@arhs Good calls. You'd have to be crazy to sit on the sunny side for hours at a time.
Feel like they have to do more to keep the actual fans happy or they won't turn up. Corporates and teams get all the shade and food stalls - the plebs have to sit on hard wooden benches to get shade or walk a long way to get food (and then have nowhere shady to eat it).
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Yes, I agree. They do seem to cater well for the teams and the corporates. But, sitting on those stands, looking into the sun, is hard yakka. Took me quite a while to work out where the food and drink stalls were, and how far away that was.
I enjoyed the Northern Sevens tournaments at Blake Park, lying down on the grass bank there. That is what makes the cricket ground so good now.
Really not sure about the Tauranga Domain as a rugby ground. Nice exterior setting. But, it seems a hell of an effort moving stuff in and out to host an event there.
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I was pleasantly surprised that the young Waikato women's team did so well, including beating Auckland in the SF and then running the Poo close.
While it was great to see Goss and Winiata playing for Manawatu why weren't the other BF sevens players playing too? If they were all available they should have been playing to support the event.
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Hamilton men's squad -
After a horror run of injuries at the end of last year, Coach Clark Laidlaw has an almost fully fit squad to select from.
Kurt Baker - Manawatu
Dylan Collier - Waikato
Scott Curry (c) - Bay of Plenty
Sam Dickson - Canterbury
Scott Gregory - Northland
Andrew Knewstubb - Horowhenua Kapiti
Vilimoni Koroi - Otago
Tim Mikkelson (c) - Waikato
Sione Molia - Counties Manukau
Jona Nareki - Otago
Amanaki Nicole - Canterbury
Joe Ravouvou - Auckland
Tone Ng Shiu - Ta$man
Regan Ware - Taranaki -
The All Blacks Sevens Development and Black Ferns Sevens Development teams have been named. They'll travel to Okinawa, Japan for matches against the Japanese national sevens teams.
All Blacks Sevens Development team
Losi Filipo - Wellington
Dan Fransen - Canterbury
Taylor Haugh - Otago
Jacob Kneepkens - Taranaki
Peni Lasaqa - Bay of Plenty
James Little - North Harbour
Josh Moorby - Waikato
Curtis Reid - North Harbour
Adam Simpson - Wellington
Te Puoho Stephens - Ta$man
Te Rangatira Waitokia - Manawatu
William Warbrick - Bay of PlentyBlack Ferns Sevens Development team
Kendall Buckingham - Canterbury
Amy du Plessis - Otago
Dhys Faleafaga - Wellington
Tynealle Fitzgerald - Bay of Plenty
Tysha Ikenasio - Auckland
Isla Norman-Bell - Auckland
Rina Paraone - Waikato
Mererangi Paul - Bay of Plenty
Cheyelle Robins-Reti - Waikato
Kennedy Simon - Auckland
Grace Steinmetz - Canterbury
Kiki Tahere - Bay of Plenty
Kalyn Takitimu-Cook - ManawatuPlayers were selected to trial from their performances at Red Bull Ignite7 and or the National Sevens at the end of last year.The Black Ferns Sevens Development team is coached by Jimmy Sinclair and Victoria Grant. After playing in Japan they will also take part in an invitational tournament in Auckland in March. The team features Crystal Mayes and Cheyelle Robins-Reti who have previously played for the Black Ferns Sevens. The All Blacks Sevens Development team is coached by Peter Nock and Johnny Weston. Taylor Haugh, who made his All Blacks Sevens debut in Cape Town in December, is named in the 12, and newly contracted player Niko Jones will also travel with the team. Wellington’s Losi Filipo earns a remarkable elevation into the development side, after outstanding performances at the National Sevens and subsequent national trial.http://www.allblacks.com/News/33710/japan-beckons-for-sevens-development-teams
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The Black Ferns 7s will play at a new women’s sevens invitational tournament in Pukekohe this weekend. Good initiative, because the time between the Sydney leg and the Kitakyushu Sevens is ridiculously long. They should add more tournaments to the women's series, but in the mean time, it's good that NZR is organising this.
The Black Ferns Sevens will headline a new women’s sevens invitational tournament being played as part of a bonanza of sevens rugby being played at Pukekohe’s Navigation Homes Stadium this weekend. The new tournament follows the Black Ferns debut on home soil in Hamilton in January and provides some much-needed game time before the world’s best women’s sevens teams resume the 2018-2019 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series. With three legs of the six-tournament Series already completed, the last time the Black Ferns Sevens played was in Sydney in February, with the next tournament in Japan next month. To help offset the rustiness of a nine-week gap between World Series tournaments, the Black Ferns Sevens will play against China, Thailand, a Japanese club team and the Black Ferns Sevens Development team.“It’s another six weeks until they play in Japan so this game time is crucial in their plans as they continue to develop their squad. “On top of that we are giving our development teams more international experience which helps prepare them for that next step up.”Two men’s teams and seven tertiary teams will also be in action in short competitions running alongside the women’s tournament. The All Blacks Sevens Development will be in action, with five matches against Tonga who are preparing for a World Series qualification tournament in Hong Kong.Seven university teams will take the field to round out the festival weekend of sevens, taking part in a tertiary tournament that will run alongside the international action.Entry to Navigation Homes stadium will be free with fans encouraged to bring a picnic along and enjoy the weekend of sevens. Matches kick off at 9.20am on Saturday.http://www.allblacks.com/News/33826/black-ferns-sevens-to-feature-in-sevens-bonanza
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This past week, the Hong Kong Tens tournament took place.
The tournament was won by Biarritz Gavekal for the third consecutive time. It's a French team, but without any French players. There were 8 Kiwis in the team, mostly unknow to me, but one of them was Blake Barrett*. Apparently, Penikolo Latu also played for them, although his name wasn't on the team list.
(*Barrett's name featured also on another team's list, so I don't know for which team he actually played)
Silver was one by Samurai International, again with plenty of Kiwis, including Jeff Thwaites, Tom Florence, Luke Campbell, Matt Garland, Dan Hollinshead and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.
Japan based team YCAC won Plate. YCAC had an almost entirely Kiwi squad, including Hayden and Daniel Schrijvers, James Lash, Warwick Lahmert, Jacob Kneepkens, Mason Emerson, Te Puoho Stephens, Mark Atkins and Kylem O'Donnell.
There were a few Kiwis in other teams as well, such as Anthony Tuitavake and Frank Halai.
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RED BULL IGNITE7 ATHLETES ANNOUNCED
New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) search for sevens superstars has once again unearthed an impressive crop of diverse and talented athletes for the second edition of Red Bull Ignite7. Teams Inferno, Bolt, Surge and Power will be back in action next month, with NZR today unveiling the 96 athletes (48 males and 48 females) who will compete at Red Bull Ignite7 2019 from November 20 to 23 at Trusts Arena in Waitakere. Representative netballers, nationally ranked Surf Life Savers, and New Zealand Secondary Schools water polo and rugby players are among those named to compete for six guaranteed places at the 2020 New Zealand Sevens Development Camps. Among the athletes classified by the selectors as ‘new to rugby’ in 2019 are NZ Youth Water Polo player Ronan Gogarty-Watson, World Rowing Championship silver medalist Ben Taylor, and national sprint sensation Edward Osei-Nketia. Osei-Nketia will attend Red Bull Ignite7 in a non-playing capacity after returning from the World Athletics Championships in Doha, as he continues to keep his rugby options open alongside his athletics career. The women’s squads include 2019 Northern Mystics netballer Grace Kukutai, 2019 Bay of Plenty and Coromandel Surf Life Saving Under 19 female Sportsperson of the Year Alicia Wilson, and Under 21 New Zealand women’s hockey representative Kiriana Wairau-Hunter.More than 500 applicants from around New Zealand registered their interest in this year’s event, which NZR High Performance Sevens Talent Development Manager, Chad Tuoro, said was a testament to the success of the inaugural event in 2018 and the growing popularity of sevens. “From a high-performance point of view we were thrilled with the success of last year’s event and it has been exciting to see a number of players from 2018 make significant progress in their sevens careers.” That success included newly-contracted All Blacks Sevens player, Jacob Kneepkens, who was one of the six players at Red Bull Ignite7 2018 to claim a place at the 2019 New Zealand Sevens Development Camps.Viewers will also recognise some familiar faces as a number of last year’s participants re-join their teams in the hope of securing a spot in the 2020 New Zealand Sevens Development Camps, including Mitre 10 Cup Magpies player Tyrone Dodd-Edwards and Auckland Storm representative Isla Norman-Bell.
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https://www.allblacks.com/news/red-bull-ignite7-athletes-announced
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Unfortunately, they haven't added the players' provinces, and I don't recognise the majority of the names.
From Hawke's Bay, I recognise Latrell Smiler-Ah Kiong (Hasting BHS 1st XV), Tyrone Dodd-Edwards (Magpies) and Ethyn Martin (Napier BHS 1st XV).
There are more names that I've heard before, either from Mitre 10 Cup, Farah Palmer Cup or 1st XV rugby.
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The Oceania 7s are this weekend. It's not part of the World Sevens Series, so New Zealand is sending an All Blacks 7s squad that includes several debutants (and other relative rookies) and the Black Ferns Development team with only a few senior players, including Portia Woodman returning from injury.
This tournament has a separate draw for countries that are trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
Last year, the games were livestreamed on the Oceania Rugby's Facebook page. I don't know whether it will be streamed again, this year.
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All Blacks 7s squad (* denotes debut):
Kurt Baker ( Manawatu)
Dylan Collier (Waikato)
Scott Curry (Bay of Plenty)
Taylor Haugh (Otago)
Trael Joass ( Ta$man)
Niko Jones* (Auckland)
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black (Bay of Plenty)
Tim Mikkelson (Waikato)
Amanaki Nicole (Canterbury)
Akuila Rokolisoa (Counties Manukau)
Jamie Spowart* ( Ta$man)
Te Rangatira Waitokia* (Manawatu)
William Warbrick* (Bay of Plenty).
Black Ferns 7s squad (* denotes debut):
Shakira Baker (Waikato)
Amy Du Plessis* (Otago)
Tysha Ikenasio* (Auckland)
Rhiarna Ferris (Manawatu)
Theresa Fitzpatrick (Auckland)
Jazmin Hotham* (Waikato)
Huia Harding (Waikato)
Mahina Paul* (Bay of Plenty)
Cheyelle Robins-Reti (Waikato)
Alena Saili (Southland)
Montessa Tairakena (Waikato)
Tenika Willison (Waikato)
Portia Woodman (Counties Manukau).
Pool games
Thursday 7 November (NZ times)
2.12pm All Blacks Sevens v New Caledonia
3.18pm Black Ferns Sevens v Japan SDS
5.02pm All Blacks Sevens v NiueFriday 8 November
1.06pm Black Ferns Sevens v Australia
3.40pm All Blacks Sevens v Japan SDS
5.30pm Black Ferns Sevens v Canada
8.26pm All Blacks Sevens v FijiSaturday 9 November
Finals Dayhttps://www.allblacks.com/news/new-talent-selected-for-oceania-sevens/
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Would it be within order to make a decree to refuse to call the NZ Mens team taking part the name attached to it in Stargazer's post above? I abhor the name All Blacks being attached to anything other than the genuine article and will make my protest by simply calling them the NZ 7s team on this forum.
