2023 World Sevens Series
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Just watched the finals on delay. Well done NZ, building real depth in the squads.
Thought Blyde and Brazier were amazing all tournament. Nathan Wong was off her game earlier but back to top form later. Jorja Miller got better and better and Jaz Hotham looks top quality also.
Liking what the Americans are doing, bringing in some sensational athletes. The blonde 'GI Jane', Sammy Sullivan looks a real talent - with Blyde-like attitude and skills. David Still from the men's team looks a freak athlete too, who will only get better.
Interesting to see GB women so poor without their talisman, Abby Brown. One inspirational player can make a real difference - as Samoan men showed.
Pleased with what Solo brings for the men, and Cook-Savage got better after a nervous start. Not sure why Tangitau used so little - maybe because going to Super? But, I was disappointed again by both Clark and Leo. The lack of apparent effort in defence is glaring. You would have to think Clark was injured in the final without subs, the way he jogged around. Leo is a great finisher, but needs hunger in contact, and needs to make an effort on the chase, even if it is just to make the conversion much harder. Maybe it is a team thing - not to gas oneself if you don't think you can save the try. But, other teams chase to the death.
Rokolisoa was truly amazing, inspiring all those around him. But, without Ng Shiu in the final we lacked the physical line-breaker for him to run off. NZ is much better with that aggression in contact. Carter was missed too.
Well done Samoa. Apelu Maliko player of the tournament?
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@ARHS said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
Not sure why Tangitau used so little
I thought that it may be old school 7s tactics where you hold a strike player on the bench to get maximum effect when the core of the opposition team is tiring or the other subs are on. It can still work and you have to balance up whether it is best to provide them more chances to take or less, but more effective, chances.
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@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Bones said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
isn't it funny that handful of refs NZ have a habit of losing under...
Not as funny as AB fans who think 7s is a giant conspiracy against them.
Huh, what is this conspiracy?
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@Nepia said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Bones said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
isn't it funny that handful of refs NZ have a habit of losing under...
Not as funny as AB fans who think 7s is a giant conspiracy against them.
Huh, what is this conspiracy?
Ask @Bones
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@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Nepia said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Bones said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
isn't it funny that handful of refs NZ have a habit of losing under...
Not as funny as AB fans who think 7s is a giant conspiracy against them.
Huh, what is this conspiracy?
Ask @Bones
Sorry @Nepia I have no idea what he's on about.
Maybe he thinks there are dark forces at work, if you throw shade on Jordan Way it's like the bat signal for NTA.
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@Bones said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Nepia said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@NTA said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Bones said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
isn't it funny that handful of refs NZ have a habit of losing under...
Not as funny as AB fans who think 7s is a giant conspiracy against them.
Huh, what is this conspiracy?
Ask @Bones
Sorry @Nepia I have no idea what he's on about.
Maybe he thinks there are dark forces at work, if you throw shade on Jordan Way it's like the bat signal for NTA.
He has been part of a group discussion with the man after all
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Details of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 have been announced with a pair of three-day combined men’s and women’s events taking place at Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 20-22 and 28-30 April, 2023.
The winner of the 12-team women’s Challenger Series will gain the ultimate prize of automatic promotion to the Sevens World Series 2024 – the pinnacle of international rugby sevens.
The 12 women’s teams competing are Belgium, China, Colombia, Czechia, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and a team from South America yet to be confirmed.
The winner of the men’s Challenger Series, which also features 12 teams, will enter a four team play-off at the HSBC London Sevens in May 2023 together with the teams placed 12th-14th after ten rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with the winner of the play-off achieving Sevens World Series 2024 status.
The 12 men teams are Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The teams qualified via their ranking positions within their relevant regional competitions and the pool draw will take place once the full team line-ups are confirmed in early 2023.
The tournament replicates the Olympic Games competition format, with the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four. The top two from each as well as the two best third-placed finishers will qualify for the knockout stages with quarter-finals and semi-finals leading to the bronze and gold medal matches.
Bold bit: so that's how they are going to reduce the number of men's core nations from 16 to 12 (as announced a few weeks ago).
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@Stargazer thanks. This schedule is gosh awful. I have tickets and they will be long days and a bit of hopping between fields. Might have changed where I was sitting if I knew the huge mess the schedule creates.
What on earth are they thinking with the changes for this series? -
@ARHS said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Stargazer thanks. This schedule is gosh awful. I have tickets and they will be long days and a bit of hopping between fields. Might have changed where I was sitting if I knew the huge mess the schedule creates.
What on earth are they thinking with the changes for this series?I was seriously considering going and gutted I missed out, looking at that mess - not so much now
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@Stargazer said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@ARHS Not sure what you mean with "mess". Is Fred Jones Park far from the stadium?
What's different?
I hate the two fields thing when you pay for a seat and it is busy and people keep getting up and down and obstructing your view. This takes it to another level.
Did initially think they meant Beetham Park FJ which would have been quite ridiculous. But it is still quite a hike to get to the second ground when your amenities are the far side of the stand on the other side.
Some of the timings are horrid. The matches stagger across grounds with no consistency. Some start aligned and some halfway through. The clash at 1.20 on second day could be an issue if a popular team does not qualify for the mens Cup. And if you want to watch the men's or womens primarily then you are screwed too.
I really like the formats used previously in Hong Kong Wellington and Hamilton and have been to a large number of sevens events over 40 years. The last 2 televised tournaments in 2022 infuriated me with all their breaks and missed matches and staggered timings. Made it hard for me to watch a bunch of selected matches. This schedule seems bound to have lots of people moving around both between and during matches and plenty of folks getting to their seats late.
In my view they have killed the simplicity of it all by squeezing in lots more matches regardless of the consequences. Play separate events or play 3 full days and a part day. Or limit to 12 teams for both.
I am not surprised that NZ is no longer a host if it has become this mickey mouse.
Just FYI I enjoy wandering between courts at Stanley St tennis to see as many players as possible. But those matches last 6 times longer or more. It does not suit sevens. -
@ARHS I remember this being the case, before. Definitely in Sydney and a few other tournaments. I assume it's all due to the fact that they want to play both the men's and women's tournaments on the same two days. They somehow refuse to play these tournaments on three days in some legs of the Series. But that isn't actually new. That started in the years before Covid. Fortunately, not all tournament legs use the same format.
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@Stargazer said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@ARHS I remember this being the case, before. Definitely in Sydney and a few other tournaments. I assume it's all due to the fact that they want to play both the men's and women's tournaments on the same two days. They somehow refuse to play these tournaments on three days in some legs of the Series. But that isn't actually new. That started in the years before Covid. Fortunately, not all tournament legs use the same format.
Yep. Noted. But I don't recall it ever getting quite this messy. Maybe less teams or a third day when both played??
I am seeing it from the spectator experience this time. I expect two very long days with plenty of frustrations and me only venturing to FJ once on the weekend. I have a few favourite teams in both genders and suspect that planning which match I watch on knockouts day will become a huge pain. -
@mikedogz said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
Fred Jones is the field directly behind the main stand, the main field for Hamilton Old Boys. Beetham Park field that the All Blacks sometimes use is labelled Fred Jones on some maps.
Yeah, the Google maps labelling has always been wrong. Beetham has a really good playing surface as it was relayed for the football. They should be using that field as entry could be controlled. Fred Jones is a typical club field.
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@ARHS Up to and including the 2019 Hamilton Sevens, it was only a men's tournament. In 2019, they organised a Women's Fast Four, but that was all. Only the 2020 Hamilton Sevens was both a men's and women's tournament, but they made a change to the format to make a tournament on two days possible: only the first-placed team from each pool progressed to the Cup semis. All the other teams played one less qualification match. It was a weird and much-criticised format (althought the other changed format they tried in the 2019 South Africa tournament was equally unpopular, when they scratched the 5th and 7th place play-offs).