Adelaide Sevens

I know a lot of people did not expect it, but the Cup finalists in the Adelaide Sevens said it all; it was between, Samoa, Australia, United States and Wales. This means that the sevens game is changing face.

Not to be seen were the traditional finalists including New Zealand, Fiji and England. It was the beginning of the change that I had been expecting for a while now. Samoa as the only experienced side standing in Adelaide, when the cup quarters began, was expected to take the Adelaide Sevens and they did so with style. Congratulations to the Manu Samoa team and official, for a job well done. They have but two or three points to catch New Zealand and win the IRB Seven Circuits, 2010, if they can continue their form into the rest of the tournaments

Hong Kong would be important to all the competing teams because 30 points is at stake there, when the last whistle is blown on Sunday 28^th March.

I must say that Wales was impressive when they beat Fiji, but they could not replicate their form to win all their pool matches, when they could not account for the Kenyans. Luckily for them they played PNG (the novice side) in their last pool game and scored enough tries to win pool C from Fiji.

The Kenyans are good, but they are running around too much and often forget that the objective of the game is to score tries (i.e. quins). Run by all means but at the opposing goal post to touchdown for a quin. I think Scotland is doing the same thing, which is keeping them down.

PNG is being broken in at the moment but it will be hard for them because they are used to rugby league, where ball hunting is not as crucial as in Rugby Union. In fact this is their problem; they would score when they get their hands on a ball, but they rarely handle the ball, if at all. Unfortunately too, for them, they are entering the circuit when competition is so much stronger than it ever was in the beginning.

I think the Adelaide Sevens, showed up something that needs to be brushed up quickly, namely inaccurate refereeing. To name two, Fiji got a five-pointer from a Welsh 22 touchdown. Zar Lawrence of New Zealand was yellow-carded for being up-ended by an opposing player, as I saw it at least. New rule that one.

What is new is the acceptance of Sevens as an Olympic sport, so most countries will now try to strengthen their Seven’s prowess, because any team can win a medal in Sevens, if they become consistent in the next few years; the United States and Japan apart from all the rest of the Rugby giants, have the resources to up their performances and vie for an Olympic medal next time around.

Fiji as expected, is losing the Serevi touch, and is clearly showing that they have not learnt any new things since Serevi was unceremoniously sacked as Fiji Seven’s coach. Nevertheless I still hope they will do better in Hong Kong this week, though I am not betting on it, because I do not want to feel upset if they did not do well again. In fact, the Fiji coach and management are onto the blame game, according to reports in our two daily newspapers; “The boys are at fault” the Manager said, “They did not follow the game plans so they lost”. That is unfortunate I think because divide and rule could undo cordial relationships in Hong Kong for team Fiji. Manasa Bari, a former Fiji world cup sevens player, did not think our team had any game plan at all, and I have to agree. I think the Fiji Rugby Union should be viewing curriculum vitaes of possible future coaches from former players especially, to pick up someone who can take over from Tanivula soon.

United States played very well indeed and I believe they will become a powerhouse of sevens in the years ahead, when more resources are made available to them. Australia must be congratulated for their effort to reach the semi final, after so many years in the wilderness. The Argentine rebuild is already bearing fruit having reached the quarters in Adelaide.

Hong Kong Sevens will be interesting. Samoa could pull it again, but apart from the old hands, there are new teams on the horizon now, who could give them a good go. The five pool competition has been allotted with Samoa heading Pool A against Argentina, Russia and Italy. New Zealand heads Pool B, against Scotland, France and Chinese Taipei. Fiji is in Pool C against the USA, Portugal and Thailand. Australia heads Pool D against Canada, Tonga and China. England heads Poll E against Wales, Japan and Hong Kong and Kenya heads Pool F against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Korea.

Best wishes to one and all. By the way, Support Fiji Rugby, buy a FRU lottery ticket; for $20.00 only. Contact me if you are interested.