Dubai Sevens - England are the Winners two years in a row...! Well Done England

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England beat France in a fine Cup final 29-12 to defend the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens title they won last year and delight the ex-pat crowd at The Sevens stadium.
In doing so they climb to second in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings, seven points behind Gold Coast champions Fiji. Three nations, New Zealand, France and South Africa, lie three points adrift of England ahead of round 3 in Port Elizabeth next weekend.

Tries by Isoa Damu and Dan Norton gave England an early 12-0 lead in a physical encounter. France hit back through their own pace man Renaud Delmas to cut the lead to five points, but two tries by Player of the Tournament Mat Turner put England 24-7 ahead at half time.
Delmas clawed one back for France soon after the break, but England worked hard in defense to hold their lead and in the dying seconds Rob Vickerman crossed to cap a fine win.
For France it was a first Cup final appearance on the World Series since 2005.
After suffering defeat at the hands of England in the semi finals, Fiji defeated Argentina in sudden death extra time in the Bronze final, Livai Ikanikoda scoring his second of the match to secure victory.
In the other trophies, Australia's Leiws Holland scored with the last play of the Plate final to beat South Africa 17-14. Andrew Turnbull was the difference in the Bowl final, his hat trick inspiring Scotland to a 26-0 victory against USA, and Samoa defeated Kenya to lift the Shield.

Last-minute try secures Plate for Australia

Lewis Holland scored a try in the final play of the Plate final to help Australia beat South Africa 17-14 and lift the Plate.
Michael O'Connor's side had earlier beaten defending Series champions New Zealand 26-12 in the semi-final, inflicting a third successive defeat for the first time in Sevens history on Gordon Tietjens' team.
Greg Jeloudev, Jesse Parahi, Con Foley and Lewis Holland all scored first-half tries against the defending Series champions whilst South Africa beat Wales 22-7 to reach the final.
Turnbull hat trick fires Scotland to Bowl

Scotland triumphed in the Bowl final 26-0 against USA to remain unbeaten on day two and clinch eight Series points.

New World Series try centurion Andrew Turnbull added three more to his tally to make it 10 for the tournament and captain Colin Gregor rounded off the convincing win.
Earlier, USA progressed to the final with a 33-17 victory against neighbours Canada, while Scotland raced to a 19-0 lead at half time in theirs before Portugal hit back with three second-half tries, but decisively they were only able to convert once.
Earlier Mike Palefau's hat-trick helped the USA to a 41-7 victory against Zimbabwe, their second victory against the cheetahs in five meetings, and Scotland had beaten hosts UAE 40-5.

Samoa's first Shield ends in triumph
Having entered the Shield competition for the first time Samoa ended the Dubai Sevens on a high with a 31-17 victory against Kenya thanks to two tries from Paul Perez and collected three Series points in the process.
In the semi-finals Tom Iosefo scored twice in Samoa's 21-12 semi-final victory against Zimbabwe whilst Kenya beat hosts UAE 35-5.

Cmon Australia!!! (dont like seeing NZ winning all the time )

Yes OZ are smashing em 19-0 still the first half! Although you can never write NZ off

26-0! its gonna take some come back now

maestegmafia wrote:14:08 AUSTRALIA vs NEW ZEALAND SF Plate

14:30 WALES vs SOUTH AFRICA SF Plate

17:02 FIJI vs ENGLAND SF Cup

17:24 ARGENTINA vs FRANCE SF Cup

These are local times. Dubai is GMT +3 [ed] +4 (oops).

Current score Oz 26 NZ 0 in plate sf.

Now 26-0. Surely curtains?

Yea cant see them coming back now, they look shocked and by the sound of it or lack of the crowd does too.

Australia are playing well, but NZ are offering no threat with the ball.

Good defence from Australia would be great to see NZ nilled for once

Aus win 26-12

Some odd results this weekend

Wales 33 - 14 Australia

NZ 5 - 21 SA

SA 5 - 19 France

Wakes 5 - 7 Argentina

England 10 - 7 NZ

Australia 26 - 12 NZ

Half-time: Wales 0 - 12 South Africa

17 - 0

Wales get a try, 22-7. Wales have looked threatening with the ball in hand, but South Africa's defence has been good, they've retained possession well and been clinical.

Bad day for Wales. Hope they learn from this and go forward.

Show plenty of pace and strength on the ball, but beaten by experience and not defending the short side.

Well played SA, great performance by one of the best teams out there.

Haven't watched any of the Sevens before this morning, anyone know where Cecil Afrika is? Watching the series last year and he was such an exciting player, made me sit up every time he got the ball. Just googled it and he's not in the squad.

Nigel Stammar-Smith making a commentary comeback on sky sports...!

Oh god no please no...!

Lets hope they keep him with the womens sevens and nothing more.

wales606 wrote:Argentina in the 1/4s it would appear - Should be able to get to the semis then

Quite enjoying the ladies 7s too... Very exciting stuff. Canada impressive, now its Aussies vs England.

Very Competitive.

The lady ref looks like a matron from some benny hill skit...

robbo277 wrote:Haven't watched any of the Sevens before this morning, anyone know where Cecil Afrika is? Watching the series last year and he was such an exciting player, made me sit up every time he got the ball. Just googled it and he's not in the squad.

He tweaked his hammy in the Gold Coast tournament last week I think, Robbo... he was there on the sidelines at the end of that tourny.

England rugby fan wrote:

wales606 wrote:Argentina in the 1/4s it would appear - Should be able to get to the semis then

Hello Nottins... I see your contributions are at the same level of juvenility as before you changed your posting name...

I wonder if this is the point where some posters lose interest in the Sevens again and say it's not worth bothering about.

Just saying

Seems there was a bit of over-confidence from some quarters.

England rugby fan wrote:You were proven wrong and then blamed it on Sky for you being wrong. Classic case of blaming someone else when you're proven to be wrong.

I weren't proven wrong though. I repeated what Sky said, it is not so hard to understand. The only one wrong here is you.

SafeAsMilk wrote:I wonder if this is the point where some posters lose interest in the Sevens again and say it's not worth bothering about.

Just saying

Seems there was a bit of over-confidence from some quarters.

Good win for England this morning and a few upsets all over the place (Fra v SA and Aus v NZ). This is what makes sevens good, even the developing nations can be competitive. Shame you can't just enjoy the spectacle and would rather disrupt the forum like your pal England rugby embarrassment.

Morgannwg, chill out man. I was just kidding after Wales606 basically said they were through to the semis as they only had to play Argentina.

Argentina are a good 7s side.

Thanks for your kind words re. England

Argentina are a good side, they have been pretty competitve in sevens for a while. I expected to win though and expected that more-so after the first 30 seconds.
I was hoping there would be another upset against SA but our dismal record against them continued. Oh well on to the next.

Dan Norton what a player! England through to final beating the favourites Fiji & winners last week.

England v France final

Good to see France in the final they're traditionally a crap sevens nation

Decent effort from Scotland, winning the Bowl. Just need to make the breakthrough and start making the Cup.

NZ Sevens side seems out of sorts at the moment,seldom lose at pool stage.Good wins by England,and SA against them,important to remember one title means little.
It is total points over the whole series that decides it,Samoa seem to have lost something too.

Don't forget Australia beat them for once... a lighter shade of green than SA.

Great win for England convincing winners against France
29-12.

Great win for England! They seem to like Dubai.

Good to see France in the final too.

What a tournament, Well done England. Very Strong team, some great rugby played.

And well done the frogs for making it to the final.

Cant wait for next week, very happy to see so much of the rugby on TV

Well done england. Just saw the matches. Very good stuff. Back to the drawing board for the kiwis methinks.

English Women fell short to Canada in their sevens final.

That Canadian side looked very,very useful what from what I saw in an earlier round against the USA. Didn't see the final but the result was 26-7.

The RFU Love sacks spin is at http://www.rfu.com/News/2011/December/News%20Articles/041211_womenssevens.aspx

Hi folks, and I'll give you a perspective on the teams from someone who was there and could feel the atmosphere and the passion of the fans. I have concentrated on those teams whose fans read the forum.

But before I start, having read through the thread it was disappointing to see it decend earlier into an England v Wales petty bickering match (over fairly meaningless stats that the world couldn't care less about). And no need for anyone to come back on that comment by blaming people. Just cut it out please; it is boring to have to wade through that crepe. Thanks.

On to what I saw in Dubai, and as the thread was started by a Welsh fan I will start with them.

WALES
A disappointing tournament after topping their Pool. After a couple of wins over Scotland and Canada by 7 and 3 points respectively, Wales then cut Australia to pieces 33-14 in their final Pool game. Tries came from a number of players during the Pool games.

They then largely controlled the q/f against Argentina before conceding a try in the last minute. A real mugging by the Pumas who are nothing if not obdurate. However, Wales do not seem to have that one player who can make it happen when they need it to. They really should have been 2-3 tries to the good in this match long before Argentina struck. Tom Prydie struggled a bit to have an impact on games, and if coach, Paul Johns, puts some work in with the player then Wales could get that x-factor player they need.

That last gasp defeat really floored Welsh morale as they then went down lamely 7-22 against an out of sorts South Africa in the Plate semis.

SCOTLAND
Another hugely disappointing Pool display for their Tartan Army of fans, who cheer them on loudly (and also any team playing England ). Only a narrow win against Canada in their final Pool game gave them some cheer on Day 1.

Day 2 was to bring happier times for the Scots, but not without a few worries. Having romped into a 19-0 lead in the Bowl semi against Portugal, they then allowed their opponents to nab 17 unanswered points to set up sqeaky bum time. Scotland hung on and went on to complete a bowl win 26-12 over USA.

Also had the consolation of providing the tournament's top try and points scorer in Andrew Turnbull (10 tries and 50 points).

NEW ZEALAND
Once again (as in round 1) NZ seemed to suffer from a lack of preparation games before the start of the series. In a fairly straightforward Pool they duly hammered USA and Portugal 40-0 and 31-7 respectively. But that was it for NZ.

Beaten 21-5 by SA, NZ then went out to a well organised England 10-7 in the Cup quarters before Australia tore into them in the Plate semi to set up a 26-0 lead - NZ were never going to win from there. Following a raft of substitutions NZ did salvage a smidgeon of pride with two late scores from Joe Webber.

However, there is much for coach Gordon Tietjens to ponder. A porous defence and inability to break down the better teams being two areas. NZ still sit joint third in the overall table though and with the likes of Tamasi Cama and skipper D J Forbes in their ranks they will be back.

SOUTH AFRICA
With their final Pool win over NZ meaning they topped the Pool, all did not seem right with SA. They seemed unusually sluggish and scraped past Portugal in their opening game before taking out their frustrations on USA.

They missed the injured Cecil Afrika dreadfully, as would any team; Afrika is not the current IRB Series player of the season for nothing. Not even the returning Robert Ebersohn could plug the gap left by Afrika's absence.

On to the Cup quarters and a seemingly simple task of seeing off France. Not a bit of it. SA were once again sluggish and bereft of ideas in attack. This was pounced on by France, who were superbly guided around the field by their excellent playmaker Albaladejo. Three unanswered tries were scored without reply - one a stunner from the superb Renaud Delmas. SA awoke from their slumber to grab a very late consolation score, but the will know that they were well beaten.

In the Plate semi SA easily beat a very demoralised Welsh side (see above) before succumbing to Australia in the Plate final 14-17. Their fans were disappointed that 14-5 h/t lead was lost and Paul Treu will want his star man fit and firing this weekend on home soil. SA need him.

AUSTRALIA
A new squad for this series under coach Michael O'Connor, and led by a tough skipper in Ed Jenkins, the Aussies are expecting a good series. Especially so as they have unearthed a try scoring gem in Lewis Holland.

Their first game saw Australia sweep Canada aside 40-7 with a hat trick for the aforementioned Holland. Next up were Scotland who were beaten far more easily than the 24-7 scoreline suggests.

A surprise 33-14 defeat by Wales completed their Pool games and set Australia up for a Cup quarter against Fiji. Well, Australia were blasted off the park by a rampant Fijian team who were 17-0 to the good at h/t. They repeated that score in the second half before Holland grabbed a late consolation.

So it was into the Plate competition for Aus where they joyously defeated NZ 26-12 in their semi before going on to lift the second tier trophy against SA; matches already covered above. Holland bagged another three tries in these games to finish with an impressive seven.

Also watch out for Greg Jeloudev and Jesse Palahi as the series progresses. Coach O'Connor will need to do some work on a team that can be defensively naiave to get them to the next level.

FRANCE
The surprise of the tournament, with the vociferous and wonderfully boisterous* Thierry Janaczek now in charge, France are a different beast.

* You don't see all this watching on TV.

France strolled past Kenya and Zimbabwe 27-5 and 26-0 respectively before being trounced 29-12 by England in their final Pool match. A scoreline that would have a familiar ring to it later in the tournament. However, France have unearthed several gems in a changed squad and are no longer easy prey for the big beasts of 7s.

In Renauld Delmas and Jean Baptiste Gobelet they have found two big, quick and destructive wings. Add in playmaker Paul Albaladejo pulling the strings for a talented group of players and France will be around the top 4-6 teams in the rankings. The 7s needs another couple of teams to regularly mix it up at the top table, and France should be one of them this season.

As previously mentioned, France then stunned SA, and the crowd, in the quarters. The non SA fans were purring at some the stuff France played in that game.

Up next was those pesky Pumas in the semi. Duly despatched by more scintillating rugby from France, with two tries by Delmas helping France into an unassailable 24-0 lead. Argentina grabbed a score back at the death by Chazal but they were well beaten.

Then it was onto the final against England - you would have got good money on these two reaching the final after last weekend.

Perhaps it was a game too far for France who succumbed 29-12 as they done in the Pool fixture between the two teams. However they made England fight hard in an excellent game and England were nervy in the first half until Mat Turner bagged two tries to put daylight between the teams. France came back and Delmas scored his second to see France throw everything at England. But they could not break England's stern defence. A late Rob Vickerman try put a gloss on the scoreline, but hats off to France for lighting up the tournament.

ENGLAND
Largely unfancied in Dubai after an awful effort on the Gold Coast that featured a loss to Portugal, England found themselves in arguably the easiest Pool. They cruised through with a straightforward win, 43-0 against Zimbabwe. Two early tries from the impressive Dan Norton setting them on their way. An edgy 19-12 win over Kenya followed, with Kenya playing well above their recent 7s form. A 29-12 win over France completed England's work on Day 1.

Day 2 saw England facing much fancied NZ in the quarters and most likely the even more fancied Fijians in the semis. This was going to be tough for Ben Ryan's men and we feared the worst.

By the time England took the field against NZ we knew we would be facing Fiji in the semis if we could get past the men in black; Fiji having tonked Australia in the first quarter final. A score midway through first half by Tomasi Cama put NZ 7-0 with the conversion.

England hit back before half time with a superb break by Mat Turner to send the teams in at h/t with NZ ahead 7-5. It was edgy stuff in the second half until Dan Norton scorched away down the wing for a cracking try. 10-7 to England and they underwent some nervous moments before emerging victorious.

Fiji next, and what a crackerjack of a game it was. Fiji were on the board inside a minute through Vucago and looked likely to score more. But England held Fiji and then produced two quickfire tries of their own through powerhouse Isoa Damu to send England in 12-5 up at h/t.

Another try from man of the tournament, Mat Turner, saw daylight between the teams at 19-5. But back came Fiji with a superb try of their own from Kolinisau, which was converted. Both teams threw everything into the match before Vucago split the English defence with seconds to go to race away to the posts. We were heading for extra time, but out of nowhere Dan Norton raced back to tackle Vucago 5m short of the line. Realising that Vucago was isloated he got up and competed for the ball forcing a penalty for holding on. Game over and relief for many thousands of racing hearts.

As I say, it was a cracker.

The final has already been covered in the France report above, but a mention to England's try scorers who were, Isoa Damu, Mat Turner (2), Dan Norton and Rob Vickerman.

From zeroes to heroes in a week. Well done England.

Hound of Harrow what was Marcus Watson like?

beshocked - Watson syarted every game and put in a good defensive shift as did all the team. I was really only worried by Fiji in that department, once games were underway and I could assess how each team were approaching a particular match.

However, given that Watson (kicker) and Turner (playmaker) are effectively replacing Ben Gollings, who performed both roles, his kicking % of under 35% was not so hot. No tries for him either. The kicking is a worry if games are tight.

Thanks hound of harrow. Great summary of the sevens too.

Don't worry he'll score some tries. Too good not to.

Any news from todays tournament lads?

Wales just smashed portugal 34-7.

England v Samoa about to kick off

Well thank god, that's one win. I haven't seen the pools yet. It's set to record but may not have time to see all of it this weekend. England should beat Samoa.

19-14 to Samoa with 2 minutes left...

lost 24-14. Stupid mistakes cost England including a couple of pitiful knock ons. They can still go through however.

If people haven't got Sky this is a usefuk link to follow the 7s

http://www.irbsevens.com/destination/edition=2/index.html

Good to see Wales top of the group with good wins. 12 Tries so far.

Just have to play Fiji next...!

NZ 45 Scot 0

Ouch

England beat Fiji in the 1/4 Final. Play the Winner of NZ/Aus

Samoa beat Wales in 1/4s and will meet SA (who beat France.

Fascinating to see how quickly form is shifting in the Series. Samoa were dreadfull in teh first two comps, yet suddenly turn it on.