HSBC World Sevens Series 2022-23

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Finally back in Hong Kong from today. This season sees England, Scotland and Wales competing as Great Britain. The first match didn't go well

France 34-0 Great Britain

Then again, another team also went down without scoring a point:

New Zealand 0-24 Samoa

GB have South Africa and Uruquay in the pool, which looks a tough ask on today's form.

The GB squad in Hong Kong is basically the core of the old Scottish side, coached by Tony Roques, with the Scottish coach, Ciaran Beattie, having oveall responsibility for the mens and women teams.

Robbie Fergusson (SCO) (player-coach)
Max McFarland (SCO)
Paddy Kelly (SCO)
Jamie Farndale (SCO)
Will Homer (ENG)
Morgan Williams (WAL)
Ross McCann (SCO)
Alec Coombes (SCO)
Jamie Barden (ENG)
Femi Sofolarin (SCO)
Tom Emery (ENG)
Freddie Roddick (ENG)
Kaleem Barreto (SCO)

Ireland have gone 22-0 up against GB with just over two minutes to go. That will be a morale boost, as the two teams will be competing for a single Olympic qualifying spot next month.

Didnt expect that as Ireland really arent very good at the moment. Very poor in attack in my view. Decent at everything else.

Good final. Before the match, both New Zealand and Argentina were confirmed as Olympic qualifiers, and New Zealand as this season's Series Champions.

Argentina, NZ, Australia and Fiji are the top tier in my view and the main contenders for the Olympics. Everyone else only has a long shot.

Collapse2005 wrote:Argentina, NZ, Australia and Fiji are the top tier in my view and the main contenders for the Olympics. Everyone else only has a long shot.

In general, you are certainly right. However, knock-out sevens competitions are a different beast. Wales won a Sevens World Cup, and Ireland finished third in the same competition last year! Fiji have won both Olympic golds, and were good value for both, Still, there were a few upsets along the way. GB and Argentina were unexpected semi-finalists in Tokyo.

The Olympic set-up adds some randomness, as there are twelve teams, rather than 16, and so only three pools. The top two go through from each pool, then two of the best third place finishers. That usually means points difference, so it often comes down to who managed to run up a big score against weaker opposition. As Argentina are automatic qualifiers, then someone like Uruguay or Chile will be at the Games.

The Paris Olympic sevens will be in July, while World Cup sevens are usually in September. the off-kilter Olympic timing seems to produce more injuries, which can pose a problem, as squads are small. That was a big factor in New Zealand's 2016 failure. Nowadays, of course, we have more cards too, which can be game changers.

The final leg of the season takes place in London this weekend.

Unless you are Stephen Jones, who wrote a report slamming the London Sevens. He had obviously written his hit piece in advance, but the Times accidentally put it up on their website before the event had taken place. It was taken down, so we'll see whether it reappears in the same form later.

GB has often been described as the most-improved team, managing a run of quarter-final qualifications, after some poor early rounds. Any hope of ending on a high note looks very slim now the pools have been set. GB have NZ, South Africa and USA, which is a tall order. Ireland also have a tough group, in with Argentina, Fiji and Japan.

London has an extra twist, as there will be a play-off pool, consisting of Uruguay, Kenya, Canada and Tonga. Next season, there will be only 12 core teams, and those four teams are competing to see who gets to stay at the top table. Japan has already lost core status, after finishing bottom of the table.

A fox just ran across the pitch during the France-Samoa match.

Well, GB have opened with a 19-15 over South Africa, which makes the pool interesting. A loss would have almost certainly led to an early exit from the main competition.

GB will probably need two good wins to progress to a quarter-final spot, and victory over NZ is a long-shot. USA are only just above us in the season standings, and are a very hot and cold team. If we get them on a bad day, then we'll have a chance.

Argentina are destroying Fiji in their pool game. It's quite something how they have become a leading team on the sevens circuit. They also have some of the most charismatic players. Ireland will have their hands full when they meet.

Still, Ireland ran up a big score against Japan, which could yet see them make the quarter finals as one of the two best third-placed finishers.

What do I know? Ireland beat Argentina 12-14. The top three teams in that pool all have seven points, so it's on the cards they will all progress to the quarter finals.

GB managed a win over USA, so have managed a quarter final spot in the their leg.

Olympic Qualifiers:

Men - NZ, Argentina, Fiji, France, Australia (Australia finally claimed the last place, ahead of Samoa, by beating GB in a 7th place play-off)

Women - NZ, Australia, USA, France, Ireland

Argentina won the Men's title in London, finishing with an impressive three titles across the season, and three silvers. NZ had 5 titles, two silvers and one bronze.

We now move to the Olympic play-offs. In London, when Ireland faced GB, Ireland won 19-12, without key players like Conroy, so that will be a boost. While you can't write-off Spain Portugual etc, the two leading favourites for the European qualifying spot will be Ireland and GB.

The favourites in the other regional qualifiers will be Samoa, USA, South Africa, Japan and, probably, Uruguay.

If Ireland or GB do miss out on the European qualifying spot, there's a final spot play-off next year, so the hope is that major challengers like Samoa, USA & South Africa do win the regional qualifiers, so they don't end up as rivals for that last spot.

As it is, the last place tournament will probably feature Canada, Kenya Tonga etc, so that will pose a major challenge in its own right.

Incidentally, the London semi-final between Fiji and New Zealand was a good showcase for what Sevens can offer.

Ahead of the European Olympic qualifier, the Algarve 7s this weekend features some of the teams which will be competing. It's been said placings here determine the draw for the qualifier.

Ireland men just played GB and came away with a 12-7 win. That means Ireland have beaten GB in their last two meetings, which should give them confidence. While other European sides could put a spanner in the works, Ireland or GB are the most likely to claim the spot.

It was a good defensive showing from Ireland. GB had a lot of possession but you could see them getting frustrated. At one stage, it looked like GB might be held scoreless.

After both came through the quarter-final stage, Ireland and GB will meet again in a semi-final match. France play Georgia in the other one.

This will be the last time the two teams play each other before the Olympic qualifier.

Georgia just beat France 14-7 in the first semi-final, which is a real turn-up.

Not sure if France rested some of their key players but they beat GB fairl handily before.

Makes Georgia a team to watch in the Olympic qualifier.

Ireland beat GB again, this time 14-7. GB had bit of poor luck. with an injured player out of the game during Ireland's second score. Still that's three consecutive wins for Ireland over GB, and all in a similar fashion.

Ireland beat Georgia 19-10 to take the Algarve 7s title. In the third place play-off, France beat GB 21-14. As the loss to Georgia showed, France fielded an inexperienced side in Portugal, so GB would have wanted a win.

GB have lost the cohesion the team started to find mid-season, while Ireland have rediscovered the dog they lost over the last rounds of the HSBC season. Terry Kennedy is back too, which will be handy for the Olympic qualifiers, even though he's short of game time.

Men's teams confirmed for sevens at the European Games in Poland, which doubles as the men's Olympic qualifier. Starts on the 21st of June:

Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania

On form, the top teams are probably Ireland, GB, Spain, Portugal, Georgia & Germany.

The women's teams have also been confirmed:

Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Turkey

Ireland Women have already qualified for the Olympics so, if they win gold, the silver medallist will take the qualifying spot. GB have a fair chance here.

Today is the first day of sevens at the European Games in Krakow. GB face Romania and Lithuania, with Portugal tomorrow. Portugal are capable of springing a surprise, though we should be confident of three wins.

Ireland have Poland and Italy, with Germany tomorrow.

Incidentally, it looks like Antoine Dupont will skip the club season in 2023/4, and try to get a place on the French sevens team for the Olympics. Rugby Sevens may have an incredibly low profile in Britain but it looks like one of the world's best XVs players will be in the shorter code.

While there's little chance chance of a leading British player to Sevens, you'd think with three Premiership clubs imploding, and a lot of talent without work, the GB sevens programme ought to have a bigger pool to choose from than we crrently do.

GB 45-0 Romania
GB 24-0 Lituania

Ireland 66-0 Poland
Ireland 38-7 Italy

GB looking a bit clunky. Portugal up next. They beat Romania 45-7 and Lithuania by 38-12, which is on a par with our scores against the same opposition, so we'll need to improve.

England 31-5 Portugal

Quarter-final opponent yet to be decided.

Ireland 19-7 Germany

https://results.european-games.org/EG2023/ENG/schedule/RU7/2023-06-26/all-event

A bit closer than Ireland would have liked but they are also through to the quarter-finals

The four knockout matches start at 18:15pm, and are free to view on

https://europeangames.tv/

GB have Germany in the quarter-final. Given the restricted Ireland in the pool matches, that's not a game to take lightly.

GB 14-10 Germany
Ireland 26-12 Belgium

Squeaky for GB, with two conversions making the difference.

Ireland now play Portugal in the semi-final, while GB play Spain.

Spain haven't lost a match so far, and pose a real threat. Ahead of the last Olympics, they beat out Samoa for the last qualifying spot, so GB will have to somehow raise their game to get to a final. Portugal have that one loss to GB. Ireland should be comfortable winners but sevens can always throw up a surprise.

Play in the women's semi-final, between GB and Belgium had to be suspended after the sheets shielding the terraces got wrapped around the top of a set of the posts. The fire brigade had to be called.

Photos here:

https://twitter.com/GBRugbySevens/status/1673629540898226176

Ireland 24-0 Portugal

Ireland comfortable against a spirited Portugal. They now face GB or Spain for a place at the Olympics.

GB 19-7 Spain

Spain scored first, and the match never looked comfortably won for GB until Spain were penalized with less than a minute to go. While GB have a couple of players with good 0-15m acceleration, there's no-one with flat-out pace like Dan Norton had, and Jordan Conroy has now.

Ireland and GB will now play for an Olympic spot at around 20:35 tonight. Should be free to view here:

https://europeangames.tv/

On the weekend's form, Ireland are favourites. They have also beaten GB in the last three or four outings, and Terry Kennedy is better than any player in the GB squad. Still, anything can happen in sevens.

Ireland 26-12 GB

Ireland Men are going to the Olympics (Ireland Women qualified through the Series)

GB Women beat Poland to get their Olympic spot. GB Men have one last shot next year. They will have to be a lot better.

Good result for Ireland but unless Kennedy plays they havent a hope at the Olympics. Id imagine GB will qualify to in the next event.

I heard that Antoine Dupont will play for the France 7s side at the Olympics next year so wont play in the 6 nations for France.

Collapse2005 wrote:Good result for Ireland but unless Kennedy plays they havent a hope at the Olympics. Id imagine GB will qualify to in the next event.

Unfortunately, that's not a given. Samoa, USA & South Africa all have to win their regional qualifiers. If one of them slips up, then GB will have to face them. If those three do win, that will still leave Tonga, Canada, and Kenya, who are all capable of beating GB on current form. It may be that other European sides like Spain qualify for the final reparcharge, and they are also capable of spinning a surprise.

Assuming Rugby Sevens stays as an Olympic sport - which isn't a given - qualification will only get tougher for European sides. This year, France qualify automatically as hosts. GB may be lucky, and we'll see three European sides competing in France but that's likely to be the last time.

As the Dupont news shows, France is taking sevens far more seriously than GB, which is a real role reversal. The rest of the rugby world in England, Scotland and Wales has so many problems on its plate, the dire state of Sevens has gone entirely unnoticed. Ireland have developed a decent programme, though it remains to see how well it can be sustained.

Rugby Fan wrote:As the Dupont news shows, France is taking sevens far more seriously than GB, which is a real role reversal.

For the Paris Olympics, will be interesting to see if they push on from there or not.

Lowlandbrit wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:As the Dupont news shows, France is taking sevens far more seriously than GB, which is a real role reversal.

For the Paris Olympics, will be interesting to see if they push on from there or not.

France finished fourth in the HSBC series this year, which is their best ever finish, so they have been putting the effort in for a number of years. Virimi Vakatawa used to play sevens and XVs for them in a way only Fijian-born players seem to be able to do with any real success and consistency.

Dupont will put a spotlight on sevens at the Games in a way few Northern hemisphere players can manage. Sonny Bill Williams got a lot of publicity when he tried out for the 2012 NZ Olympic side. Unfortunately, he got injured, and NZ lost to Japan during a poor tournament, so his participation went largely unnoticed.

Victoria has pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games (which affects rugby, as sevens has been one of the events since 1998).

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66229574

There weren't many cities keen to host it, so the future of the Games has been thrown into doubt. Hosts are usually chosen seven years out. Birmingham hosted the 2022 Games on only five years notice, after Durban was removed as host. We are now only three years away, so no-one without the infrastructure could plan and build it in time.

If the Games doesn't take place, there will be no reason for England, Scotland and Wales to send separate teams, so that may be the final nail in the coffin for any sevens outside the Team GB set-up.