2016-2017 World Sevens Series
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@Stargazer said in 2016-2017 World Sevens Series:
Geez, only 9 of the 13 NZ squad members still able to play. So many injuries again! Wonder who they're going to call up for the Singapore Sevens next weekend.
Still playing:
Forbes, Dickson, Joass, Knewstubb, Koroi, Ravouvou, Ware, Molia, Waaka, Te TamakiInjured/ill: Curry, Mikkelson, Collier, Iopu-Aso
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All Blacks 7s squad for the Singapore Sevens (men's tournament only):
DJ Forbes – Captain (Counties Manukau)
Sam Dickson (Canterbury)
Iopu Iopu-Aso (Taranaki)
Trael Joass ( Ta$man)
Andrew Knewstubb ( Ta$man)
Vilimoni Koroi (Otago)
Sione Molia (Counties Manukau)
Tone Ng Shiu ( Ta$man)
Joe Ravouvou (Auckland)
Beaudein Waaka (Taranaki)
Regan Ware (Bay of Plenty)
Joe Webber (Bay of Plenty)Thirteenth player:
Lewis Ormond (Taranaki)Traveling Reserve:
Teddy Stanaway (Bay of Plenty)Not available:
Players not considered for selection due to injury are Dylan Collier (knee), Tim Mikkelson (shoulder) and Isaac Te Tamaki (knee). Regular Captain Scott Curry is also unavailable for this tournament due to a planned personal commitment.Pool games:
Saturday 15 April 2017
5.14pm: v Scotland
8.12pm: v WalesSunday 16 April 2017
12.50am: v USATelevised on Sky Sport Pop-up 1 (Channel 55)
http://www.allblacks.com/News/30623/four-changes-to-all-blacks-sevens-team-named-for-singapore
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Woops @Stargazer beat me to it. @Bones won't be crying at Collier missing from the squad.
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@KiwiMurph Mikkelson and Curry being unavailable is definitely a bigger loss to the squad than Collier!
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@Stargazer said in 2016-2017 World Sevens Series:
@KiwiMurph Mikkelson and Curry being unavailable is definitely a bigger loss to the squad than Collier!
As if! Turn it up! Collier is first name on the team sheet, dreadful loss, the coaches will be in pieces.
As an aside, am I right in thinking that the last 2 or 3 tournaments our only loss has been against the eventual winner?
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@Bones said in 2016-2017 World Sevens Series:
As an aside, am I right in thinking that the last 2 or 3 tournaments our only loss has been against the eventual winner?
Last 3 results.
We lost to SA 21-19 in HK, then SA went on to the final and got humped by Fiji (22-0 or something).
Vancouver we lost to England, who went on to win and beat SA I think. Tick.
Vegas we got beaten by both US and Fiji. SA won the tournament.So you're close. If we lose we are losing to finalists at least (USA play off game aside).
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@Bovidae Yeah, but we don't always win our pool because the competition has improved to the extent that there are now more than 4 teams that can beat us.
We are always going to have a team in our pool that are tough and we will meet someone good in a quarter - just the nature of sevens being in the Olympics. A more even mix of teams is good for sevens and probably rugby worldwide (but I don't like us losing our dominance either)!
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@Bovidae said in 2016-2017 World Sevens Series:
The main problem is that NZ doesn't always win their pool anymore so could be facing Fiji, SA, England etc as early as the QFs.
Our pool isn't that strong for Singapore but if NZ loses to the USA and finishes 2nd again they're playing Fiji in the QF.
And when we do win our pool have a tendency to meet SA or Fiji. Pretty sure that's happened 2 or 3 times this year.
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@Snowy There is no doubt that the lesser teams have improved so sevens is now much more competitive. But relative to Fiji and SA, I don't think NZ has improved in the last 5 years so that comes down to the quality of the players and coaching.
In the past you would watch a game against either of those teams and think the result is 50/50. Nowadays, we'd be lucky to win 1 in 5 games against those 2 teams. My expectations are much lower than they used to be, and that's not a good thing!
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@Bovidae said in 2016-2017 World Sevens Series:
relative to Fiji and SA, I don't think NZ has improved in the last 5 years so that comes down to the quality of the players and coaching.
For sure, we have slipped against them (although we are getting closer again in terms of scorelines if not actual results).
Our other issue WRT to pools and quarter finals is that even when we do top our pool, those 2 sides haven't always been top of theirs due to the remainder getting stronger. We then end up playing them early on in play offs as @booboo says above.
My expectations are certainly lower as well. However I don't think we are too far away and NZ do need to dedicate resources into sevens now with other teams on the rise to get us back on top. Especially since they made the idiotic decision to add "All Blacks" to the title of the team.
