2016 World Sevens Series
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<p>I don't know if Boyd had anything to do with it but I do think it's pretty shit Ardie went back on his word this close to the Olympics, wasting a lot of time and energy put into him that could've gone to someone else. I guess it's a good thing he did end up withdrawing before it was too late though, no point including someone who isn't committed to the cause.</p>
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TBH who would want to go to Rio anyway? It's a bloody shambles. Cycle tracks collapsing, stadiums not completed, protests at the government as they really should never have even bid for the Olympics due to the extreme cost, all compounded by the Zika virus which they now say can be contracted by men and passed on to their partners. Personally I'd rather take my chances with the ABs. He's pulled out with plenty of time for Tietjens to adjust any plans he had with his squad - Ardie wasn't even a sure thing at this stage.
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<p>The NZ Men's olympic trial squad / squad for Paris and London Sevens has been named:<br>
</p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
<p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>Olympic Games trial squad confirmed</strong></span></span><br>
<br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:12px;">ALLBLACKS.COM 02 MAY 2016 </span></span><br>
<br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:14px;">The All Blacks Sevens squad for the last two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Paris (13-15 May) and London (21-22 May) begins training in Mt Maunganui today.</span></span><br>
<br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:14px;">The 16-man squad also doubles as an Olympic Games trial squad.<br><br><strong>The squad is:</strong><br><br>
Pita Ahki (North Harbour)<br>
Kurt Baker (Taranaki)<br>
Dylan Collier (Waikato)<br>
Scott Curry (Bay of Plenty)<br>
DJ Forbes (Counties Manukau)<br>
Akira Ioane (Auckland)<br>
Rieko Ioane (Auckland)<br>
Gillies Kaka (Hawke’s Bay)<br>
Liam Messam (Waikato)<br>
Tim Mikkelson (Waikato)<br>
Sione Molia (Counties Manukau)<br>
Lewis Ormond (Taranaki)<br>
Augustine Pulu (Counties Manukau)<br>
Teddy Stanaway (Bay of Plenty)<br>
Regan Ware (Waikato)<br>
Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau)<br><br>
Not considered because of injury; Sam Dickson, Ben Lam, Joe Webber</span></span><br>
<br><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:14px;">All sixteen players will travel to Europe on Saturday as part of preparations for the Olympic Games in August. The squad includes injured captain<strong> Scott Curry</strong> who will train with the squad, but not play in the tournaments.<br><br>
In mid-June all 16 players will take part in trials for the New Zealand Olympic sevens team which will be named by the New Zealand Olympic Committee in early July.<br><br>
All Blacks Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens said <strong>Dickson and Webber</strong> were still in the frame for selection depending on their progress with injuries. The door also remained opened for others in the event of injuries to squad members.<br><br>
“We’re taking 16 to Europe so we can share the workload and give all players the opportunity to make the final team so to that end we’ll be using a different 12 for Paris and London.<br><br>
“It’s a very experienced group coupled with an exciting core of young players who are tasting sevens for the first time this season so it’s great we can take a larger group then normal to these two tournaments as we build towards Rio.â€<br><br>
New Zealand has been drawn in Pool A in Paris alongside Singapore Sevens winners Kenya, Portugal and Russia. The team is currently third in the season standings behind South Africa and series leader, Fiji.<br><br>
Note: The All Blacks Sevens are in camp at the same time as the New Zealand Women’s Sevens squad which is preparing for the last tournament of the Women’s Sevens Series in Clermont-Ferrand (28-29 May).</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:14px;">One name that's not mentioned: Beaudein Waaka. Can't remember him being injured; out of favour? I thought he was much better than Dylan Collier.</span></span></p> -
And still no sherwin stowers either<br><br><br>
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -
<p>Final NZ squad for Paris tournament this weekend named.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/News/29158/baker-to-captain-all-blacks-sevens-for-paris-sevens'>http://www.allblacks.com/News/29158/baker-to-captain-all-blacks-sevens-for-paris-sevens</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
<p><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);">The team is:</span></p>
<br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2166?team=Sevens'>Pita Ahki</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (North Harbour)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/1970?team=Sevens'>Kurt Baker</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (captain) (Taranaki)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2470?team=Sevens'>Dylan Collier</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Waikato)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2324?team=Sevens'>Akira Ioane</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Auckland)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2401?team=Sevens'>Rieko Ioane</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Auckland)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2260?team=Sevens'>Gillies Kaka</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Hawke’s Bay)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2562?team=Sevens'>Sione Molia</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Counties Manukau)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2475?team=Sevens'>Lewis Ormond</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Taranaki)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2424?team=Sevens'>Augustine Pulu</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Counties Manukau)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/1911?team=Sevens'>Teddy Stanaway</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Bay of Plenty)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2243?team=Sevens'>Regan Ware</a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);"> (Waikato)</span><br><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/Player/Sevens/2039?team=Sevens'>Sonny Bill Williams </a><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);">(Counties Manukau)</span><br><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(237,237,237);">Liam Messam was also not considered because of injury.</span></blockquote> -
<p><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);">Pool games (NZT)</span></span></span></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);">Saturday 14 May</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);">5.22am: NZ v Russia<br>
8.52pm: NZ v Portugal</span></span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);">Sunday 15 May:</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);">00.03am: NZ v Kenya</span></span></span></p> -
<p>Kurt Baker being handed the captaincy is interesting, although aside from Kaka, the cupboard probably bare when looking for a captain form that lot?</p>
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<p>Good game by team Vs portugal, very physical and good on attack. Scrums were poor though!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Is anyone else watching the sevens?</p> -
<p>Must admit that I totally forgot about the sevens!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Results thus far:</p>
<p>NZ 35 - 10 Russia</p>
<p>NZ 31 - 0 Portugal</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is a hilarious tweet with video from the game: <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href=''>
</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next game v Kenya, at 00:03am (NZT).</p> -
<p>good composure by NZ to sneak the win in the end</p>
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<p>NZ started playing better when Kaka and Ware came on. Don't know why Titch started the game without any playmakers in the team.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Great play from Kaka there at the end. First a try saving tackle, then a quick tap penalty, scoring the try under the post and converting the try.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Final score: NZ 19 - 17 Kenya.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>NZ finish first of their pool.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Edit: that try from Rieko Ioane was awesome!</p> -
They stole that one.
