Olympics Thread

Chris B.

Further to this - I think the top four from each group make the Quarterfinals, so the women really need to beat Spain in their next game and that should at least qualify them. After that we have the Netherlands who are usually bloody good and China, who are doing quite well, but I think we beat recently.

barbarian

Still a long way to go in the 7s, I wouldn't be writing off NZ yet.
 
As for the debate on 15s players, I think the evidence of 2016 so far has been that 7s is very hard to adapt to, and you can't just bung blokes in with a few months training and expect them to thrive. It's highly specialised, and almost every attempted convert has been shown up - Habana, Cooper, Speight, de Jongh, Cummins, Hougaard, Messam etc. SBW is the only one who has committed a full year to the program, and he is far from NZ's best player.
 
Sevens is quite a fickle game, which is why IMO it's a fraught exercise to make the Olympics a referrendum on the success or failure of a whole program. NZ have won multiple World Series titles this year, and are clearly one of the best sides in the world. An Olympics failure would obviously be disappointing, but doesn't totally invalidate everything Titch has done.

mariner4life

And make that 20 golds for Phelps. Maybe 21 later today.

Chris B.

If our Sevens team happens to win a medal (not the brightest prospect right now) does SBW get one?

Rancid Schnitzel

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="604632" data-time="1470796864">
If our Sevens team happens to win a medal (not the brightest prospect right now) does SBW get one?</blockquote>
 
Is there any point? He'll just give it to some undersized, over-pampered kid who charges onto the field.

taniwharugby

is there anyone that polarizes people more than SBW in NZ?
 
The guys on RS this morning were saying they were getting some nasty scathing texts about SBW following his injury this morning.
 
Gotta feel for him, was looking like getting a real shot at owning the 12 jersey (and lets be honest, we needed him to do just that too) and goes and gets injured, gone for rest of the year at least.

rotated

I love the idea here by some that 7s takes a lifetime to master, yet SBW who has played about 200 minutes of test rugby in the past 3.5 years was magically going to solve our midfield after reconverting to the XV man game after this. Test rugby must be pretty easy relative to 7s.

taniwharugby

not sure anyone was saying he would magically solve anything, but based on what we have seen this year in our mid-field, it was highly likely he was gong to be better than that!

booboo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="604625" data-time="1470795829">
Habana, Cooper, Speight, de Jongh, Cummins, Hougaard, Messam etc.</blockquote>
 
Hayne ...

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="booboo" data-cid="604648" data-time="1470799685">
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Hayne ...
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BEST FUCKEN AFFLEET IN VA WORLD MAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYTE!!! TOO FUCKEN GOOD FOR YAWNION MAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYTE!!!!
 
Mind you - FUCKEN TRAITOR TO VA EELS MAYYYYYYYYYYTE!!!

mariner4life

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="604626" data-time="1470795876">
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And make that 20 golds for Phelps. Maybe 21 later today. 
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make that 21

hydro11

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="reprobate" data-cid="604559" data-time="1470786198">
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all of the 2nd paragraph supports my other contention that they're leftovers and shouldn't be called ABs. 
 
we are losing because we are not selecting our best players, and the game has progressed to the extent that to dominate we need to - whereas previously we could get away with it - the only way for us to do that is to either neglect the 15s (never going to happen) or allow players to come in late.
 
no idea of how difficult the scheduling would be, but it would be great for the olympic 7s if a window could be created to get as many international superstars as possible on the park.
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Are you saying that Ben Smith, off of 10 days rest is one of our best 7's players? He just isn't. He is one of our best 15's players but not one of our best 7's players. The best 12 New Zealand 7's players who are fit and who want to be there are at the Olympics. We have picked our best players. Ben Smith almost certainly could have become one of the 12 best New Zealand 7's players by following the programme but he did not want to. This isn't just me saying this. I'm just repeating what Tietjens and every other 7's programme is saying.

hydro11

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rotated" data-cid="604642" data-time="1470799114">
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I love the idea here by some that 7s takes a lifetime to master, yet SBW who has played about 200 minutes of test rugby in the past 3.5 years was magically going to solve our midfield after reconverting to the XV man game after this. Test rugby must be pretty easy relative to 7s.
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No one is saying it takes a lifetime to master. What we are saying is that if you wanted to go to the Olympics, you had to play in two or three tournaments in the World Series.
 
SBW has consistently performed in Super Rugby and is an established All Black. He wasn't going to magically do anything but he did look like the best option.

Smudge

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rotated" data-cid="604642" data-time="1470799114">
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I love the idea here by some that 7s takes a lifetime to master, yet SBW who has played about 200 minutes of test rugby in the past 3.5 years was magically going to solve our midfield after reconverting to the XV man game after this. Test rugby must be pretty easy relative to 7s.
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He played more than 200 minutes at the 2015 RWC for starters.

KiwiPie

Barbarian was the one talking sense here. It is only bloody Sevens, it is a random game, refereeing decisions can have a huge effect on a close game, and a game is very, very short - 7 minutes can go by in the blink of an eye if you can't get your hands on the ball. I'm not writing off NZ in the Olympics yet - from what I have seen in the past, the more important a game is, the less open it is and x-factor isn't so critical.
 
As for the Aussies Womens team being in camp for 18 months? Good luck to them but do we really want to do that? No more Olympics until 2020 so do we want to make this squad full time for the world series? It is only Sevens.
 
And as for Equestrian - I didn't care about people riding horses yesterday and I still don't care about it today. But does it go into the annals of all time great chokes?

taniwharugby

horse choked on its bit?

Immenso Rapido

The only thing better than a rugby laws discussion stinking out an Olympics thread, is an SBW mini-thread inside the Olympics thread. 
Fuck my life .........

barbarian

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="KiwiPie" data-cid="604679" data-time="1470804476">
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As for the Aussies Womens team being in camp for 18 months? Good luck to them but do we really want to do that? No more Olympics until 2020 so do we want to make this squad full time for the world series? It is only Sevens.
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It's more about centralisation than being 'in camp' as such.
 
They are full-time professionals here in Aus, so it makes sense they all live in the same city. They have a training base on the Northern Beaches of Sydney which is where they are based when they aren't on the road.
 
This is a definite strength of the program, but takes a big financial commitment. I'd wager the ARU are pretty happy with their decision to pony up the cash though.

hydro11

It seems if the Aussies can afford it, we should be able to as well. It's just priorities.

WillieTheWaiter

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="nzzp" data-cid="604532" data-time="1470780317">
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Quoting myself, to bring an article in from Ben Strang on money in sevens, including a key quote from Titch
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82962706/ben-strang-new-zealand-must-centralise-national-sevens-programmes'>http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82962706/ben-strang-new-zealand-must-centralise-national-sevens-programmes</a>
 
The top sides in world rugby sevens now train together all months of the year at a central training base, while New Zealand players only come together for specified training camps. Kiwi players train in their provinces in small training groups, before joining the whole squad in camp ahead of a major tournament. That plan of action isn't working, and money must be spent to bring the squads together and return New Zealand to the top of the sevens world.
 
 
The evidence is there for all to see that as money is pumped into sevens campaigns around the planet, the cushion New Zealand once enjoyed over their competitors has eroded.
 
"You have to eat, breathe and sleep it because with our players scattered all around the country, it makes it so, so difficult," Tietjens told NZ Newswire.
"Other countries specialise, and that's where they've caught up."
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gonna be controversial here and say I believe to a certain extent that the game has moved on and Titch hasn't kept up... and the above comments are tantamount to nothing more than an ar$e covering exercise.
 
NZ normally leads the way in how to play footy, but I reckon we're lagging behind now - we're stuck in a frame of mind that bigger bodies win games. Noticed in both the womans and the mens games that the teams are inclined to take the ball into contact a lot - was especially noticable in the nz aus chicks game. The thing is you don't need to be big to get over and nick the ball so it's frikkin dangerous.
 
Other teams have spread the net wider and have roped in 'athletic' types and taught them how to catch a ball.. maybe the point above stops titch doing that, or those people just don't exist in nz
 
summed up by womans coach (when winding up the aussies)
Kiwi coach Sean Horan claimed: "The Australians don't like pressure, they don't like the physical side,"
 
they couldn't give a sh*t about the physical side, cause they know they can gas us on the outside every time. same for the mens.
 
anyway our thinking is currently wrong - you just need to look at this years results for proof. we are too slooooooooow.
 
you can't train genetics, but you can train someone how to catch the ball.

The Silver Fern

Olympics Thread