2016-2017 provincial & club sevens
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@Bovidae Good on him for not giving up and Roger Randle for taking him under his wing. I hope it works out well. I watched several Wai-Bush games this year and he was way too good for that level. Playing centre whole season, so Waikato could use him at 11, 13, 14 and 15 next Mitre 10 Cup season if he gets selected. Will be interesting to see how he does in sevens. Apart from a few tournaments in Oct-Nov, it must be quite a few years since he played sevens.
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Article: Biggest Condor Sevens Ever To Enthral Auckland This Weekend
Another is the tournament format; with the 24-team field of previous years teams that finished second in their three-team pool had an opportunity to still make the Cup field when matched up against a pool winner in the round of 16 at the end of the first day. With the expansion to 32 only the pool winners will progress through, so a loss in pool play could very well be fatal to a side’s hopes of glory.Boys The boys field is headed up by two schools that qualified for the national XV’s Top Four. Hastings Boys’ High School may have dipped out then to Mount Albert Grammar School, but have perhaps been the form team of the year and will be targeting this weekend to get the championship they will feel they deserve, while third-placed Hamilton Boys High will be looking to retain this title after being a class above in winning it last year. However they only managed to finish third in the Waikato qualifiers, and owe their place at the nationals to the expanded field.Aside from those above, other teams that bring a reputation to the tournament include Rotorua Boys’ High School and Wellington’s St Patrick’s duo Town and Silverstream while you can’t count out the hosts Sacred Heart. The South Island trio of Christchurch, Otago, and Timaru Boys will seek to become only the second school (after Aranui High) to take the title south over Cook Strait. The notable absentee is national 15’s champions MAGS, who despite qualifying have chosen to not to compete, citing the absence of a couple of leading players and tiredness among the squad after a long season. -
Are the pools for the Condor 7s random or seeded?
I read that MAGS opted not to participate as too many of their best players had left. Actually looking at the pools, none of the top Auckland schools are taking part, while plenty of SI schools have had to travel north. Not a good look.
Edit: Maybe they didn't qualify?
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@Bovidae said in 2016-2017 provincial & club sevens:
Are the pools for the Condor 7s random or seeded?
I read that MAGS opted not to participate as too many of their best players had left. Actually looking at the pools, none of the top Auckland schools are taking part, while plenty of SI schools have had to travel north. Not a good look.
Edit: Maybe they didn't qualify?
See my previous post, and:
One talking point going into the event is the seeding method adopted by the tournament organisers, which seems to have been based on where a particular school finished last year, or where the school from their region (if not the same) did. That has led to a seemingly bizarre scenario where small Nelson school Garin College are seeded ninth while Otago Boys’ High School are listed last; albeit Otago haven’t made the long trek north in the past couple of years. -
The notable absentee is national 15’s champions MAGS, who despite qualifying have chosen to not to compete, citing the absence of a couple of leading players and tiredness among the squad after a long season.
Tiredness? They are kids FFS and how many weeks has it been since they last played?
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A lot of the elite Auckland schools, like Kents, Kings and Grammar, have historically avoided the tournament due to clashing with exams. Principals are conscious that their 1st XV boys are often the ones most needing to keep their heads in the books at this time of year.
Condors has also clashed with touch nationals and athletics nationals. Next year it will be moved to a different weekend in December so kids don't have to choose which event they want to appear at.
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Saw some really good games, of both boys and girls teams. It's amazing how much talent there is in NZ at this level.
I have already spewed my frustration about the officiating in the Hastings v Tauranga game in the Magpies thread, but boy, the ref probably kicked Hastings out of the finals, not Tauranga. -
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@Stargazer Ham BHS only qualified as the 3rd and last-placed Waikato school so did really well to win back-to-back Condor titles.
I thought Ham GHS put in a good effort too after losing their 2 star players from last year. Both are now in the NZ sevens squad. Some of those SMC girls looked like very good prospects.
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The Central Zone Regional Sevens Tournament will be played on Saturday, 10 December, at Playford Park, Levin.
Pools and draw:
Edit: this is a revised version of the revised version of the revised draw, due to teams pulling out (incl. East Coast Men's and Women's team).
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Again, it looks like we only get to see the play-offs. Live on Sky Sport 2 from 3pm and delayed on the Rugby Channel from 5pm.
It's a pity they don't broadcast all games, as they're already there anyway. It's not like there's anything more interesting on, particularly, Sky Sport 2 (unless you'd like to watch two repeats of the US PGA tour H/L) and they usually take quite a few commentators to these tournaments.
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The Northern Region Sevens Tournament will be played on Sunday, 11 December, at Memorial Park in Cambridge.
Men's Pool 1
Counties Manukau
Auckland
WaikatoMen's Pool 2
North Harbour
Bay of Plenty
NorthlandWomen's Pool 1
Counties Manukau
North Harbour
Bay of PlentyWomen's Pool 2
Waikato
Auckland
NorthlandRound - Game - Time - Team 1 vs Team 2 - Field
Women's 1 - 1 - 10:00am - Counties Manukau vs Auckland - 1
Women's 1 - 2 - 10:00am - North Harbour vs Northland - 2
Women's 1 - 3 - 10:20am - Bay of Plenty vs Waikato - 1Men's 1 - 4 - 10:40am - Counties Manukau vs Bay of Plenty - 1
Men's 1 - 5 - 11:00am - Auckland vs Northland - 1
Men's 1 - 6 - 11:20am - Waikato vs North Harbour - 1Women's 2 - 7 -11:40am - Counties Manukau vs Waikato - 1
Women's 2 - 8 - 12:00pm - North Harbour vs Auckland - 1
Women's 2 - 9 - 12:20pm - Bay of Plenty vs Northland - 1Men's 2 - 10 - 12:40pm - Counties Manukau vs North Harbour - 1
Men's 2 - 11 - 1:00pm - Auckland vs Bay of Plenty - 1
Men's 2 - 12 - 1:20pm - Waikato vs Northland - 1Women's 3 - 13 - 1:40pm - Counties Manukau vs Northland - 1
Women's 3 - 14 - 2:00pm - North Harbour vs Waikato - 1
Women's 3 - 15 - 2:20pm - Bay of Plenty vs Auckland - 1Men's 3 - 16 - 2:40pm - Counties Manukau vs Northland - 1
Men's 3 - 17 - 3:00pm - Auckland vs North Harbour - 1
Men's 3 - 18 - 3:20pm - Waikato vs Bay of Plenty - 1Women's Semi Final - 19 - 3:40pm - Winner Pool 1 vs Runner Up Pool 2 - 1
Women's Semi Final - 20 - 4:00pm - Winner Pool 2 vs Runner Up Pool 1 - 1
Women's 5th & 6th - 21 - 4:00pm - 3rd Pool 1 vs 3rd Pool 2 - 2Men's Semi Final - 22 - 4:20pm - Winner Pool 1 vs Runner Up Pool 2 - 1
Men's 5th & 6th - 24 - 4:20pm - 3rd Pool 1 vs 3rd Pool 2 - 2
Men's Semi Final - 23 - 4:40pm - Winner Pool 2 vs Runner Up Pool 1 - 1Women's 3rd & 4th - 25 - 5:00pm - Loser Game 19 vs Loser Game 20 - 1
Men's 3rd & 4th - 26 - 5:20pm - Loser Game 21 vs Loser Game 22 - 1Women's Final - 27 - 5:40pm - Winner Game 23 vs Winner Game 24 - 1
Women's Presentation - 6:10pmMen's Final - 28 - 6:20pm - Winner Game 21 vs Winner Game 22 - 1
Men's Presentation - 6:50pmCan be watched LIVE on Sky Sport 2 from 3pm, and delayed on the Rugby Channel from 5pm.
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Hadn't realised that the Northern Region gets 6 spots in the National tournament and thus all 6 participating provinces have already qualified before a game is played. Ridiculous. At least one of those spots should be given to the Central Region.
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@Stargazer I guess, if you did that, at least one first division union from the North would miss out and at least two second division teams from Central would get in.
Maybe teams from central and south should be allowed to compete in the northern championship as a sort of qualifying repecharge?
