Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments
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@Bovidae said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
The Aussie girls are usually very strong at this level.
Watching both NZ U18s and Australia School Girls (A) play NZ Cavs, I'd probably have NZ U18s as marginally ahead in terms of being favourites, due to NZ having multiple players who can create (Maia Davis, Braxton Sorensen-McGee) as well as finish (Arlia MacCarthy, Asha Taumoepeau-Williams). AU seem slightly more dependent on Amelia Whitaker and Waiaria Ellis to create something.
But it should be a close contest should they both reach the final.
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Braxton Sorensen-McGee looks to be a special player, and Maia Davis is now part of the BF7s Development squad.
So it's QFs, SFs and the finals today? Last year NZ and Aust girls met in the SF. It would be good if they are on opposite sides of the draw.
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@Bovidae said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
Both the NZ Boys and Girls U18s lose their SFs, to Aust and Japan, respectively. I will await the report...
Ha, I haven't been able to watch the games yet, just seen the results. Can't say I'm completely surprised but amazing result especially for the Japanese.
As for the Gold Medal games:
Japan convincingly beat Australia 26-15, and Australia dominated New Edition to end up 31-7 winners.I'll try watching some games now, and see if anything stands out.
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@Mauss I did see the results once I realised they were on Tribe. The tournament organisers didn't seem to care to update results.
No one can say Japan didn't deserve to win the Girls after beating NZ in the SF and Aust in the final.
I see two New Edition players made the Boys tournament team, but only one from NZ (Lasaqa?).
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The NZ U18 Boys games
Discipline was an issue early in the NZ U18 Boys’ game against Aotearoa Māori. This led to another long period without possession. For a side that struggles to get the ball back, they don’t put enough value on retaining possession, I would say. Their first attack, for example, resulted in Tocker being tackled into touch rather meekly (to be fair to him, he redeemed himself a minute later by making a try-saving tackle on the try-line). Their second attack was much of the same, Lasaqa making an incisive break and offloading to Raviyawa, only nobody was there to clean-out after the latter was put to ground leading to a Māori turnover. The third attack, same story: Raviyawa makes a half-break and offloads to Tocker, who can’t hold on. Aotearoa Māori go on the counter-attack and after a fancy behind-the-back flick-pass from Aaron Riley, they score on the other end of the field.When they did score it was mostly an individual effort from Kele Lasaqa, beating his man on the outside and racing away to the try-line. In the second half, more of the same: handling errors and ill-discipline, leading to more stop-start play. In the end, the difference was one bit of great play, a one-two between Pyrenees Boyle-Tiatia and Kele Lasaqa, allowing the former to break away for the score and the winning try. 12-5, a very unconvincing win for the NZ U18.
And then, they faced Australia in the semi’s. The NZ U18’s start was much better in this game, retaining possession across multiple phases in the face of a very strong Australian defence. But where NZ found it very difficult to make any sort of break, Australia, in their first possession, kick long through Wallace Charlie, who is fast enough to dot down his own kick in the end-goal. The NZ U18s were able to strike back through, again, an individual effort by Kele Lasaqa, who stepped Grover and burst through the Aussie defence. Shortly after that followed the best piece of play that the NZ U18s produced in this tournament, plenty of offloads and fluid ball-movement allowing Raviyawa to score.
The NZ U18s probably played their best rugby in this game, still in a (deserved) winning position around the 10-minute mark. A failed intercept by Lasaqa, however, saw him yellow-carded, the Australians immediately benefitting from their numerical advantage through Grover. A minute later, they are in again, with tired NZ defenders falling, a bit too easily off tackles. Stuck in their own half with time running out, NZ U18s attempt to get a winning score but get turned over, leading to another try to future sevens star Wallace Charlie.
All in all, a decent showing from the NZ U18s in this game, but a deserved victory to Australia U18s nonetheless.
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@Bovidae said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
I see two New Edition players made the Boys tournament team, but only one from NZ (Lasaqa?).
Yeah, that's Kele Lasaqa on the right. The rest are, I think, Zebby Uini-Faiva from NZ Cavaliers, Jack Riley and Mason Verster from New Edition, and Wallace Charlie from Australia, all the way to the left. Next to him is, I think, Tom Hartman. I'm not sure who the Australian player next to him is. Did they give any names?
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NZ U18 Girls versus Japan U18 Girls
The Japanese team had an incredible start to the game. After 4 minutes it was 21-0. First score, exploit a NZ dogleg in their defensive set-up through a practiced strike-move off the restart. Second score, a quick snipe off the ruck after Blyde and Davis didn’t properly set-up their pillar defence. Third score, quick tap off the penalty and a nifty show-and-go by the Japanese 5 flummoxes the NZ defender, leaving the 5 free to score.
It's clear that the Japanese did their homework after the ease with which they sliced through the NZ defence, probably noting the loosely organized pillar defence and the way the NZ defensive numbering works when shooting up. Impressive stuff.
Sorensen-McGee was instrumental in the fightback, first by swerving around the Japanese defence and setting up Blyde for the try. Then, a minute later, scoring herself, cutting back against the grain and breaking the Japanese line through the middle. She also converted both tries, 21-14 at half-time.
After a good defensive set early in the second, NZ turn the ball over and get the ball to the edge, where Charlotte Va’afusuaga beats her defender to race away and score under the sticks. 21-19 after 9 minutes, after Sorensen-McGee fails to convert from in front of the posts. NZ U18 had several chances to win the game, two different put-ins to the scrum near the Japan 22 but in both instances, NZ were unable to properly set up their attack, giving away early penalties. Instead of an NZ score, the Japanese scored on the other end, the 14, Uchida, slicing through a tired NZ defence to seal the game and earn a great victory.
It was a great game, both sides showing their unique qualities in equal measure: the Japanese displaying tremendous organization and smart attacking play, the NZ U18 Girls showing incredible character to come back, with great offloading skills and fantastic athleticism to finish their scores.
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The cup finals
This Japanese U18 Girls team is a very impressive side: they are suffocating on defence and on attack they play really well together, running great lines with plenty of support around them. The Australian School Girls tried hard but were constantly frustrated by the Japan team’s disruption of the ruck.Personal team of the tournament:
Leilani Naiyaga (JP) – Hazuki Ouchida (JP) – Suzuha Saito (JP) – Amelia Whitaker (AU) – Tahlia O’Brien (AU) – Braxton Sorensen-McGee (NZ) – Maia Davis (NZ)The boys’ final was a rather one-sided affair, as the Australia U18s were patient on defence and clinical on attack. New Edition made a few too many mistakes and failed to strike when they had some of their rare opportunities. When Pahulu made a break up the field, for example, he was caught by the Aussie scramble defence, with only McQuoid in support on attack. The Australians, a rare Grover blunder notwithstanding, finished their opportunities, Wallace Charlie, the tournament MVP, a level above everyone else as he ran, passed and kicked magisterially.
This Australian side share something with their XVs counterpart, which also came to NZ earlier in the year to defeat both the NZ Barbarians and NZ Schools. Both sides are calm, patient and do the basics very well. Whereas the different NZ sides very rarely kicked, the Aussie sevens, if they saw an opportunity, did turn to the kick, often to very good effect. It is a sign of a team that is both well-coached as it is confident in its own abilities, all players seemingly always on the same page.
Personal team of the tournament:
Wallace Charlie (AU) – Angus Grover (AU) – Declan Minto (AU) – Jay McQuoid (NE) – Kele Lasaqa (NZ) – David Bryenton (NZ Cavs) – Miguel Tiatia (Auckland Bucks) -
They have now listed the tournament teams.
Girls Tournament Team
🇯🇵 Umi Kikawa - Japan SDS
🇯🇵 Leilani Naiyaga - Japan SDS
🇳🇿Braxton Sorensen McGee - NZ U18
🇦🇺Rhani Hagan - Australia U18
🇦🇺Amelia Whitaker - Australia U18
🇳🇿 Litia Bulicakau - Central Storm
🇯🇵 Hazuki Ochida - Japan SDS MVPBoys Tournament Team
🇳🇿 Kele Lasaka - NZ U18
🇳🇿 Zebby Uini-Faiva - NZ Cavaliers
🇳🇿 Jack Riley - New Edition
🇳🇿 Mason Verster - New Edition
🇦🇺 Charlie Bird - Australia U18
🇦🇺 Tom Howard- Australia U18
🇦🇺 Wallace Charlie - Australia U18 MVP🇳🇿 Reimana Saunderson-Rurawhe - NZ U18 - also listed but that makes 8 players.
