Olympics Thread

Stargazer

The pools for the Olympic Sevens in Rio have been announced:
 
Women's - 6-8 August (seeding in brackets)
Pool A: Australia (one), USA (six), Fiji (seven), Colombia (12)
Pool B: New Zealand (two), France (five), Spain (eight), Kenya (11)
Pool Canada (three), Great Britain (four), Brazil (nine), Japan (10) Men's - 9-11 August (seeding in brackets)
Pool A: Fiji (one), USA (six), Argentina (seven), Brazil (12)
Pool B: South Africa (two), Australia (five), France (eight), Spain (11)
Pool New Zealand (three), Great Britain (four), Kenya (nine), Japan (10)
 
In both competitions, the top two teams from each pool, plus the two best third-placed sides, progress to the quarter-finals.
 
The New Zealand Men's and Women's Olympic Sevens squads will be named this Sunday in Auckland.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.allblacks.com/News/29383/pools-confirmed-for-rio-2016'>http://www.allblacks.com/News/29383/pools-confirmed-for-rio-2016</a>

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Stargazer" data-cid="592691" data-time="1467148369">
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In both competitions, the top two teams from each pool, plus the two best third-placed sides, progress to the quarter-finals.
 
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Do you know how the quarterfinal match-ups are decided?
 
It might be quite beneficial to win the pool where the the two best third place sides don't come from and get e.g. France in the QF.

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="592715" data-time="1467153639">
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Do you know how the quarterfinal match-ups are decided?
 
It might be quite beneficial to win the pool where the the two best third place sides don't come from and get e.g. France in the QF.
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From <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.worldrugby.org/olympics/competitions'>http://www.worldrugby.org/olympics/competitions</a>:
 
COMPETITION
 
Each team plays the three other nations in their pool over the first three match sessions with three points for a win, two for a draw and one for a loss.
 
The best eight teams will then proceed to the first round of knock-out matches, the quarter finals.
 
Those will be the three teams who top their pool, along with the three teams placed second in each pool and also the two best third-placed teams, based on competition points and then points difference.
 
The draw for the Quarter-finals in both the Menâ€™s and Womenâ€™s competition will then be determined as follows:
 
QF 1
Winner Pool A v 2nd best 3rd place
QF 2
Winner Pool B v best 3rd place
QF 3
Winner Pool C v Runner Up Pool A
QF 4
Runner Up Pool B v Runner Up Pool C
 
The draw for the semi-finals will be determined as follows:
 
SF 1
Winner QF1 v Winner QF4
SF 2
Winner QF2 v Winner QF3

Gary

If we top our pool good chance we are playing the states in the 1/4 final - given how we last went against them - not looking good to even medal

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Gary" data-cid="592845" data-time="1467194570">
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If we top our pool good chance we are playing the states in the 1/4 final - given how we last went against them - not looking good to even medal
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The team line-ups probably won't be the same though. I hope a lot of the NZ players, who were injured during this year's world series, will be fit and healthy again.

Chris B.

If our opponents went according to seeding (and we top our pool) our path would be USA/South Africa/Fiji.
 
Tricky!

SabalomG

what constitutes success and failure for this? Will we be happy with a medal or does it have to be gold?

Canerbry

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Sabalom Glitz" data-cid="592848" data-time="1467195664">what constitutes success and failure for this? Will we be happy with a medal or does it have to be gold?</blockquote> It has to be gold doesn't it?

TeWaio

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Canerbry" data-cid="592850" data-time="1467196579">
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It has to be gold doesn't it?
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yes

nzzp

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="TeWaio" data-cid="592852" data-time="1467197415">
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yes
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not any more.
 
Sevens has so much money and effort pumped into it, we'll do well to compete long term. Once you are an Olympic sport, the coffers open for training, technical support, athlete selection, etc. And you can be a powerhouse in 7s without the 15s -- I'd say our edge in 15s is the quality of our tight forwards. In 7s it is just so homogenous we'll do well to medal.

Mofitzy

I agree that anything less than a gold is a failure and I'm sure the team and the NZRU feels the same. It is more competitive than ever and by its nature a fickle and unpredictable game, but we have a team good enough to win therefore shouldn't consider anything other than winning a success.

booboo

Given form this year a medal of any colour would be success.

Bovidae

Both the NZ mens and womens teams had a lot of injuries during the season so were never able to have their best players available. We're a better chance with those players in Rio but no certainty of gold.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="booboo" data-cid="592876" data-time="1467230991">
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Given form this year a medal of any colour would be success.
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Regardless of form, we will never go to the RWC in my lifetime and regard winning the 3rd-4th play-off game as a success.
 
Not for Sevens either. Getting a silver or bronze medal will be a nice souvenir for the players, but a failure in my book.
 
nzzp - are you serious about our tight forwards? Over the past 20 years I'd say other teams have at times matched or bettered us there, but it's the quality of our backs that have been the biggest point of difference.

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="592915" data-time="1467240929">
nzzp - are you serious about our tight forwards? Over the past 20 years I'd say other teams have at times matched or bettered us there, but it's the quality of our backs that have been the biggest point of difference.</blockquote>
 
It's interesting that DJ Forbes has been a mainstay in the side for so long. Yes he was captain, but also at various times considered the best tight forward in world 7s. Is that because no one else has been able to displace him because he's that good or we don't have quality underneath so he's always picked? 
We've produced some very good quality 7s forwards over the years.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="592945" data-time="1467245775">
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It's interesting that DJ Forbes has been a mainstay in the side for so long. Yes he was captain, but also at various times considered the best tight forward in world 7s. Is that because no one else has been able to displace him because he's that good or we don't have quality underneath so he's always picked? 
We've produced some very good quality 7s forwards over the years.
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nzzp's comment was about XVs.

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="592946" data-time="1467246013">nzzp's comment was about XVs.</blockquote>
 
And here I was thinking it was a 7s thread [emoji3]

Tim

[url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/29/rio-de-janeiro-mutilated-body-beach-olympics-volleyball?CMP=twt_gu]Mutilated body washes up on Rio beach that is Olympics beach volleyball venue[/url]

nzzp

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="592915" data-time="1467240929">
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nzzp - are you serious about our tight forwards? Over the past 20 years I'd say other teams have at times matched or bettered us there, but it's the quality of our backs that have been the biggest point of difference.
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Absolutely.
 
For clarity, when I say quality of tight forwards, I'm talking about their ability to match most teams in physicality and set piece, but have ball skills on another level.
 
To be specific, Brodie is insanely talented at ball handling, and even the props can participate in offensive backline moves without killing them. Joe Moody v France at the last world cup (as an example), drawing defenders and throwing an outrageous back of the hand pass for a try.
 
When you go back to the 2005 Lions tour, the point of difference was the ball handling of the tight forwards.

ACT Crusader

Hayman, Jack, Comical Ali, early Kev - all high skill players 
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Olympics Thread