Gold Coast Sevens

This was the first series to be screened live online

I think Sth Africa got beaten by Australia in the semis unfortunately after beating Wales in the quarters.

The series has also introduced a new promotion/relegation structure as the sport anticipates its Olympic debut in Rio in 2016

 For the Kiwis though,Sir Gordon Tietjens looks to have unearthed another sevens star.

The All Blacks Sevens have won the opening event of the new world series on the Gold Coast, beating Australia 40-19 in the final.

Sir Gordon says new squad member Ambrose Curtis was quite outstanding.

"The conditioning factors, he hasn't been able to do much conditioning because he's been playing Wellington ITM Cup. But quite superb, two great tries in the final."

Wonder if he's gunna play for the Canes?

He says Joe Webber made a great return to the national side.

"He's just adapted so, so well. He's a great sevens player, a lovely step, acceleration, got all the qualities.

"So it was great to see him perform like he did for someone so young."

Tim Mikkelson, Scott Curry and Joe Webber have been named in the team of the tournament

 If you watched the Semi Aussie v Saffas I think both teams suffered fatigue from the extra extra time and not to mention the hot conditions yesterday - about 35degrees during the day...

Disappointing crowd per TV maybe time of year just getting too hot...

Good potential spectacle - maybe need change of venue......

Like the look of ex-leaguey Shannon walker - hes got some skills....

 When it counted, we beat that same Pommie team 22-14 the day before.

Sa flew in to Australia on Thursday night. Every other team had been there the week. We had less than 48 hours from touch down to first game. We then had a 30 minute semi final with Australia and less than 2 hours later were asked to play a Pom team in a game that no one wants to play..3rd/4th playoff.. Guys were out on their feet.

Now you will say, "But Aussie scored 2 tries against NZL in the final!"

This is what Aussies had going for them:

1. Playing at home

2. Motivation for the game (Cup final)

3. Home crowd advantage keeping spirits up

4. Not having to fly in from another country

5. Not wanting to fail at home

SA had nothing to play for. No motivation. Just a bunch of tired guys that needed to sleep. We had nothing to prove. When it counted, we should the Poms who was boss. Even the Pommie coach apologised to our coach for having to play the game. You can hear that when they shook hands after and our coach, Neil Powell, said "Ag no man. It wasn't your fault. These things happen!"

Another tournament where conditions fell into NZL's lap. Aussie were gutsy but in the end, they never stood a chance. They had played their final and run their race in the game against South Africa. It was always gona be a question of how much will NZL win by rather than, will NZL win! Aussies emptied the tank on their 2 tries and they had nothing left to give. The semi caught up to them.

 exactly the way I saw it Bok - to the point where I switched over to something else and even forgot to watch the final..... knowing the kiwis somehow managed to RIG yet another contest............................. lol

on another note even the mrs (who hates any form of footy) was into the fast pace of the semi...   

 On another note regarding the 7's...Our boy Justin Geduld is not a good rugby player. He can not tackle for shit, his step is brilliant but for some reason, effective far too little and he makes really silly decisions. He takes contact and loses the ball most the time.

This is the first I have ever seen of the guy and he is just a waste of time. Not to mention him missing that pretty easy conversion that should have seen us in the final.

Better we didnt make it there though because it would look like a truck hit a motorbike if he tried to stop a flying Waisake Naholo.

I am all for smaller and more nimble guys in 7's but this oke can not tackle. Every 1 on 1 I saw he was beaten and handed off like he was nothing. I have to question whether he is actually trying his best because he is beaten far too easily.

Welcome back Becks . We need you straightening out these wayward types (Boklogic and Redsman). We have tried to help them but to no avail.

 Becs, you send your pasty Englishmen to a semi and ask them to play nearly 30 minutes of 7's rugby and then around 1 hour later, tell them to come and play a demotivating 3rd, 4th place playoff. Its world reknown that their is often an upset in that game as its a game no team wants to play and its a game that should not be played. Teams wana be in the final, not 3rd or 4th.

Let me ask you something, do you really believe the same team that beat you 22-14 just a day before has miraculously turned that around to now be 47 points worse than you??

Come on Becs, see it for what it is. Commentators doubted SA's competitive ability before the game sighting the semi final. The English coach (Amor) apologised to our coach for having to play it. You dont apologise when you play the "perfect" game an put a team away. SA were not tackling. Commentators repeatedly mentioned SA being out on their feet and not their usual, physical selves. They were tackling with arms.

If you think that had everything to do with England's prowess and nothing to do with SA being fatigued, then you know way less about rugby than I thought and you should not air your stupidity on here.

You got the better of us?? ha ha. Yeah it does happen. England can beat SA..Maybe like 21-14 or something but a record score of 47-0 and you think you got the better of us for no reason?? You are delusional! Take a look at day 1..Thats reality!!

It was physically impossible for Australia and SA to be competitive in those games. Every rugby man knew as much but here we have Becs saying "when it counted!"

The legs were not there for these guys. Send England to play 30 mins and let them meet a stronger SA team and I guarantee you 47-0 will be achieved at half time but you take all the comfort from that you need!

 Becs, go onto the IRBSEVENS.com and listen to the audio interview with England coach.

He says when asked about the game something like, Yeah, that was not SA. They were clearly jetlagged and the semi final going in double extra time would have taking all their steam. They are a great side! I am proud of my boys.

So their was nothing much about "getting one over" the Boks but all about the unfortunate circumstances in which they met. You do realise that due to some complication, SA were the last team to arrive and it was less than 48 hours from touch down to kick off of first game! Every other team had at least the week there.

No worries though Becs, in your little world England are world beaters.

You probably thinking now, Damn, I should have probably researched some shit before mouthing off hey??

 Sasuke, would the Kiwi's have won under these conditions? Playing 30 mins of 7's rugby an hour before the game, some key players not able to suit up due to injury, landing less than 48 hours before their first game coming from SA and losing in the semi's so really playing the game you really didn't wana be in.

All that taken into equation, do you think any team would have got up for that? No team on the circuit would have won that final if they had the game Aus and SA had. No team and thats a fact!

It was a record score by the Poms. Never happened before yet Becs is gona sit there and tell us the Poms just had it over us for no other reason. Ha ha yeah, like they did on day 1. Its also an incentive to win your pool as your play off games are generally a little easier if there has been no major upsets. That was an incentive in the first game when the Boks put England away 22-14.

All I will get is Becs being smart and Kiwi's backing her up because its against me and SA but you guys all know in your heads what happened in that game and all it was ever gona take is England catching the ball and running in. SA were not even trying. I am a bit pissed off that they didnt try harder. I know they were fatigued but to sit and listen to commentators say, "They are not even trying. They are walking into tackles!" is a bit disheartening. I think they wrote this game off long before it kicked off.

Becs, what does your double first in sports psychology have to do with this rugby game and players being fatigued? You dont have to be a rocket scientist to see what happened. You dont even have to have eyes. You just needed to listen to the commentators, coaches and anyone else who is involved in the 7's!

@kiwinuke my old respected sparring partner - I do agree the Aussie 'wingers' are pretty average at them moment - we'll need to get the speight express in the mix... 

What is actually really extremely hilarious  is the severe contortions of the kiwi TALK TALK / COUGH COUGH / GAG GAG / CHOKEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! surrounding the biggest CHOKE in the history of world sport (Americas Cup at the hands of Aussie's Captain Spitmeister).....!!!!! ..... till the next RWC anyway.....lol..................

 Becs' you worked your opponents out in 24 hours (whilst most was spent sleeping) to turn a 22-14 loss into a 47-0 win??

You still being sarcastic right?? Did the sport fairy sprinkle dust over the English team and make it a clear to them overnight?

Dont worry about those 3 points Becs. England wont be there in the end!

I am sure SA would have preferred to win or preferred not to lose by 47 points but I think they would have also preffered not to have played so soon after a 30 minute game. Picture an F1 car (SA) vs a V8 supercar (ENG) but the F1 car has no gas in the tank. The V8 would normally get smashed but on this occassion, the V8 wins by as much as it wants!

Commentators and coaches alike called it before the game. SA were never going to be competitive. It would have been a miracle!

So you reckon playing in that heat after a 13 hour plane trip less than 48 hours before would have made it easier for us. Taking that into account, we still beat England on day one. Imagine we were as rested and acclimatized as England.. Would have been even bigger Becs.

SA has nothing left in their legs. You take all the comfort from this as I said because even you cant be that silly to think England turned it all around all by themselves in less than 24 hours. Not just to beat SA but by a record score. Haha Becs, you having a laugh!

 Becs, please take it easy on these fragile Saffas....having a real bad week after the Mighty All Blacks beat them at their home fortress with only 14 men with our B team , their cricket team has subsequently choked.... and an embarrassing 50 pt arse kicking on top of that in their loss to England in the Sevens...

 So their nerves are completely shot and some are desperately in need of some psychiatric services . Is'nt that your field ?...

Despite whats been said, we all know England invented the game of rugby so we always have an expectation of the motherland doing well.

Looking forward to the ABs testing our skills against England, the benchmark of NH rugby in our EOYT.

 50 point loss? Not quite. All Blacks "B" team?? You wana think again..We would rather lose to Pakistan in a one off test than let Bangladesh score 500 against us and battle to a draw against them..Ridiculous.

Have we really got anything else to prove in the cricket world? We beat England and Aussies in their back yard. We dont wana get started on NZL. Hey Adder, English 7's nearly put as many points on us as your whole cricket team scored in the first innings of a test against us..

Dont talk about choking ever. Team NZL will be hard to knock off their perch.

2014 is a different year buddy. Its no surprise NZL is the best in world rugby with a hugely experienced team with average age of 29. Our boys average is just 23 and already we have seen them put themselves in good positions to beat the AB's in 2 of the last 3 games...Cant cant Eden park. Bigger farce than the WC Quarter that Bryce controlled.

SA will mature and learn to win those close ones (although Dunedin they did nothing wrong except let Morne keep kicking) but NZL will need an overhaul soon. Best you boys start begging SBW to come back and quick... Can a team be more desperate?

 Yeah..I dont know so much about Dan and Richie anymore hey. It just seems that Dan is never "magic" anymore and Cruden and Barrett are playing better. Richie was easily the, an I wont insult the man by using the word worst, but the "quietest" of the AB's loosies at Ellis Park. Read is just getting better and it hurts to say as a Bok supporter but when he is done and dusted and we look back on his career, we might just find that Read was better than McCaw ever was and that is not easy by any stretch of the imagination as McCaw has been the perfect rugby man for NZL.

Maybe its got something to do with AB's management trying to preserve their careers. Look, at the end of the day age is chasing all of us. When its your time, its your time. There is always someone younger and better coming through. With all this preserving of these two, do you not think this could be leading to their injuries? I just dont know why Carter and McCaw are often nursing silly little niggles these days.

I saw play em both till they cant play no more. Thats what they want. To play the game. Let them do it and if they make 2015, good on them, if they dont, what can you do. Time waits for no man and I am yet to meet a bloke who can stop time!

NZL are in a fortunate situation and they always will be. You dont need Sonny. He is a spoilt brat. I was hugely pro Sonny until he decided to ruin some other league players dream so he can hog more of the limelight. Sonny didnt need that. He has enough fame, money, trophies and cudo's. Let the other guy live out his dream and try push for more exposure and bigger contracts. Selfish to the tee! The squad was already named..It should have been too late and Sonny should have understood and appreciated that!

Ditto post.

 Did'nt SA get some players yellow carded ? Anyone got the juicy details?

 Did'nt see the game but sounds like discipline was a problem again for SA if thats the case.

Losing a player especially in the Sevens game can be a game breaker .

Every point counts in the IRB Sevens and the objective is to win by accumulating as many points as you can throughout the series  . To say the game between 3rd and 4th should'nt be played is another 'classic' from the dumb blonde boob job.

There is also always national pride to play for unless you have a defeatist attitude then you should'nt be in the team in the first place. Especially considering Rio Olympics is just around the corner.

But if the ABs fans had used the excuse of jet lagg or even lack of fitness for losing at Ellis park they would've got laughed off the forum.