[2013-14 IRB 7's] Wellington

[LittleGuy]

The 5th leg of the IRB 7's series fires up on the 2nd weekend of February(7th-8th) from the always wild Wellington venue, hopefully the crowd will be in fine form, as hosts NZ will be looking to retake the series points lead over South Africa.

Here are the pools.

Pool A

South Africa
England
Wales
Portugal

Pool B

New Zealand
Fiji
France
Spain

Pool C

Argentina
Scotland
Canada
United States

Pool D

Samoa
Australia
Kenya
Tonga

 

[poopiepeople]

Well after Vegas, I feel like we got our pool down pretty good.

 

[LittleGuy]

Well after Vegas, I feel like we got our pool down pretty good.

Yep and 2 from 2 so far. Decent performance against the Scots but a really good one against the States. Should be in the cup competition now barring some odd occurence. Another oppourtunity to score some points and move up the series table.

 

[poopiepeople]

Missed the Scottish game, but very happy I got back home in time for the US one. Great job by Conor Trainor. I must say that Braid's effort at the beginning looked like it was grounded alright though

 

[stroneill]

Great start by Canada today taking 2 from 2 and getting back to the QFs. It'll be interesting to see if Canada can repeat their result from 2 weeks ago

 

[LittleGuy]

Missed the Scottish game, but very happy I got back home in time for the US one. Great job by Conor Trainor. I must say that Braid's effort at the beginning looked like it was grounded alright though

This is the best he's looked since he got back from injury. He's looked to put on some bulk as well which is good news. Hearn and Duke have returned to the lineup in form as well. Really starting to build some depth for the side.

 

[Muzzy]

Isles try against Scotland was incredible. I was like 'wtf?!?!..what??? WHAT!!! WHAAT!!!!!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I love how absolutely dead-accurate SA has become under Powell. It really seems to take something from opposition to score and the support and decision making on attack looks exceptionally drilled. Not that other teams aren't vastly improved as well, I've been very impressed with the likes of Argentina and Canada in particular.

 

[poopiepeople]

Yes, Dala!

and Mack!

 

[poopiepeople]

wow, this is turning into a thrashing. Good job guys.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Just as I say the above of course England does a demolition job on us.

 

[Muzzy]

I love how absolutely dead-accurate SA has become under Powell. It really seems to take something from opposition to score and the support and decision making on attack looks exceptionally drilled. Not that other teams aren't vastly improved as well, I've been very impressed with the likes of Argentina and Canada in particular.

Yeah they were really good apart from the game against England. I think their good form might be because they've had most of the same players there for so long. Kyle Brown, Frankie Horne, Cecil Afrika, Dry and more have all been in the team for several years now just like New Zealands players. Whereas most of the other teams they switch their players all the time.

 

[Darwin]

Strong performances in their last two games of the the day by New Zealand after a disappointing 1st up loss to Fiji.

He may still be very raw (he is only 18) but it is hard not to be excited about Akira Ioane. For those who missed it here he is scoring his 1st try on the 7's series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPUT75ZDk-0

 

[Muzzy]

Yeah that Ioane looks like a future All Black imo

Man USA should have won that game against France. Too many amateur mistakes

 

[Darwin]

Yeah that Ioane looks like a future All Black imo

Man USA should have won that game against France. Too many amateur mistakes

It might be a bit early to make those sort of predictions - he is very young, and not all good 7's players can transfer those talents to the 15's game. He certainly looks to have a huge amount of promise though!

Anyways... 1st of the cup quarter underway - England on top at the moment. It looks like there is a bit of rain, so the handling has been poor. Wet weather is probably a good thing for New Zealand, as we are usually one of the better sides in these conditions (as we play a very structured controlled game). New Zealand vs Canada up next....

 

[nickdnz]

Ioane is a loose forward in XV's right?

 

[Darwin]

Ioane is a loose forward in XV's right?

Yep, he played at no. 8 for the NZ secondary schools side last season.

EDIT: Great run at the end their by Ioane! Comfortable win in the end by NZ - bring on England...

 

[Muzzy]

England have looked like the best side so far

Canada were right in that match against NZ. Could have been a lot closer in better conditions. They should have started Hiriyama. Every time Canada had the ball in the first half, they were surrounded by NZ players and turned it over. They were better in the 2nd half though

 

[LittleGuy]

Very pleased with Canada so far, can still take a pile of points out of this leg. The team has actually performed better than last week structurally even though the QF draw was unlucky.

 

[stroneill]

Disappointing result for canada, but mistakes buried them against the all blacks again. Not much they can do about the handling errors in the rain though. It happens.

They just need to brush this one off and secure as many points as they can in the plate finals