D
danger
Guest
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Oct 13 2009, 03:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Well i chose the South African team largely on raw talent so id give you that.
But everyone in the NZ team i chose have sevens experience bar Carter and McCaw, and i dont think its too outlandish to assume they would be quite handy.
Messam captained the NZ sevens side when he was 20, Vito was a star in sevens, Nonu and Toeava were both in the NZ sec schools sevens but always had super 14 commitments so never had a chance to play for the NZ team. They would have waltzed in if they had the opportunity. Sivivatu speaks for himself.[/b][/quote]
Just because a player is a household name and has some experience doesn't mean he'll necessarily be good in international sevens - Most players who regularly train for the XV game can't even hack it at club level - Just look at the Middlesex Sevens and how the invitational teams like Samuari and the British Army can easily wipe the floor with with most club sides who play together at XV.
Lets look at your players;
McCaw - A fetcher and ground-worker at heart. Great at XV, but utterly useless abilities in 7s. His tackling is good, but he's too slow and doesn't have the ball in hand game to suit.
Messam - Decent enough blindside, not a world beater though. Wrong sort of player, nowhere near agile enough.
Vito - Bit more like it.
Carter - Most of his talents would go to waste on the sevens circuit. Not entirely sure on the need for and out and out standoff.
Nonu - Would be about as effective as Mike Tindall without the defensive abilities.
Sivivatu - Got the pace and talent... Not been particularly well as of late however.
Toeava - Agains, a sevens player anyway.
You put them up against a team of (I'll use England to highlight my point) John Brake, Andy Vilk, Ben Gollings, Tom Biggs, Uche Odouza, Ollie Philips & Chris Cracknell, it wouldn't be an upset of England won.
Then throw somewhere like Fiji or South Africa into the mix and they can forget about it.
NZ would want to use their experienced sevens players, the ones like Zar Lawrence & Julian Savea who finished 4th last year in the IRB sevens.
[/b][/quote]
With all due respect mate i think you're way off the mark.
McCaw - New Zealand has ALWAYS carried one out and out fetcher. Teitjens always picks one guy whos going to strangle possession, thats the priority. Guys like Matua Parkinson, Edwin Cocker, Josh Blackie etc. This year it was Ben Souness and sort of DJ Forbes. McCaws ball in hand game is no worse then these guys, all their job is is to link and look for support anyway and his ground game is second to noone. Hes Teitjens' wet dream.
Messam - Awesome Number 8. He has a ridiculous workrate, He had the most turnovers in last years super 14. He also has great ball skills and unbelievable pace for a loose forward. Nowhere near agile enough?! are we talking about the same guy here?! He has his faults but agility is not one of them..Have you actually seen him play? He was made for sevens. Thats why was NZ sevens player of the year when he was 19 and captained NZ to win the World Circuit when he was 20..
Carter - I'll give you that, my thinking was that he is a natural footballer with an eye for a gap, a strong core and most importantly a cool head in all situations. The NZ side always used to look so calm under pressure but recently they've looked like they are just making **** up as they go along. Thats Fijis game we arent very good at it. hence a terrible year. Maybe replace with Corey Jane.
Nonu - One on one this guy can take any defender on the planet, how would that not be usefull on a sevens field. He has also developed a very sharp distribution game incase you weren't watching this years Super 14. Hes not as one dimentional as you seem to think.
Sivivatu - If he gets back to Super 14 form then he would be the first name down.
I cant believe you would say that Liam Messam isn't cut out for Sevens even though hes captained a world championship team, and then say that Julian Saveas experience is a necessity. Hes barely 19, Hes played sevens for one year and hes not especially good at it. NZ came 4th.
The way it works in NZ is that the 7s team is made up of players that aren't in a super 14 squad. that's about 150 guys out of contention because they are too good.
Surely some of those 150 guys will be better then the current squad, who are only there because they aren't good enough to play professional football.
Well i chose the South African team largely on raw talent so id give you that.
But everyone in the NZ team i chose have sevens experience bar Carter and McCaw, and i dont think its too outlandish to assume they would be quite handy.
Messam captained the NZ sevens side when he was 20, Vito was a star in sevens, Nonu and Toeava were both in the NZ sec schools sevens but always had super 14 commitments so never had a chance to play for the NZ team. They would have waltzed in if they had the opportunity. Sivivatu speaks for himself.[/b][/quote]
Just because a player is a household name and has some experience doesn't mean he'll necessarily be good in international sevens - Most players who regularly train for the XV game can't even hack it at club level - Just look at the Middlesex Sevens and how the invitational teams like Samuari and the British Army can easily wipe the floor with with most club sides who play together at XV.
Lets look at your players;
McCaw - A fetcher and ground-worker at heart. Great at XV, but utterly useless abilities in 7s. His tackling is good, but he's too slow and doesn't have the ball in hand game to suit.
Messam - Decent enough blindside, not a world beater though. Wrong sort of player, nowhere near agile enough.
Vito - Bit more like it.
Carter - Most of his talents would go to waste on the sevens circuit. Not entirely sure on the need for and out and out standoff.
Nonu - Would be about as effective as Mike Tindall without the defensive abilities.
Sivivatu - Got the pace and talent... Not been particularly well as of late however.
Toeava - Agains, a sevens player anyway.
You put them up against a team of (I'll use England to highlight my point) John Brake, Andy Vilk, Ben Gollings, Tom Biggs, Uche Odouza, Ollie Philips & Chris Cracknell, it wouldn't be an upset of England won.
Then throw somewhere like Fiji or South Africa into the mix and they can forget about it.
NZ would want to use their experienced sevens players, the ones like Zar Lawrence & Julian Savea who finished 4th last year in the IRB sevens.
[/b][/quote]
With all due respect mate i think you're way off the mark.
McCaw - New Zealand has ALWAYS carried one out and out fetcher. Teitjens always picks one guy whos going to strangle possession, thats the priority. Guys like Matua Parkinson, Edwin Cocker, Josh Blackie etc. This year it was Ben Souness and sort of DJ Forbes. McCaws ball in hand game is no worse then these guys, all their job is is to link and look for support anyway and his ground game is second to noone. Hes Teitjens' wet dream.
Messam - Awesome Number 8. He has a ridiculous workrate, He had the most turnovers in last years super 14. He also has great ball skills and unbelievable pace for a loose forward. Nowhere near agile enough?! are we talking about the same guy here?! He has his faults but agility is not one of them..Have you actually seen him play? He was made for sevens. Thats why was NZ sevens player of the year when he was 19 and captained NZ to win the World Circuit when he was 20..
Carter - I'll give you that, my thinking was that he is a natural footballer with an eye for a gap, a strong core and most importantly a cool head in all situations. The NZ side always used to look so calm under pressure but recently they've looked like they are just making **** up as they go along. Thats Fijis game we arent very good at it. hence a terrible year. Maybe replace with Corey Jane.
Nonu - One on one this guy can take any defender on the planet, how would that not be usefull on a sevens field. He has also developed a very sharp distribution game incase you weren't watching this years Super 14. Hes not as one dimentional as you seem to think.
Sivivatu - If he gets back to Super 14 form then he would be the first name down.
I cant believe you would say that Liam Messam isn't cut out for Sevens even though hes captained a world championship team, and then say that Julian Saveas experience is a necessity. Hes barely 19, Hes played sevens for one year and hes not especially good at it. NZ came 4th.
The way it works in NZ is that the 7s team is made up of players that aren't in a super 14 squad. that's about 150 guys out of contention because they are too good.
Surely some of those 150 guys will be better then the current squad, who are only there because they aren't good enough to play professional football.
