Seaton
First XV
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Or in Nelson Mandela Bay, should any ANC members be trolling the board.
The next stop on the World Series tour is the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth/ Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. The venue of course will be the aesthetically pleasing Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, one of the spanking new venues for the 2010 association football world cup. The leg in South Africa was previously in George, a few hundred kilometres to the west, and there is a big difference between the stadium venues, with the new venue holding 4 times more spectators.
Outeniqua Park (Old Stadium)
Nelson Mandela Bay
There were initial concerns the event would be played in front of empty stands, but as of two weeks ago a little more than half of all tickets had been sold, so the turn-out shouldn't be as bad as those experienced at Murrayfield or the other huge stadiums that struggle to sell a third of all tickets and leave the event lacking in the aspect of atmosphere.
Anyways, the reigning champions of the last world series are also the defending champions of the South African leg, New Zealand. Having faltered last week, dropping down to the Plate semis where they were knocked out by Australia. All the more amazing was that they made the Cup final just the week before in Melbourne, losing out to Fiji in the final. In Dubai their problems started at the conversions of their tries scored, before losing to the home team this time round, the Blitzbokke, in their final pool match. On Day 2, they suffered a shock defeat to England, whom went on to win the leg in a complete reverse of fortunes as they were dire by their fairly lofty standards in Australia.
Meanwhile, the champions of Melbourne, Fiji, were looking the bee's knees in Dubai, sweeping away all before them, crushing Australia in the quarters. Of course, they met England in the Cup semis in Dubai, whom matched and bettered them in every facet of play, with their hero of the tournament Dan Norton putting in a last ditch tackle to stop the game going into extra-time. The loss was a major shock and reality check for Fiji, and they will be regrouping and hoping that key players who missed out in Dubai return to fitness.
The surprise team of the tournament (the good surprise) were the mercurial French, who reached the final of the Cup by knocking out South Africa and Argentina after finishing second in their pool behind England. It was the first Cup final appearance for the French since 2006, and their reward? (apart from a few points) They get to be top seeds in a group with a team they very much enjoy playing against.
The unwanted surprise of the tournament was the 'performance' of Samoa. They laboured to a 40 point or so win over the UAE, before succumbing to a draw at the last with Argentina. Their final pool game was a 31-14 loss to Fiji, and coupled with the Argentinians doing all within their power to attain as many points as possbile against the UAE, which they did 73-7, resulted in them finishing third in their group and going only into the Bowl competition, but it didn't end there. A storming display by Canada put them 4 tries ahead of Samoa and out of sight. Thus Samoa were relegated to the Shield competition, which they won but not at all convincingly. Even with players missing, it was a massive disappointment for Samoa, and they will be looking at restoring parity this week.
As for the hosts this week, well they badly missed Cecil Afrika and looked one dimensional without him. An encouraging win over New Zealand on the first day brought hope, which was dashed by the French in the Cup quarters in the next day. Trudging on they reached the Plate final against Australia, where they lost after controlling the game to a last minute, length of the field score by Lewis Holland echoed of their recent XV-a-side World Cup quarterfinal exit.
Cannae spell the Argentina players names and Wales are confusing. In short, Argentina reached the Cup semis, beating Wales in the quarters. Argies lost to France, whilst Wales lost to South Africa in the Plate semis. Pish teams anyways.
On to the pools:
Pool A
England
Argentina
United States of America
Samoa
Pool B
France
New Zealand
Scotland
Morroco
Pool C
South Africa
Australia
Canada
Kenya
Pool D
Fiji
Wales
Portugal
Zimbabwe
Pool A is undoubtedly the tastiest of the lot, featuring England, Argentina and Samoa. Yet we must not write off the USA, the conquerors of Samoa's conquerors, Canada.
Otherwise, assuming Samoa perform, a very evenly contested group that you best avoid with your betting monies, especially if you pay any attention to my rather tripe predictions. I'll just say I think England will top it, in the hope I am once again wrong and they dinnnae.
Pool B. New Zealand vs France, nuff said. Scotland will look to beat Morroco, but the latter two are set to be the whipping boys of the group.
Pool C: The Blitzbokke should top the group. Canada will look forward to all their encounters having pushed Wales close last week, and punishing Samoa. They will be looking to their Women's team for inspiration, after they won their Dubai tournament humping England in the final. Kenya are uber pish at this stage.
Pool D: Fiji should top the group, but Wales must be weary of fiesty Portugal, who showed some of their potential last week with some solid displays. However, should the Welshman keep the ball away from the contact area, which I feel is Portugal's strongest area, they should be fine. Zimbabwe are also uber pish at this stage, but will have some supporters, both legal and illegal, in the stands, and they may yet raise their game. Portugal and Fiji get the days proceedings underway.
Fixtures
1 11:37 FIJI - PORTUGAL Pool D
2 11:59 WALES - ZIMBABWE Pool D
3 12:21 ENGLAND - UNITED STATES Pool A
4 12:43 ARGENTINA - SAMOA Pool A
5 13:05 FRANCE - SCOTLAND Pool B
6 13:27 NEW ZEALAND - MOROCCO Pool B
7 13:49 SOUTH AFRICA - CANADA Pool C
8 14:11 AUSTRALIA - KENYA Pool C
9 14:43 FIJI - ZIMBABWE Pool D
10 15:05 WALES - PORTUGAL Pool D
11 15:27 ENGLAND - SAMOA Pool A
12 15:49 ARGENTINA - UNITED STATES Pool A
13 16:11 FRANCE - MOROCCO Pool B
14 16:33 NEW ZEALAND - SCOTLAND Pool B
15 16:55 SOUTH AFRICA - KENYA Pool C
16 17:17 AUSTRALIA - CANADA Pool C
17 17:49 PORTUGAL - ZIMBABWE Pool D
18 18:11 UNITED STATES - SAMOA Pool A
19 18:33 SCOTLAND - MOROCCO Pool B
20 18:55 CANADA - KENYA Pool C
21 19:32 FIJI - WALES Pool D
22 19:54 ENGLAND - ARGENTINA Pool A
23 20:16 FRANCE - NEW ZEALAND Pool B
24 20:38 SOUTH AFRICA - AUSTRALIA Pool C
All times presumed to be GMT +2
The next stop on the World Series tour is the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth/ Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. The venue of course will be the aesthetically pleasing Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, one of the spanking new venues for the 2010 association football world cup. The leg in South Africa was previously in George, a few hundred kilometres to the west, and there is a big difference between the stadium venues, with the new venue holding 4 times more spectators.
Outeniqua Park (Old Stadium)
Nelson Mandela Bay
There were initial concerns the event would be played in front of empty stands, but as of two weeks ago a little more than half of all tickets had been sold, so the turn-out shouldn't be as bad as those experienced at Murrayfield or the other huge stadiums that struggle to sell a third of all tickets and leave the event lacking in the aspect of atmosphere.
Anyways, the reigning champions of the last world series are also the defending champions of the South African leg, New Zealand. Having faltered last week, dropping down to the Plate semis where they were knocked out by Australia. All the more amazing was that they made the Cup final just the week before in Melbourne, losing out to Fiji in the final. In Dubai their problems started at the conversions of their tries scored, before losing to the home team this time round, the Blitzbokke, in their final pool match. On Day 2, they suffered a shock defeat to England, whom went on to win the leg in a complete reverse of fortunes as they were dire by their fairly lofty standards in Australia.
Meanwhile, the champions of Melbourne, Fiji, were looking the bee's knees in Dubai, sweeping away all before them, crushing Australia in the quarters. Of course, they met England in the Cup semis in Dubai, whom matched and bettered them in every facet of play, with their hero of the tournament Dan Norton putting in a last ditch tackle to stop the game going into extra-time. The loss was a major shock and reality check for Fiji, and they will be regrouping and hoping that key players who missed out in Dubai return to fitness.
The surprise team of the tournament (the good surprise) were the mercurial French, who reached the final of the Cup by knocking out South Africa and Argentina after finishing second in their pool behind England. It was the first Cup final appearance for the French since 2006, and their reward? (apart from a few points) They get to be top seeds in a group with a team they very much enjoy playing against.
The unwanted surprise of the tournament was the 'performance' of Samoa. They laboured to a 40 point or so win over the UAE, before succumbing to a draw at the last with Argentina. Their final pool game was a 31-14 loss to Fiji, and coupled with the Argentinians doing all within their power to attain as many points as possbile against the UAE, which they did 73-7, resulted in them finishing third in their group and going only into the Bowl competition, but it didn't end there. A storming display by Canada put them 4 tries ahead of Samoa and out of sight. Thus Samoa were relegated to the Shield competition, which they won but not at all convincingly. Even with players missing, it was a massive disappointment for Samoa, and they will be looking at restoring parity this week.
As for the hosts this week, well they badly missed Cecil Afrika and looked one dimensional without him. An encouraging win over New Zealand on the first day brought hope, which was dashed by the French in the Cup quarters in the next day. Trudging on they reached the Plate final against Australia, where they lost after controlling the game to a last minute, length of the field score by Lewis Holland echoed of their recent XV-a-side World Cup quarterfinal exit.
Cannae spell the Argentina players names and Wales are confusing. In short, Argentina reached the Cup semis, beating Wales in the quarters. Argies lost to France, whilst Wales lost to South Africa in the Plate semis. Pish teams anyways.
On to the pools:
Pool A
England
Argentina
United States of America
Samoa
Pool B
France
New Zealand
Scotland
Morroco
Pool C
South Africa
Australia
Canada
Kenya
Pool D
Fiji
Wales
Portugal
Zimbabwe
Pool A is undoubtedly the tastiest of the lot, featuring England, Argentina and Samoa. Yet we must not write off the USA, the conquerors of Samoa's conquerors, Canada.
Otherwise, assuming Samoa perform, a very evenly contested group that you best avoid with your betting monies, especially if you pay any attention to my rather tripe predictions. I'll just say I think England will top it, in the hope I am once again wrong and they dinnnae.
Pool B. New Zealand vs France, nuff said. Scotland will look to beat Morroco, but the latter two are set to be the whipping boys of the group.
Pool C: The Blitzbokke should top the group. Canada will look forward to all their encounters having pushed Wales close last week, and punishing Samoa. They will be looking to their Women's team for inspiration, after they won their Dubai tournament humping England in the final. Kenya are uber pish at this stage.
Pool D: Fiji should top the group, but Wales must be weary of fiesty Portugal, who showed some of their potential last week with some solid displays. However, should the Welshman keep the ball away from the contact area, which I feel is Portugal's strongest area, they should be fine. Zimbabwe are also uber pish at this stage, but will have some supporters, both legal and illegal, in the stands, and they may yet raise their game. Portugal and Fiji get the days proceedings underway.
Fixtures
1 11:37 FIJI - PORTUGAL Pool D
2 11:59 WALES - ZIMBABWE Pool D
3 12:21 ENGLAND - UNITED STATES Pool A
4 12:43 ARGENTINA - SAMOA Pool A
5 13:05 FRANCE - SCOTLAND Pool B
6 13:27 NEW ZEALAND - MOROCCO Pool B
7 13:49 SOUTH AFRICA - CANADA Pool C
8 14:11 AUSTRALIA - KENYA Pool C
9 14:43 FIJI - ZIMBABWE Pool D
10 15:05 WALES - PORTUGAL Pool D
11 15:27 ENGLAND - SAMOA Pool A
12 15:49 ARGENTINA - UNITED STATES Pool A
13 16:11 FRANCE - MOROCCO Pool B
14 16:33 NEW ZEALAND - SCOTLAND Pool B
15 16:55 SOUTH AFRICA - KENYA Pool C
16 17:17 AUSTRALIA - CANADA Pool C
17 17:49 PORTUGAL - ZIMBABWE Pool D
18 18:11 UNITED STATES - SAMOA Pool A
19 18:33 SCOTLAND - MOROCCO Pool B
20 18:55 CANADA - KENYA Pool C
21 19:32 FIJI - WALES Pool D
22 19:54 ENGLAND - ARGENTINA Pool A
23 20:16 FRANCE - NEW ZEALAND Pool B
24 20:38 SOUTH AFRICA - AUSTRALIA Pool C
All times presumed to be GMT +2
