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Was this garnering no interest in England and France? Interesting that those locations have received the chip from the calendar. Can't really say it's to target "summer vibes" but then keep Vancouver on the calendar.
 
Overall I think it's a great move; marketed right it should help increase exposure to the competition and sport overall. The final playoff event to determine a winner might be controversial, but from a fan and excitement perspective it's a great move. Surfing, with the WSL, went through the exact same format change a few years ago, where instead of a winner being determined solely based on points accumulated throughout the year, they instead switched to a finals day, where the top 5 surfers in each mens and womens surf heats, 5 against 4, winner against 3, winner against 2, and then the final. Lots of long-time supporters don't like it, but again, from an excitement/entertainment perspective, especially in getting outsiders to come to the sport and easily understand it, it was a smart move. Hopefully it works out for World Rugby.
 
Overall I think it's a great move; marketed right it should help increase exposure to the competition and sport overall. The final playoff event to determine a winner might be controversial, but from a fan and excitement perspective it's a great move. Surfing, with the WSL, went through the exact same format change a few years ago, where instead of a winner being determined solely based on points accumulated throughout the year, they instead switched to a finals day, where the top 5 surfers in each mens and womens surf heats, 5 against 4, winner against 3, winner against 2, and then the final. Lots of long-time supporters don't like it, but again, from an excitement/entertainment perspective, especially in getting outsiders to come to the sport and easily understand it, it was a smart move. Hopefully it works out for World Rugby.
I am even more lost about 7s than usual? Is the final round going to be seeded based on points gained in the previous rounds? Or are previous rounds only used to identify the 9th to 12th places that will go in the relegation tournament. If so, I probably would have preferred double or treble points in the final round.

Its notable when the Scottish, Welsh and English unions do not care about something (such as 7s, where they do not run their own teams) we see a format where up to 33% of the top division can be relegated in one year! A far cry from the ring fenced mentality of XVs.

I know some nations are sore about the top tier reducing from 16 to 12. As long as you have a viable route into getting into the top 12 I don't think it is a big deal and the promotion/relegation weekend should hopefully attract a lot of interest due to the stakes.
 
Anyone watching? Amazing how unpredictable most of the games are. Can't wait for the olympic games.
 
how did we go from being a mid table team to be on every final of the series so far, in just two year? I wonder how much the players are getting pay, cosidering the dont really play 15
 
how did we go from being a mid table team to be on every final of the series so far, in just two year? I wonder how much the players are getting pay, cosidering the dont really play 15
two super rugby americas teams is probably cheaper than one super rugby team when you factor in the travel. Probably some more money for sevens now.

Dupont looked good for France but they waited til halftime to play him against NZ.

Argentina certainly has some speed demons.
 
how did we go from being a mid table team to be on every final of the series so far, in just two year? I wonder how much the players are getting pay, cosidering the dont really play 15
I guess i could sum it up in three things:

1- A coach with a long-term plan (incredibly rare in 7s). Look at things like restarts or tries from fixed formations. That reveals there is a very clear intention behind calls and that things have been practiced ad nauseam. Look at how the players commit to rucks. We hardly ever overcommit. There is virtually never a situation where Arg commits more players to a ruck/maul and loses possession. That is 100% the coach's merit. You watch them play and they all seem to know what they need to do. Gomez Cora knows his ****. And this has a few trickle-down effects. Sure, a speedster gets us every now and then but it is incredibly rare to watch the pumas and think 'What's wrong? They look tired and slow'. If you get ruck commitment right you get more players outside, which means less running, which means fresher legs on average. Again, there is a plan behind all of this.



2- 3 freaks on the team (Isgro, Gonzalez and Moneta) with complementary skills. This is luck. You need to develop it, nurture it, etc, but just to get that level of talent is luck.
You've got a natural playmaker (Isgro), a speedster with incredible instincts and a sweet boot (Moneta), and a bulldozer (Gonzalez). The way they create spaces for each other is very, very unique. And the constant threat of these 3 opens up a lot of space for the other 4, which they tend to exploit beautifully.
Listen, i don't want to take merit away from the rest. Schultz, Pelladini, Alvarez, Revol, osadczuk, Fraga and Elizalde are very, VERT good, but those three are something else. And having 3 (as opposed to 1 or 2) takes away a LOT of pressure from their shoulders. They are all allowed to have a bad game. We have the right players, peaking at the same time, with the right coach, at the right time in an Olympic year.
Think of the US without Baker or NZ without Rokolisoa (? number 4). Arg would still manage to do more than ok with 2 of those 3. Look at how they are being fielded. They generally place 2 as starters and leave 1 for the second half for big games.
And the confidence... jesus christ. Look at the start of the final. NZ not only scored 2 easy tries, but tries that suggested weaknesses in what is supposed to be Arg's strength. You need to have a LOT of confidence to turn that around the way they did. You need to be able to look at each other and think 'nah, that was a one-off, NZ got lucky. We will stick to the plan and we will win.
Give me the ball'. That is rare, very, very rare.

3- (related to 1) the worst 7 players we could field are still pretty good. They will probably lose to NZ, or Fiji, but they would have a fair shot against top teams like Ireland or Australia.



I'd like to add one thing: we kinda got away with murder against Samoa. Well, not murder but we got a scrum when they should have been given the throw-in. It was a close game and every little detail matters.
Other than during the final, i don't think Arg played particularly well. But that is kinda what i like. A sign of a great team is to be able to get victories on bad days, and they did exactly that.
 
Argentina have been annoyingly good this season and last. Ireland's structured approach with Kennedy and Conroy (who isn't half as effective without Kennedy) can get them wins against NZ and Fiji from time to time but Argentina can play similarly with better players and dominate. Feel like they're the primary reason Ireland haven't managed a gold yet.
 
Ireland are relatively new to this. Didn't they join the series in 2019 or thereabouts? Give them time. Most teams have been doing this for a bit longer.
I remember asking myself around that time how were Scotland and Wales able to field 7 teams while Ireland didn't. Now you guys are consistently better than Wales, Eng and Scotland together.
Again, takes time.

My only concerns right now are injuries and having peaked too early. South Africa, Fiji and Aus are playing quite badly right now. For their historical standards. They will get better before the Olympics. And Samoa are dangerous as **** imo. If they happen to wake up on the right side of the bed they can destroy anyone.
 
USA certainly looking better. Hughes returning from his postgrad studies is certainly a boost. Baker is past it though. We need some of the body types Argentina and France have where they are more short basketball player than skinny rugby player if you know what I mean.
 
Ireland are relatively new to this. Didn't they join the series in 2019 or thereabouts? Give them time. Most teams have been doing this for a bit longer.
I remember asking myself around that time how were Scotland and Wales able to field 7 teams while Ireland didn't. Now you guys are consistently better than Wales, Eng and Scotland together.
Again, takes time.

My only concerns right now are injuries and having peaked too early. South Africa, Fiji and Aus are playing quite badly right now. For their historical standards. They will get better before the Olympics. And Samoa are dangerous as **** imo. If they happen to wake up on the right side of the bed they can destroy anyone.
This aged well. Finally got the monkey off our back (although shipped a big loss in the pools). Interesting line up in the semis this week, none of the top tier made it.
 
so I'd now like 8 unions (have to be from different continents) to participate in an experiment for the 2028 olympics. They'd all loan national XV players from their clubs for training camps and the olympics. Two would loan 12, two would loan 9, two would loan 6, and two would loan three. Wondering if Dupont works cause he's the best player in the world and would dominate no matter what or cause he can organize full time sevens players.
 
This aged well. Finally got the monkey off our back (although shipped a big loss in the pools). Interesting line up in the semis this week, none of the top tier made it.
We made a few very, very stupid and costly mistakes (isgro's YC) but did you see Args second yellow card? Or Ireland's last try (foot on touch?)?
Unlucky at the very least.
It is (almost) impossible after that.

We were in complete control of the game, 5 mins to go, 9 points ahead, against an opponent we had JUST beaten in the last group stage game and we threw it away with a silly, stupid and unnecessary yc.
Fortunately, and this is what keeps my hopes v high, I listened to the post-game cuddle and they know what went wrong, they know how to fix it and their confidence is through the roof.
They'll learn from this and come back stronger.
 

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