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World Rugby insist controversial changes to the Sevens format will not be revoked
World Rugby insist controversial changes to the Sevens Series format will not be revoked despite anger from coaches and players who now face truncated legs in Hamilton and Sydney, with the quarter-finals stage erased from the schedule.
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The four pool winners in New Zealand and Australia will qualify automatically for the semi-finals.
South African media reports claim coaches and players are considering taking their grievances to the International Court of Sport Arbitration (CAS) to try and get the move overturned.
'I’ve made it very clear to them what it is going to take for them to get selected'
Andy Farrell setting out his stall straight away as Ireland head coach.https://t.co/Fqt0BYAVjr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 23, 2019
Critics of the changes claim the insistence on running the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series men’s and women’s events together has meant that unless tournaments can run for three days – as happened in Cape Town – there isn’t the time to fit in the last eight round. That is why for the next legs in Hamilton (Jan 25-26) and Sydney (Feb 1-2) – being staged over two days – the pool winners in the men’s events head straight to the final four. World Rugby believe the new format will deliver a less confusing final day for fans.
The Hamilton draw has put holders Fiji in the same pool as Australia and Argentina with just one team qualifying for the semi-finals with New Zealand in a pool with USA and South Africa paired with England. New Zealand and South Africa currently lead the men’s table on 41 points each, with defending champions Fiji in sixth place.
A World Rugby spokesman told RugbyPass: “The situation remains that quarter-finals will not take place in Hamilton and Sydney. This was discussed last year and we are trying to deliver more men’s and women’s events to create greater synergy. We want to create more opportunities for the women’s game as well and it is a fine balance.”
In the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, the ball came back to the scrum-halves over 130 times. Each scrum-half ran with the ball only twice.https://t.co/va973Vudyy
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Sevens experts have made it clear the quarter-finals are central to the excitement generated by the Series and the decision to truncate the next two legs will be counter-productive and reduce television exposure. There are also important ranking points to fight for in the race for the overall title and this now becomes muddied by the change format which comes after two rounds – Dubai and Cape Town – have already been played with quarter-finals taking place in both.
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The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 has a record six combined men’s and women’s events with the number of women’s tournaments increasing to eight, with the men’s set at 10 rounds.
The series also forms a crucial part of Olympic preparation for the teams as they build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the end of July. The decision to end quarter-finals for Hamilton and Sydney comes as the game’s governing body launches the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.
This is what the 12 Premiership clubs are asking Santa for this Christmas, as revealed by @alexshawsport https://t.co/S3VSW9m65Y
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Countries such as Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Mexico, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe are involved and will all take part in the Olympic repechage in June 2020 to try and secure the final qualification place for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The Challenger Series is launched in February with 13 core teams from the six World Rugby regions competing over two rounds alongside three invitational teams.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “We are thrilled to launch the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in a pivotal year for rugby sevens ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Rugby sevens continues to attract new fans around the globe with its fast-paced, athletic and highly skilled format. The new Sevens Challenger Series will help to develop the next generation of players and bring international sevens events to new nations, further growing the popularity of our Olympic sport around the world.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Well where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments