Double jeopardy for GB7s after SVNS Singapore draw
When someone as skilled, durable and experienced in high performance as Joe Lydon describes HSBC SVNS 2024 as “one of the most competitive competitions that I have ever known”, it would be hard for anyone to disagree.
Lydon played for Widnes and Wigan during their time as the two most decorated British Rugby League club sides in the hardest of eras, earning himself the Man of Steel award in 1984 and playing for Great Britain 32 times.
Now he oversees the performance side of the Great Britain Sevens men’s and women’s teams competing on the SVNS series.
Both teams are staring adversity in the face with their places in next year’s SVNS series in jeopardy, so being able to draw on his wealth of knowledge in pressure situations is a huge plus.
Great Britain’s women occupy the eighth and final place set aside for the SVNS grand finalists, just two points clear of the bottom four and a relegation play-off, while the men have a seven-point deficit to make up on USA at the next tournament in Singapore, on 3-5 May, if they are to stay in the hunt for the inaugural SVNS crown.
It could be considered a cruel irony of fate, or a blessing, that both GB teams have been drawn in the same pool as their main rivals hovering on either side of the cut-off point.
The men, coached by Tony Roques, are in Pool C with high-flying Ireland, who sit second in the overall standings, as well as double Olympic champions Fiji, and USA.
Great Britain have beaten each of those teams at least once in the six tournaments to date, but in the head-to-head that really matters, they trail USA 4-2 in terms of wins and losses, with both of the successes coming some time ago in Cape Town.
“The draw is the draw and you have to play the teams in front of you. But it certainly puts things into perspective for us, when you’re playing teams immediately around you in the table,” Lydon said.
“But it is about making sure the individual and collective performances are right across the whole of the pool series and, within each play of every game.
“Advancing from the pool stages to the quarter-finals and beyond in a tournament as competitive as the world series will again come down to being on the right side of the fine margins. GB 7s need to enjoy the pressure and the challenge.”
The silver medal Great Britain won in Los Angeles proved Roques’ team has it in them to compete at the right end of the table. But they have only reached the quarter-finals on one other occasion – in the first North American leg in Vancouver – and bombed in Hong Kong last time out.
“We had a heck of a tough draw in the last one, with New Zealand, Argentina, USA again, they were close matches, certainly the New Zealand game, a narrow, narrow loss, and they went on to win it,” said Lydon.
“The margins between wins and losses are so small: one piece of outstanding play, one player slightly out of position or late to react, one piece of luck like the bounce of the ball.
“It’s one of the most competitive competitions that I have ever known, anybody can beat anybody on their day.
“In the men’s competition, it has been proven with Argentina dropping down into the bottom four in the last tournament and with GB winning the silver medal in LA.”
Great Britain are in last-chance territory in terms of their top-eight hopes and while the emotionally draining series probably makes him feel every one of his 60 years, Lydon sees the bigger picture and the brilliance of SVNS.
“There is a lot at stake come Madrid which is exactly what you want as a player, a fan and as tournament organisers World Rugby,” said Lydon, who has previously worked for the RFU as well as the Welsh and Irish Unions.
“All great sporting events provide uncertainty of outcome. You want unpredictability of outcome, you want the fans to be on the edge of their seats not know what is going to happen and players thrive on the pressure of competition, and you have got that on this series … in spades.
“You have good teams battling it out against each other, in great venues and cities around the world, it is such a tough competition, with only one predictable element – it’s going to be a hell of a battle.
“The focus will be the small margins, the key games, with one eye on the tournament standings and the right to be back on this great series again next season. It is massive.”
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Meanwhile, the Great Britain women’s team know that victory over Brazil when they meet in Pool C will almost certainly make them safe in the top eight, guaranteeing them a place in HSBC SVNS 2025.
A bronze medal finish in Perth was the undoubted highlight of what has been an otherwise inconsistent campaign for Ciaren Beattie’s team.
“The coaches have executed the plan to mix up selection across the women’s series and develop as we go and the players and the programme are growing,” commented Lydon.
“There have been a lot of different combinations during the early part of this series with one eye on the Olympic Games.
“In trying out those combinations and having players released to go and play in the Women’s Six Nations, it has allowed us to look at the combinations.
“Like the men’s programme, GB women’s sevens focus is to be in the HSBC SVNS series in 2024/25.”
Great Britain will also face games against joint-leaders Australia and Fiji, who are sixth in the overall standings with one tournament of the regular season left to run before the season reaches a dramatic climax in Madrid.
The top eight teams based on cumulative series points after the seventh round in Singapore will secure their place in the ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May–2 June.
At the other end of the table, it is all about survival.
“Similar to the men’s, it makes it crucial that we respect every opponent that we are playing in the pool games,” added the Lancastrian.
“Every game matters, every play matters. If you are not playing in it, you should be watching it, it’s enthralling!
“In the Brazil game last time out in Hong Kong (a 17-12 win), it was a tough game. They’re all tough but the top of the table is determined by those teams who prove and pride themselves in doing things consistently well on and off the pitch.”
Tickets for HSBC SVNS Singapore 2024 are available from www.SVNS.com.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
114 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
114 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
114 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
114 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
114 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
114 Go to commentsHo hum.
114 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
114 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
114 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
114 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
114 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
114 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
114 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
114 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
114 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
13 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to comments