Double joy for GB 7s as England secure qualification for Tokyo Olympics
The European Olympic qualifiers took place over the weekend in Colomiers and Kazan, as the men’s and women’s sevens teams from all over Europe contested for a guaranteed spot at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Following a disappointing season on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the England men, where they finished fifth in the standings and missed out on one of the automatic qualifying spots in the top four, they arrived at Colomiers in a pool alongside Germany, Georgia and Lithuania.
As for England women, they had a more positive series, improving on some of their recent efforts on the circuit, although it was still not enough to see them crack the ‘big four’ of New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia. Their pool in Kazan consisted of Russia, Germany and Sweden.
Both sides had been selected to be the representatives for Team GB and victory at these tournaments would secure qualification for Tokyo 2020, whilst a 2nd or 3rd place finish would at least book them a place in the Repechage competition next year.
The men had little trouble traversing their pool on Saturday, racking up comfortable wins over Georgia and Germany, as well as putting Lithuania to the sword with a 40-0 scoreline, setting themselves up with a quarter-final against Italy.
Day 1 is already over at the #Colomiers7s as @FranceRugby, @ferugby and @EnglandRugby finish first of their pools for #DestinationTokyo
Here is the QFs programme for the #Men7Qualifier DAY 2 – KO at 11am CEST and all games live on https://t.co/lQ3qnMUZ6M pic.twitter.com/kTJdAqiyH3— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) July 13, 2019
The women’s journey wasn’t quite so simple, as they lost 26-5 in their final pool match to Russia, although they secured a quarter-final against Ireland thanks to substantial wins against Sweden and Germany.
The qualifying tournaments resumed on Sunday, with the men cruising to a 35-0 win over Italy, whilst the women came back from an early deficit to register a 17-7 win over Ireland.
It left the women with a semi-final against France, who had also failed to qualify automatically for the Olympics on the Series earlier in the year, whilst the men had to face off with Portugal, who had upset Spain in their quarter-final.
In Kazan, England vs France certainly delivered a tight and compelling contest, with some strong English counter-rucking from Helena Rowland winning a turnover at the death and allowing Team GB’s selected representative to escape with a 14-12 win and a ticket to the final to play Russia, who had beaten them the day before in the pool stage.
In Colomiers, the men took the momentum from their win over Italy and quickly established a significant lead against Portugal, with Dan Norton and Mike Ellery among the first half scorers. England emerged victorious, 29-12, in a game that took their tally to 24 tries scored and just three conceded at the tournament, as well as booking them a final against France.
As finalists, both the men and women had a shot to secure qualification for Tokyo, whilst losses would not end their Olympic dreams, as second-placed finishes would see them both enter the Repechage next year.
England women were first up with an earlier kickoff in their final and they cantered to a 19-0 win over Russia, courtesy of tries from Heather Fisher, Emma Uren and Alex Matthews. Unable to unlock England’s impressive defence, the loss condemned Russia, along with third-placed France, to the Repechage in 2020.
Congratulations to @EnglandRugby #winner of the #RugbyEurope #Women #Sevens #Qualifier in #Kazan7s !
Thanks to this victory, @TeamGB is qualified for @Tokyo2020 @Olympics ! ????
Credit : Anastasia Osipova / Rugby Europe pic.twitter.com/vuxEl4KGJY— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) July 14, 2019
The England men, meanwhile, raced into a 21-7 half-time lead over France thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Norton. France pressed hard after the interval but it was not enough to reel England in, who added a score through Ollie Lindsay-Hague and finished with a 31-7 scoreline over their hosts. France and third-placed Ireland will now enter the Repechage.
Team GB women will now be able to build towards bettering their fourth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics without the distraction of the Repechage, whilst the men’s side will be back to defend their silver medal from Rio and attempt to go one rung further up the ladder in Tokyo.
Watch: Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou the victim of a mugging in Johannesburg.
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments