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A ne pas figurer dans la première moitié du tableau, on a de moins en moins de maîtrise de son destin. L’équipe de France de rugby à sept l’apprend à ses dépens depuis le début de la saison du HSBC SVNS 2024.
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Après une neuvième place décevante à Dubaï en ouverture, une place de mieux à Cape Town le week-end suivant, voilà que les Bleus sont condamnés à subir la poule de la mort au HSBC SVNS Perth qui se tiendra en Australie du 26 au 28 janvier.
TOURNOI MASCULIN
- Poule A : Argentine – Afrique du Sud – Canada – Espagne
- Poule B : Australie – Irlande – Grande-Bretagne – USA
- Poule C : Fidji – Nouvelle-Zélande – France – Samoa
Voyez plutôt : les Fidji, la Nouvelle-Zélande et les Samoa comme adversaires de la poule C. Rien de moins. Ainsi, ce sera la troisième fois que les hommes de Jérôme Daret rencontreront les Fidji en poule cette saison.
A Dubaï, la France s’est inclinée lourdement 40-5 contre l’équipe de Ben Gollings, ce qui les a éliminés de la poule. Au Cap, c’est la France qui a pris le dessus en poule (14-17) mais qui s’est inclinée en quarts (29-24).
Si ce sera la première fois de la saison contre la Nouvelle-Zélande (4e au classement) et les Samoa (7e), tous les adversaires sont mieux classés que les Français (8e).
Pas de gros risques pour les Françaises
Chez les filles en revanche, leur deuxième place au classement général leur procure une certaine confiance. Une situation qu’elles vivent depuis le début de la saison. Ainsi elles évitent les plus grosses équipes elles-mêmes en tête de leur poule : l’Australie dans la poule A et la Nouvelle-Zélande dans la poule C.
TOURNOI FEMININ
- Poule A : Australie – Canada – Grande-Bretagne – Afrique du Sud
- Poule B : France – Fidji – Brésil – Espagne
- Poule C : Nouvelle-Zélande – USA – Irlande – Japon
Face aux Fidji (4e), au Brésil (8e) et à l’Espagne (12e) en position de relégable, il faudrait un cataclysme pour que les filles de David Courteix ne puissent pas sortir de leur poule B.
L’Espagne est la seule équipe de la poule que les Françaises ont déjà joué cette saison, à Dubaï, avec une victoire 28-7. Si tout se passe comme prévu, les Françaises devraient sortir de leur poule et jouer leur quart de finale contre le meilleur troisième, soit l’Irlande, le Brésil ou la Grande-Bretagne.
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Dans tous les cas, le parcours jusqu’en demi-finale devrait être assuré.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d be fascinated to see what other candidates you all might have for the Lions captaincy role. Let me know, below 👍
1 Go to comments“ planning for the next cycle….” Sigh ill-advised language Elton old juice bean. Ppersonally glad you self-eliminated yourself, there were better players in the position around you.
3 Go to commentsRegardless of best in world etc. Lawes was outstanding against Leinster and has been all season. Looked like three try saving turnovers. His turnovers also contributed to NH scores. Immense performance.
2 Go to commentsDickson now considered the top ref in England it appears. Good that these series are getting one NH and one SH ref.
1 Go to commentsI don’t think any coach or selector would ever rely on Blackadder being available for selection. I didn’t think it would be possible but he has easily eclipsed Ennor as they most injured player of all time. IMO a symptom of today’s game where players are required to carry at least 10kg of extra mass from when they first hit the scene in their early 20s. Some players respond well to this, maybe due to genetics allowing them to recover faster, or not having reached their peak natural weight yet, but for others the constant training to maintain their weight eats away at recovery time and they spend most of their careers injured.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the lesson Nick! I presume that targeting gaps is situational because if a ball carrier straightens the line they can't be allowed a gap to run into? It feels like you need depth if you're going to pass it wide and plenty of variety - straight running, kicks just in behind, cross kicks etc. BTW what an incredible bench Toulouse had this week. People complain about Leinster being stacked but they need to be at the very highest level.
18 Go to comments2015 was by far the best team. They have had many good backlines over the years but the 2015 team was one of the few to have an absolute world class forward pack - all of them international quality. 6 ABs, 1 future English player, and one that would have gone on to ABs had he not been forced to retire due to concussion. This current team doesn’t have the same size and experience at lock, but providing they can keep this many talented young players (who have all significantly increased their profile this year) together for another 2 years they could eclipse the 2015 team.
2 Go to commentsAnd I’ve just seen RA has topped up the offer to Paisami and extended it beyond 3 years and he’s signed. Great news
72 Go to commentsInteresting watching Amaua starting to fire. No idea why he was pulled so early against the Reds.
4 Go to commentsNice to read something positive about Vunivalu; it doesn’t happen often. I despair for rugby in Oz. Unless some form of compensation for the teams producing players is devised, there is no obvious way for us to combat poachers coming to grab players in their prime with bigger pay cheques. A return to the SR crowds we were getting in 2010-2014 and a quadrupling of the TV deal would be a start but I don’t see how those things happen. Perhaps the government could be encouraged to deliver tax breaks like in Ireland?
72 Go to commentsI wasn’t aware that the blitz targeted space so, as usual, something learned from reading one of your articles, Nick. Watching the game live I attributed the Saints’ inaccuracy to their own mistakes and nerves. Perhaps some credit to the Leinster D.
18 Go to commentsGotta give it to you Graham, you support your players and team to the hilt. There may be strains of exaggeration laced throughout but gotta love the passionate parochialism.
2 Go to commentsNice one Nick. No doubt Vunivalu’s involvements and work rate are improving this year in attack, but I still think he is too raw on the defensive and backfield part of his game to be considered as a starter. Wales would just kick and run it to his side all night as the brumbies have done to good effect in the past. But, his size/power will keep him in the convo with Mark N leaving and Petaia’s injury record. Hunter definitely enjoying an injury-free run this season and being given the keys by Kiss - I have always been a fan of his. All I’d say is that his triple threat has been evident since 2020/21. I remember him making a grubber for a petaia try after the siren to beat the Brumbies in Canberra after the 80th minute in 2021. Lastly, Jock Campbell, who I know isn’t at the top of your list, I thought had alot of positive involvements in the saders game including both of Tim ryan’s tries and Mcreights
72 Go to commentsAg please, Pieter Stef Du Toit has played circles around this clown.
2 Go to commentsJust celebrating the Bok’s 1648th consecutive day as RWC champions. They are also the Qatar Airways Cup winners, which I know BennieBoy cares about a lot.
2 Go to commentsGood to here positive stories towards Aus Rugby. Although that might be the case, and highers up are right about Jordie, I wouldn’t stress trying to retain him. What I have seen of him in recent times is that he’s not using that something special. I feel there a better ‘something special’ options coming through that they won’t have to compete with league for, hell even in Kerevi and Paisami (isn’t it great to finally see his ability getting recognized, probably taking this article in isolation too much here).
72 Go to commentsgreat article! I wonder whether we will we see Ireland adopt the Nienaber blitz? All the teams who have tried it so far (SA included) have gone through significant teething problems in the first season; Ireland could possibly be in the unique position of being able to switch to a hard blitz in season 2 of a world cup cycle and already have so many players used to the system that it can be implemented seamlessly.
18 Go to commentsThey probably left another 20 on the field to be fair. Also - the officiating was… ordinary.
1 Go to commentsblackadder isnt a key player at all you cant say hes been the best player or a key all black when hes injured every week
4 Go to commentsThat loss to the Blues still stings! The Reds have fallen short in 4 of the 6 games decided by 7 points or fewer. Are they not fit enough to close out the close games or are there tactical issues when games go down to the wire? The pleasing thing is no Australian side can better the Reds record of 3 wins from 5 against Kiwi sides but the Brumbies can match it. Les Kiss has instilled a belief in the Reds that they can match it with all the New Zealand sides.
72 Go to comments