Six Premiership 7s stars that should have breakout XVs careers
The 2018/19 Gallagher Premiership season got underway on Friday, as the tournament’s annual sevens event took place at Franklin’s Gardens.
Saracens emerged victorious on Saturday evening, defeating the reigning champions Wasps, 33-12, in the final, with both teams out on their feet after a gruelling couple of days.
The competition might not be the most prestigious around, but it is a valuable opportunity for clubs up and down the country to give youngsters a run out, both accelerating their preseason conditioning and allowing them to put down a marker for involvement with the XVs side in the coming season.
We look at six players who boosted their stock over the two days in Northampton and who will have given their coaches plenty to think about ahead of the season start at the end of August.
Paolo Odogwu, Sale Sharks
Odogwu is becoming a perennial highlight reel in this competition and this year was no different.
His footwork, acceleration and presence of mind to keep the ball in two hands and/or in his non-fending hand all stood out over the two days. He made a couple of excellent cover tackles, too, and all these attributes should translate to XVs.
The arrival of Chris Ashton, who joins Denny Solomona and Marland Yarde at the AJ Bell, doesn’t help Odogwu’s search for playing time, nor does Arron Reed’s emergence, but his attacking potential is clear. His low centre of gravity and shorter stature certainly help him win penalties from high tackles, too.
Callum Sirker, Wasps
There should be no surprise that an England 7s international like Sirker shone at a tournament with a majority of XVs players.
His short-area quickness, however, was all but uncontainable at the Gardens and the Wasps coaches will have an appreciation for the impact that can have in XVs, with the likes of Christian Wade and Elliot Daly regularly prospering in that area.
At just 20 years of age and having been part of the club’s academy before transitioning into sevens, Sirker is a player the club will presumably be keen to invest time and patience in. Daly is a certainty to be away with England during international windows, but the competition will still be stiff out wide, with Marcus Watson, Ambrose Curtis and Josh Bassett in the mix for Wasps.
Tim Cardall, a new arrival from Nottingham, impressed with his ball carrying and support running, too.
Joel Conlon, Saracens
A former Junior World Championship winner, Conlon has gone under the radar somewhat since his move to Saracens in 2016.
The Premiership 7s was a timely reminder of the physicality the back-rower brings to the mix, as well as the speed to turn broken tackles into big gains. His support running was impressive, too, and despite being one of the bigger frames in the competition, he was regularly on the shoulder of the fleeter Saracens players.
With Billy Vunipola, Nick Isiekwe and Maro Itoje involved with England, Michael Rhodes now also eligible for selection by Eddie Jones and Schalk Burger in the twilight of his career, opportunities should be there for Conlon this season.
Reuben Bird-Tulloch and Rotimi Segun both looked ready for more involvement with the senior Saracens side, too.
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Sam Aspland-Robinson, Leicester Tigers
It was far from a successful tournament for Leicester in terms of results, but Aspland-Robinson looked lively coming off the back of an ACL injury.
Not, historically, the career-killer it can be in the NFL or NBA, where the speed of the game is that echelon higher, the development of rugby from a game of yards to a game of inches is beginning to change that. Fortunately for Aspland-Robinson, a player who relies on his pace, footwork and ability to change direction at speed, it looks as if he has lost none of his potency during his lay-off.
He ran plenty of nice lines on Friday and Saturday, had the acceleration and power to exploit holes and inside shoulders and showed good awareness of his support runners with some decent offloads. There’s a spot in the back three with Jonny May and Telusa Veainu up for grabs.
Zach Kibirige, Newcastle Falcons
After a difficult few seasons with injuries and off-field issues, 2018/19 could be the season that Kibirige announces himself emphatically to senior rugby.
His top speed, elusiveness in congested areas and ability to pull off steps and swerves without any loss of momentum all stood out at Franklin’s Gardens. The power he had at U20 level also seems to be translating well to the seniors.
Both Vereniki Goneva and Sinoti Sinoti are in the twilights of their careers, so a good showing in the sevens may have been enough to push Kibirige to the front of the queue to deputise for the pair and ultimately succeed them in the coming seasons.
Fellow wing Adam Radwan also stood out, as did the ball-carrying ability of back-rower Simon Uzokwe.
Calum Waters, Harlequins
Arguably the player of the tournament on Friday, Waters was bordering on unstoppable in the opening evening, when he registered hat-tricks in both of his games.
The reliability and consistency of Danny Care at Harlequins has helped hide the fact the club’s scrum-half depth has been relatively thin in the last few years. If this is the moment Waters’ confidence builds and he kicks on, capable of providing competition to those in the regular senior 23, then that bodes well for Quins moving forward.
Like Sirker, Waters’ patience and ability to spot a gap showed up across the two days and he has the afterburners to make the most of both. As a like-for-like deputy for Care, Quins could do a lot worse.
Two U18s, Lennox Anyanwu and Femi Sofolarin, were among the more impressive performers over Quins’ four games, too, promising a bright future in TW2.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments