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Star-studded cast confirmed for the SuperSevens opening round

Semi Kunatani on Fiji selfie duty (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

The growing interest in rugby sevens in France potentially takes another step forward this Saturday with a star-studded opening round of the In Extenso SuperSevens in Mont-de-Marsan featuring Argentina’s Marcos Moneta and Juan Imhoff as well as Semi Kunatani, the 2016 Olympics gold medal winner in Rio with Fiji.

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It was the Antoine Dupont-inspired French that finished as men’s champions at Paris 2024 at the end of July following three sold-out days at Stade de France, compelling action that was followed by three more sold-out attendances for the women’s sevens competition won by New Zealand.

Now, three weeks after Dupont and co were crowned Olympic champions, the short-game focus in France switches to the enhanced SuperSevens, the first professional sevens club championship in the country which this season has three rounds scheduled – Mont-de-Marsan this Saturday, La Rochelle on August 24 and Pau August 31 – before culminating with a finals day at Paris La Defense Arena on February 1.

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World Rugby Guide to Rugby Sevens

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    World Rugby Guide to Rugby Sevens

    Olympic Rugby Sevens kicks off in Paris on Wednesday. Here’s your full explanation of how it’ll work!

    Sixteen teams will go to post this Saturday at Stade Guy Boniface, with Vannes kicking off the knockout round of 16 programme versus Monaco, who have powerful Fijian winger Kunatani, the ex-Harlequins and Toulouse player, on their roster.

    Other opening round fixtures are Stade Francais-Montpellier, Clermont-La Rochelle, the Baa-Baas versus a Racing team featuring Imhoff, and Pau, who have the Maddocks brothers Jack and Will, versus Bayonne. Bordeaux, who have signed Moneta and Luciano Gonzalez, are pitted against Perpignan, while Castres-Toulon and Lyon-Toulouse complete the round of 16 schedule.

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    f
    fl 1 hour ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    “He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

    He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


    “He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

    He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


    If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


    “You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

    Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


    “Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

    Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


    “You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

    Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

    But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


    Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

    Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


    So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


    Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

    168 Go to comments
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    AlanCriner 1 hour ago
    Ian Foster address injury rumours to key All Black before World Cup final

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    29 Go to comments
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    AlanCriner 1 hour ago
    Exeter look to Charlie Chapman to boost scrum-half options

    My name is Alan Criner, and I'm a resident of Toronto, CA. I'm a 45-year-old financial analyst who has always been cautious with my investments. However, in my quest to diversify my portfolio, I fell prey to a devastating fake crypto investment scam, losing 125,000 Canadian dollars' worth of Bitcoin. This traumatic experience sent my life into a downward spiral, leaving me depressed and feeling hopeless.

    Despite my repeated attempts to contact the account manager who initially approached me on Telegram, I was met with silence. They refused to provide any explanation or information, and I was locked out of my account on their website. The authorities were unable to assist me, as the scammers were untraceable.

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    0 Go to comments
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    Theresa Wright 2 hours ago
    Six Nations: 5 things we've learned from half-way point weekend

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    NB 3 hours ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    https://www.london.edu/think/how-claudio-ranieri-transformed-leicester-city


    He jts knew how to use that deep well of knowledge accumulate over many years of management. A true Moneyball story!

    168 Go to comments
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