Men's Rugby Sevens WR World Series 2022 - 2023

[SalamAkhi 359]

The mighty Fijians have fallen !  too strong in the final minutes edges them out (20-17). First loss for  in HK for the first time since 2014 ...

 overtakes  for the bronze. Since their return, Samoa have qualified for every semi-final (5), only to finish 4th each time.

Very interesting first tournament as a core team for  without key players such as F.Etcheverry, T.Inciarte or B.Amaya. They win they "Shield", dominating their likely direct opponents towards relegation,  and .

 

So, with the new rules : at the moment  would be relegated without ceremony, ,  and  would play with the Challenger Series winner in a 4-teams tournament to keep their spot in the WS. 

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

The world series begins today in Hamilton

 

upset 26-21. What a collapse by the nation this season. Forced to combine due to money problems and now losing to non-core teams.

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

Semifinal for Hamilton

 

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Looks like the fourth leg will have a fourth winner.

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

Standings After 5/11 Events

1. - 85

2. - 76

3. - 68

4. - 68

5. - 67

6. - 67

7. - 66

8. - 62

9. - 58

10. - 35

11. - 24

12. - 21

13. - 18

14. - 14

--- - 12

15. - 6

 

After five events we have five winners, showing the versatility of the game on the men's side. Another good showing from Tonga actually puts it ahead of core team Japan despite competing in only two events. Great Britain made it to the quarterfinals for the second time and now has some breathing room from the relegation battle. The battle for the Olympic is shaping up to be a good one with the top 9 all still in contention. Will Oceania fill out most of the top 4 or will the other continents give their lower ranked core nations an opportunity to qualify?

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

Semifinal for Los Angeles (Event 6)

 

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Argentina defeated Samoa in the quarters, can they defeat the Oceania gauntlet?

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

Standings After 6/11 Events

1. - 107 (-)

2. - 86 (+4)

3. - 86 (-1)

4. - 84 (+1)

5. - 81 (-2)

6. - 77 (+2)

7. - 76 (-3)

8. - 69 (-1)

9. - 68 (-)

10. - 47 (-)

11. - 29 (-)

12. - 25 (+1)

13. - 22 (-1)

14. - 19 (-)

--- - 12 (-)

15. - 8 (-)

 

New Zealand extends its lead over the field. They can now afford a poor performance and still maintain an overall lead. Argentina finishing second moves them up to an Olympic qualification position while South Africa was swallowed by the pack. The United States had a terrible performance which hurt its chances at qualifying to the Olympics. There's still time for both them and Ireland to make a move, but it's unlikely they can afford another bowl (or worse) appearance.

 

In terms of the fight to avoid regulation, Great Britain has solidified safe passage to next season. Spain has cut into Uruguay's lead for the last guaranteed spot.

 

The World Series returns next week in Vancouver.

[SalamAkhi 359]

South Africa keeps its place in the top 4 but had Uruguay beaten Canada, they would have had a very bad week-end. 

I feel the field is more leveled than ever, that's probably why NZ is faring so well. They are usually the more consistent team out there (with South Africa) and they are now building on this to ensure an olympic spot.

Any team can miss the Cup and reshuffle the rankings, things can change very quickly. The USA and Ireland are not in the best position at the moment but we're only just passed the halfway point. 

The current ranking is not ideal in terms of top team representation though. With Argentina and South Africa in, Uruguay (Chile ?) and Kenya (Uganda ?) have a free bye to the Games, whilst Samoa/Australia and Ireland/GB/(Spain ?) will have to battle it out. This means at least one top 10 team out of the O.G.

I hope Japan will not make it to the Olympics, looks like they are not even trying.

[JoshMartini007 2,864]

Yeah, at this stage I'm hoping at least three Oceania nations make the top 4, more so I just want Samoa to finally make the Olympics. Europe is in the odd position of having good depth, but not having the top teams which hurts it in this qualification method.

[Rafa Maciel 1,709]

After 6 rounds of the competition, there have been 270 individual matches and the win-loss record of each team is:

 

 

Of the top teams everyone has played each other at least once with the exception of Ireland and Fiji who have so far managed to avoid each other. 

 

From the Team GB perspective, I think they have performing better over the last couple of rounds but have struggled when they are against teams from Oceania region. At the start of the year, I think most had pretty much written off GBR's prospects of qualifying through the European Games tournament but their head-to-head results against the other European nations are better than I was expecting.   

 

 

[dodge 1,041]

It’s effectively a 50/50 chance between Ireland and GB for the European spot 

 

With all due respect to Spain, who I believe are having a great year.