IRB Sevens- San Diego day 2 is under way

Day 2 is well under way and it is the teams that have reverted to the basics that have advanced to the business end of the championship.

It hasn’t been too good for Oceania with all our options being bundled out in the quarters. They had their chances alright, Fiji got within 2 points of England but couldn’t quite get there & Samoa and NZ also fell short.

Attack and flair is what we all love and want to see in this entertaining game of 7s, but all 4 teams that marched on to the semi’s played basic, common sense rugby today. They did the dirty work, hard boring work before they looked for the flash freddy tries. This is always the debate; do you throw caution to the wind and just go for it? Or play the lines and draw men and wait for the holes to appear after they are tired from chasing you? In San Diego it was the later and South Africa, England, Argentina & USA all applied this strategy to perfection.

First in the spotlight was NZ, now they are minus a bit of grunt from last week, but there is still talent to burn in the squad. They are running well, trying their hardest and never saying die, but this vital little thing called confidence is missing at the moment. At times slight chances seem there and they are not taken instantly, usually this is not the case with NZ, but today they thought then ran, when at this level you have to run first while you are thinking to get through.

Fiji showed some patience and flair, they ran hard and the big men danced on the grass in centre field with the ball in one hand looking for unloads. This got them a couple of fine tries, but England’s persistence and grit saw them secure the try of the day after Fiji launched a massive attack. The British men sucked up all Fiji had thrown at them, then right on the half time hooter reloaded with a fierce attack of their own and scored under the sticks. Their kicking boots were on too and this in the end made the difference by mere 2 points.

Samoa came up against a nuggetty Argentina; they are out weighed by the big Island muscle men & simply went low and brought the Samoans to the ground. The men from the Pacific had their moments and fired a heap of raids at the Argentinean’s but few gaps were opening today. Lolo Lui & Uale Mai looked dangerous with the pill, however this was normally in the hands of the South Americans and chances faded as the time ticked on.

In importance our boys are playing alright, with a little tweaking they will be there when it counts in a months time. Now looms some massive matchups in the Plate, NZ have Fiji & rampant Kenya have a crack at Samoa. With the main trophy gone now, pride is on offer and a little bit of momentum for the ultimate goal in Dubai next month.