Preview: IRB Sevens, Round Four

Editor 08 Feb 2008 11:58 AM

Gordon Tietjens' unbeaten New Zealand side will look to end another 'drought' on the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series circuit, when they travel to San Diego for Round Four on Saturday and Sunday (February 9 and 19).

The last time the Kiwis won on American soil was in Los Angeles in 2005.

In what is an ominous sign for the other 15 teams in the United States leg of the IRB Series is the fact that Tietjens's team went into the Wellington tournament last week with a strikingly similar record – not having won the event for a few years.

However, the Kiwis have shown tremendous composure in the first three tournaments of the current World Series and will now look to stretch their unbeaten run beyond the record 34-match winning streak they produced in the 2001/2002 season – with squad featuring the likes of Eric Rush, Karl Te Nana and Amasio Valence.

Having won their last five tournaments – the last two of the 2006/07 Series in London and Edinburgh and the first three this season – Gordon Tietjens' side has already etched its place in Sevens history.

The current New Zealand team has enough depth and character to overcome any obstacle and the fact they are on the brink of greatness – with that 34-match winning streak looming – will be added motivation.

It is particularly hard to see Scotland, Wales or France standing in their way during the Pool A matches.

However, the race for second position in New Zealand's Pool could be most intriguing indeed. Wales stunned England in Wellington last week, before advancing to the Plate Final, where they lost to South Africa.

Scotland survived an extremely tough Pool D in Wellington, where they stunned Argentina 17-7, before advancing to the Plate semi-final, where they succumbed to the Welsh.

Pacific Island giants Samoa and Fiji will clash for the second time in as many weeks when they play each other in Pool B at the San Diego tournament.

There is absolutely no love loss between these two teams and Fiji will want to make amends for their quarter-final defeat in Wellington.

Although Samoa lost in the Cup Final to New Zealand last week, they will be far more confident than a Fijian team that was comfortably beaten by South Africa in the Plate semi-final in Round Three.

Australia, who will add to the intrigue in Pool B, called up Reds wing Henari Veratau for the injured Luke Inman, which could be useful.

This Australian squad has looked rather ominous since beating South Africa in the Darwin Sevens tournament three weeks ago.

While they did well to advance to the Cup semi-final in Wellington, they had the almost impossible task of beating a New Zealand team that is in outstanding form.

However, playing against Fiji and Samoa this week will provide the ideal opportunity to gauge just how good they really are.

The West Indies, who play in their first tournament of the Series, could be in for a rough ride as the fourth team in Pool B.

Morgan Williams, who led Canada at the World Cup in France, has come out retirement to try and help his country accumulate some points in San Diego – where they will compete in Pool C.

The Canadians found the going pretty tough in Wellington last week, after suffering heavy defeats to New Zealand and Samoa. Nathan Hirayama and Rob Turk are the other two additions to the Canadian team for the USA tournament.

The North Americans will battle it out with a severely wounded Argentina and an ever improving Kenya for top honours in Pool C, while Chili are unlikely to do more than just make up the numbers. This is the toughest pool to call.

Paul Treu's South Africans are as optimistic as ever and so they should be as the top-ranked team in Pool D. They had a major psychological boost when they beat Fiji in the Plate semi-final in Wellington and their squad has been bolstered by the return of Mzwandile Stick from injury.

The elusive 23-year-old fullback has done this all before and his experience will certainly be of great value in the United States.

England have really struggled over the past two tournaments in the Series and two more forced changes can only be to the team's detriment.

It is going to be very tough to beat South Africa and the USA in one day and quite frankly they have absolutely nothing to lose in Pool D.

England certainly can't afford to lose to tournament minnows Mexico – that would be humiliating – and fortunately for coach ben Ryan they probably won't.

San Diego Pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, France
Pool B: Fiji, Samoa, Australia, West Indies
Pool C: Argentina, Kenya, Canada, Chile
Pool D: South Africa, England, USA, Mexico

Schedule:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT -8)

Day One – Friday 9 February:
Match 1: New Zealand v Wales – 10.00
Match 2: Scotland v France – 10.22
Match 3: South Africa v USA – 10.44
Match 4: England v Mexico – 11.06
Match 5: Argentina v Canada – 11.28
Match 6: Kenya v Chile – 11.50
Match 7: Fiji v Australia – 12.12
Match 8: Samoa v West Indies – 12.34
Match 9: New Zealand v France – 13.06
Match 10: Scotland v Wales – 13.28
Match 11: South Africa v Mexico – 13.50
Match 12: England v USA – 14.12
Match 13: Argentina v Chile – 14:34
Match 14: Kenya v Canada – 14:56
Match 15: Fiji v West Indies – 15:18
Match 16: Samoa v Australia – 15:40
Match 17: Wales v France – 16:12
Match 18: USA v Mexico – 16:34
Match 19: Canada v Chile – 16:56
Match 20: Australia v West Indies – 17:18
Match 21: New Zealand v Scotland – 17:40
Match 22: South Africa v England – 18:02
Match 23: Argentina v Kenya – 18:24
Match 24: Fiji v Samoa – 18:46

Day Two – Sunday 10 February:

Bowl quarter-finals:
Match 25: 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B – 10.00
Match 26: 3rd Pool D v 4th Pool C – 10:22
Match 27: 3rd Pool C v 4th Pool D – 10:44
Match 28: 3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A – 11:06

Cup quarter-finals:
Match 29: 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B – 11:28
Match 30: 1st Pool D v 2nd Pool C – 11:50
Match 31: 1st Pool C v 2nd Pool D – 12:12
Match 32: 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A – 12:34

Shield semi-finals:
Match 33: Loser M25 v Loser M26 – 13:06
Match 34: Loser M27 v Loser M28 – 13:28

Bowl semi-finals:
Match 35: Winner M25 v Winner M26 – 13:50
Match 36: Winner M27 v Winner M28 – 14:12

Plate semi-finals:
Match 37: Loser M29 v Loser M30 – 14:34
Match 38: Loser M31 v Loser M32 – 14:56

Cup semi-finals:
Match 39: Winner M29 v Winner M30 – 15:38
Match 40: Winner M31 v Winner M32 – 16:00

Shield Final:
Match 41: Winner M33 v Winner M34 – 16:25

Bowl Final:
Match 42: Winner M35 v Winner M36 – 16:50

Plate Final:
Match 43: Winner M37 v Winner M38 – 17:15

Cup Final:
Match 44: Winner M39 v Winner M40 – 17:45

By Siyabonga Mchunu

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