Sign up and win
flash alternate

JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to use this site, it seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser.

JONATHON BOLTER

back to news »

Bolter - Serious questions for Scotland Sevens

Monday 22 February 2010

I had the good fortune to attend both the Wellington and Las Vegas legs of the IRB Sevens in recent weeks, which has certainly stirred up plenty of thoughts in my head and stuff to get off my chest.

I have split this latest addition into three parts with the next edition coming next week.

Vegas frustrations

It would not be fair to either my readers or my fellow spectators at the USA Sevens not to address Las Vegas first. It was strange, surreal, incredible and frustrating all at the same time for the most part in the City of Sin.

First my frustrations; 12 miles to the Sam Boyd stadium is a massive negative in comparison to the spectator experience in San Diego. I loved SD, strolling into the Gaslamp quarter after a day of sevens to the official Kiwi fan party last year was great. I was three beers in before all the fans had got out of the stadium!

In Vegas, amongst the jubilant Samoan fans, I found it difficult to get to my car and sat in copious amounts of traffic on my return to the Strip.

Another little annoyance was the beer taps being shut down once the first of the four finals began. Look I was thirsty and I couldn’t get a beer for five hours and I was in Vegas. Surely a contradiction in terms?!

Sam Boyd stadium is not Petco but as a USA Sevens venue it really worked. 
 

Festival vibe -  spot on

The additional social tournaments including the Las Vegas Invitational, with its Championship Cup Series Finals (CCS), took place right on the fields next door which were great.

I wandered over and watched Samurai smash US social teams (I will address this at another time) and with Belmont Shore taking the title in a 'good' US rugby tournament. I turned a blind eye to the Collegiate 15s and overall it really felt like a festival of rugby which the organisers were aiming for. 
 

Vegas itself was as mental as ever, I heard some cracking stories from fellow spectators that involved midgets,helicopters, Santana, roulette tables, party liaisons, table dancers dressed in international kits, and table service.

Vegas offered what Vegas offers. It will be always be a completely surreal experience.

You won't sleep, unless you are like me and dosed up on some hardcore pain killers that hold my crooked body together.

The USA Sevens should be a spectacle of everything American and it certainly ticked that box. So well done on that front. 
 

I am sure that more and more people will head to the 'destination' that Las Vegas is for the tournament and I really hope that the problems are ironed out as for all my usual grumblings you can't help but feel that if they can't get it right in Vegas, they are not going to get it right.

I go to Vegas every year. Will the USA Sevens become that visit? In short, no. Will the USA Sevens in Vegas continue to grow? Yes.

On to the rugby itself and congratulations to Samoa. They have been a revelation this year and look like the power they were in the 05/06 season. The difference this year is that they seemed to have nailed the consistency issue.

Rucking and rolling in Vegas

One thing I love it is that they are taking physicality to another level (sometimes not legally) in the tackle but magnificently at ruck time.

An increased emphasis on rucking has filtered into the Sevens game for the past five years. I remember driving past a National League club at the beginning of 2008 and noticed a Sevens training session taking place. When I walked over the coach was screaming out to one of players, who many in the UK will know as a regular on the circuit, for playing what the coach was calling 'nice, pretty, public school sevens'. 

Basically he was talking about the lad constantly keeping the ball out of contact, almost out of a fear. The coach was saying that the game was heading in the direction that rucking was going to be integral to attacking play. 

The aforementioned player at the training session argued (with little success) that backing away from contact to an extent of 30/40 yards did not matter as the defence would eventually make a mistake and the pace of the wide men would be able to get around the outside of the 'gate' and go the length.

If you ruck aggressively then the speed of the ball coming back to you negated the issue of taking the contact and it meant that if taken on your terms it took the game to 5 on 5. This gives the attacking team even more space to use. It is easier to score 5 on 5 with the pace on the field than it is 7 on 7, which I thought at the time was an incredibly valid point

We now see the sides at IRB level putting more and more importance into ruck time not just to the extent of being able to win quick ball but to be able to tire defences from the constant physicality required to compete.

Can England close the gap?

It also gives the attacking team further opportunity to blow holes in the defensive lines at point A (contact area) the top sides at the moment in the Series are New Zealand, Samoa and Fiji and no one can argue that these three teams are the sides that have the most physicality in this area of the game.

England play at times a really pretty version of the game of Sevens and their new young guns are growing with each tournament.

But they have such speed in their arsenal that they should be able to kill teams and granted at times they do.
My issue with the England squad that played in Wellington and Vegas though was that they lacked the hammer to go alongside their sickle. 
 

They are 10-20% off the level of the top THREE teams in the contact area and at times get bullied. Of course the addition of Damu, Drauniniu and Cracknell would make a huge difference. They need to hammer it home to then give Gollings more opportunity for clean ball to let Wade, Caprice and Norton do damage more often. 

My final point on this is that if you boss the contact area you are certain to retain more ball and win the possession battle. This is something that is integral in contact sports as its considerably more tiring to defend than it is to attack.

I can almost guarantee that the teams that are winning on the scoreboard are almost certainly winning more rucks and with that having the ball in their hands for longer.

These will lave more energy more in their tanks for the most important part of the game; either the last 2 minutes or extra time. Check out the England v Kenya game at 14:01 on the UR7s Day 2 Live Text. 

Big problems for Scots

Scotland may have invented this great game, but to be honest at the moment the current Scottish Sevens programme is an embarrassment.

There are constant rumblings on the circuit about who should make up the core teams and with Scotland showing up so badly it makes you wonder.

I am very much hoping they prove me wrong, but on the field at present some serious questions have to be asked. This includes whether Gemmell is the man to take them forward or not.

If Scotland want to stay as a core side on the series then they have to look like their Welsh rivals and be competing for a quarter-final spot. They may have lost a number of the players who guided them to two semi-finals last season but it is still disappointing.

Currently finishing any higher than 13th at any tournament (Bowl winners) looks beyond the team.
With newly installed contracted Sevens players this season the SRU have never before put so much into the programme, one which must be costing them considerable figures.

My thoughts are they should go amateur in the same way the Argentineans approach the WS. The Scots only have two professional teams and struggle to find enough players for the 15-a-side team. If they were to look at the amateur sides in Scotland this probably wouldn't hurt the team. 
 

The players would be playing regularly for the traditional Scottish clubs on the 'King of Sevens' circuit, the coach would be able to have regular camps with the side without having to worry about commitments to 15s.

More time with players, more game time through the national circuit with Sevens specialists would far out weight the issue of not using the professional players. 

In professional sport the buck stops and starts with the coach and if the programme is not going to change thenperhaps it's time for the back room staff to change. Gemmell even admitted his position would be called into question post Wellington. The heat is on for them in Adelaide.

In my next blog I am going to look at USA and Canada, how Guyana, Chile and Tonga got on in Rounds 3 & 4, Invitational tournament mismatches and I will be taking a look forward to my favourite weekend of the year; 24 teams heading towards the true 'destination' on the IRB circuit; Hong Kong.

 

COMMENTS

team

Jonathon Bolter Wed 24 Feb 2010 19:35

Julien, thanks for reading. Your frustrations with the French and FFR are warranted. From a personal point of view, the French side has very much proved me wrong when i predicted they would improve this season from Rds 3+4. In a more general view the whole programme needs an overhaul but the issue is, is that its doing exactly what it supposed to be doing in the eyes of the FFR, ticking over. 

The FFR has always been very French in views on 7s and the Paris tournament was always an embarrassment to the World Series, it looked very much like the French public did not support the venture but this was due to the fact that it was completely unsupported by the Union. Teams felt unwanted and could not enjoy the Paris experience, the event received no marketing and just felt like it had no-importance. I remember being there in the early noughties and no joke there was barely a couple of thousand there.

Around the world structures are being put in place for Nations to improve on the 7s field, this goes from circuits, tournaments, training camps, teams, coaching clinics, the list goes on. With regards to this improvement France is very much behind the 8 ball. Tournaments have always been few in the country but things are changing. Phillpe Sella is leading his thoughts on using 7s as a development tool with over 60 clubs the top division and down invited to compete U20 level. This is relatively ground breaking for Tier 1 Rugby Nations, to have the buy in from club powers is huge. On the invitational circuit, more and more tournaments are coming to fore; Stanislas, Neuchatel, Howard Hinton, French Riviera to name just four.

Still for France to improve at the top its going to take some time, the FFR won't but should support the invitational team Les Bleus as they take in tournaments around the world. The FIRA side should be seen as a real development tool for the IRB team (Wales won the world cup on the back of winning the FIRA Champs) rather than being 2 separate teams.

The top level players are not going to turn out for France but with Sella driving the programme from behind the scenes through the U20s i would not be at all surprised in 2 years if the French are regularly competing a quarter-final stage, of course having said that they need to keep their core spot until that time.................

Julien, thanks for reading. Your frustrations with the French and FFR are warranted. From a personal point of view, the French side has very much proved me wrong when i predicted they would improve this season from Rds 3+4. In a more general view the whole programme needs an overhaul but the issue is, is that its doing exactly what it supposed to be doing in the eyes of the FFR, ticking over. 

The FFR has always been very French in views on 7s and the Paris tournament was always an embarrassment to the World Series, it looked very much like the French public did not support the venture but this was due to the fact that it was completely unsupported by the Union. Teams felt unwanted and could not enjoy the Paris experience, the event received no marketing and just felt like it had no-importance. I remember being there in the early noughties and no joke there was barely a couple of thousand there.

Around the world structures are being put in place for Nations to improve on the 7s field, this goes from circuits, tournaments, training camps, teams, coaching clinics, the list goes on. With regards to this improvement France is very much behind the 8 ball. Tournaments have always been few in the country but things are changing. Phillpe Sella is leading his thoughts on using 7s as a development tool with over 60 clubs the top division and down invited to compete U20 level. This is relatively ground breaking for Tier 1 Rugby Nations, to have the buy in from club powers is huge. On the invitational circuit, more and more tournaments are coming to fore; Stanislas, Neuchatel, Howard Hinton, French Riviera to name just four.

Still for France to improve at the top its going to take some time, the FFR won't but should support the invitational team Les Bleus as they take in tournaments around the world. The FIRA side should be seen as a real development tool for the IRB team (Wales won the world cup on the back of winning the FIRA Champs) rather than being 2 separate teams.

The top level players are not going to turn out for France but with Sella driving the programme from behind the scenes through the U20s i would not be at all surprised in 2 years if the French are regularly competing a quarter-final stage, of course having said that they need to keep their core spot until that time.................
Reply | Report this Post
team

Jonathon Bolter Wed 24 Feb 2010 19:51

Thanks for your questions about Kenya.

Honestly, i might be going against the grain here but out of the recent perenial Quarter-Finalists, Kenya are my least favorite side. I find them rather gimmicky and one dimensional. They are well supported due to not being a traditional rugby power coming on the scene dancing on the side of the field at Twickenham after beating Australia. Everyone loves a team who beats the Ozzies!

Since then it has very much been more of the same, the team are still well supported and the 'shujaa' still get the odd win over the big teams but its just not enough for me. Can you imagine the success that England, Australia, South Africa would have, if they had the same team for such a long period of time. They would be achieving success similar to Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa this year and more. I would say a minimum of 2 tournaments wins a season. 

Its not just the results, for me its the performances. Kenya put in a pretty decent performance against a tired England team in Las Vegas by being physical in the ruck and creating space for Injera. To often though they rely on Kayange and Injera without working the field and pressing the defense and this is predictable with the better teams just closing these guys down. This showed in a limp semi-final only an hour or so later at Sam Boyd. This really sums the Kenyans up over the past few years, see last years World Cup; great performance/result v Fiji and then............you got it, sent home packing.

The Kenyan team play more 7s than most, the experience in the squad is 2nd to none and for me to start supporting them once more, they need to shed the gimmick title and get on with playing elite level 7s consistently by being cuter, more tactically aware and not reliant on 2 mid-level stars, otherwise they may well become nothing more than a flash in the growth of the sport and this would be a real shame

Thanks for your questions about Kenya.

Honestly, i might be going against the grain here but out of the recent perenial Quarter-Finalists, Kenya are my least favorite side. I find them rather gimmicky and one dimensional. They are well supported due to not being a traditional rugby power coming on the scene dancing on the side of the field at Twickenham after beating Australia. Everyone loves a team who beats the Ozzies!

Since then it has very much been more of the same, the team are still well supported and the 'shujaa' still get the odd win over the big teams but its just not enough for me. Can you imagine the success that England, Australia, South Africa would have, if they had the same team for such a long period of time. They would be achieving success similar to Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa this year and more. I would say a minimum of 2 tournaments wins a season. 

Its not just the results, for me its the performances. Kenya put in a pretty decent performance against a tired England team in Las Vegas by being physical in the ruck and creating space for Injera. To often though they rely on Kayange and Injera without working the field and pressing the defense and this is predictable with the better teams just closing these guys down. This showed in a limp semi-final only an hour or so later at Sam Boyd. This really sums the Kenyans up over the past few years, see last years World Cup; great performance/result v Fiji and then............you got it, sent home packing.

The Kenyan team play more 7s than most, the experience in the squad is 2nd to none and for me to start supporting them once more, they need to shed the gimmick title and get on with playing elite level 7s consistently by being cuter, more tactically aware and not reliant on 2 mid-level stars, otherwise they may well become nothing more than a flash in the growth of the sport and this would be a real shame
Reply | Report this Post
team

TERRY O'CONNOR Fri 12 Mar 2010 00:31

Dont sack the Scotland coach as he has a very limited input on selection and is told who he can and cannot take to the IRB 7s tournaments. Because of the very low adult player population in Scotland where on any given Saturday you may only have between 4 or 5000 adults playing, with many games cancelled due to lack of players for fixtures it means that with only 2 pro teams the level of quality players who would be available for an IRB 7S tournament is very low and is selected on the basis of who the 2 pro team managers Rob Moffat and Sean Lineen do not require for Magners league and or Heineken cup games. Even then you have a long list of guys warming the bench and also the Acadamy players who they will often not release in case of an injury in the pro teams...This means that Stephen Gemmell is handed the poisoned chalice of the usual youngsters from the amateur game who are neither experienced enough or fit enough for IRB tourneys. Gemmell is one of the most respected coaches in IRB 7S and has only 3 pro 7s players in his team and looks to have a hard job ahead of him again in Adelaide and Hong Kong...Come Twickenham and Murrayfield when the Magners and Heineken comps are reaching their final stages..neither Scottish pro team will be involved and lo and behold players like Colin Gregor suddenty become available and the results from the last 2 tourneys will improved dramatically but this time probably not enough for Scotland to keep their core status in IRB7S ! And this from the country that started it all off! Scottish Rugby is headed by a banker who knows very little about rugby and plenty about balance sheets and they care very little about development through the 7s game, but the coach is not to blame!

Dont sack the Scotland  coach as he has a very limited input on selection and is told who he can and cannot take to the IRB 7s tournaments. Because of the very low adult player population in Scotland where on any given Saturday you may only have between 4 or 5000 adults playing, with many games cancelled due to lack of players for fixtures it means that with only 2 pro teams the level of quality players who would be available for an IRB 7S tournament is very low and is selected on the basis of who the 2 pro team managers Rob Moffat and Sean Lineen do not require for Magners league and or Heineken cup games. Even then you have a long list of guys warming the bench and also the Acadamy players who they will often not release in case of an injury in the pro teams...This means that Stephen Gemmell is handed the poisoned chalice of the usual youngsters from the amateur game who are neither experienced enough or fit enough for IRB tourneys. Gemmell is one of the most respected coaches in IRB 7S and has only 3 pro 7s players in his team and looks to have a hard job ahead of him again in Adelaide and Hong Kong...Come Twickenham and Murrayfield when the Magners and Heineken comps are reaching their final stages..neither Scottish pro team will be involved and lo and behold players like Colin Gregor suddenty become available and the results from the last 2 tourneys will improved dramatically but this time probably not enough for Scotland to keep their core status in IRB7S ! And this from the country that started it all off! Scottish Rugby is headed by a banker who knows very little about rugby and plenty about balance sheets and they care very little about development through the 7s game, but the coach is not to blame!
Reply | Report this Post
team

Jimmy Wed 28 Dec 2011 11:18

Big help, big help. And spuelratvie news of course.

Big help, big help. And spuelratvie news of course.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://crork.com/ Fri 18 May 2012 07:20

2WtTMQ I value the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.

2WtTMQ I value the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://www.mhaddyness.com/2012/06/its-your-time-to-step-up-join-epx-body.html Tue 5 Jun 2012 08:16

Thanks for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.

Thanks for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
Reply | Report this Post
team

Rochii de mireasa Luna Novias Tue 12 Jun 2012 14:59

I loved your blog.Much thanks again. Great.

I loved your blog.Much thanks again. Great.
Reply | Report this Post
team

cheap bookmarking service Thu 20 Sep 2012 07:43

ESBsqZ Say, you got a nice post.Really thank you! Much obliged.

ESBsqZ Say, you got a nice post.Really thank you! Much obliged.
Reply | Report this Post
team

ghhdixv Wed 31 Oct 2012 19:53

ghhdixv

ghhdixv
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://fiver.com/users/crorkservice Sat 3 Nov 2012 21:51

wOJiXi Thanks so much for the blog article.

wOJiXi Thanks so much for the blog article.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://www.ofertasbicicletas.com Sun 25 Nov 2012 11:47

Say, you got a nice post.Thanks Again. Really Great.

Say, you got a nice post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://www.imagenesde-amor.com/ Sun 25 Nov 2012 13:52

wow, awesome blog.Really looking forward to read more. Great.

wow, awesome blog.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://homemakers.net.in/interior-designers-in-mumbai.html Sun 25 Nov 2012 16:18

I value the blog. Really Cool.

I value the blog. Really Cool.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://slim-fast.us/ Fri 1 Feb 2013 06:12

zWtP0u Thanks again for the article.Thanks Again. Will read on...

zWtP0u Thanks again for the article.Thanks Again. Will read on...
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://submit.org.in/article.php?id=159374 Mon 4 Feb 2013 00:15

Major thanks for the article.Thanks Again.

Major thanks for the article.Thanks Again.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://articles-database.info/article.php?id=164823 Mon 4 Feb 2013 14:08

Great blog.Really looking forward to read more.

Great blog.Really looking forward to read more.
Reply | Report this Post
team

http://clomidnoprescription.overblog.com/ Fri 1 Mar 2013 05:17

RS0TAO Im grateful for the blog.Thanks Again. Keep writing.

RS0TAO Im grateful for the blog.Thanks Again. Keep writing.
Reply | Report this Post

POST A COMMENT



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Many years spent anonymously following 7s has had led to Jonathon forming some often controversial views on the sport. Hugely connected on the global circuit and with a bulging blackberry of contacts means UR7s will be often getting the inside scoop from him. Hold your hats folks as he paints his picture of ‘Joue Rugby’ dovetailed with a Moët lifestyle.

Got a question for Jon? Drop him an email on jon.bolter@ur7s.com

All blogumnists views published here are that of the author and not UR7s.com

OTHER ARTICLES

RSS Feed All of Jonathon Bolter's Reports »