As USA Struggles For Opportunities, Europe Prepares For Kickoff of 7′s Series

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  1. yankee_rob

    yankee_rob Member

    Aug 1, 2006
    London, England
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    http://www.rugbyamerica.org/2011/06...epares-for-kickoff-of-7s-series/#comment-2855


    As USA Struggles For Opportunities, Europe Prepares For Kickoff of 7′s Series

    June 16, 2011

    International, Rugby News, Sevens Article courtesy of IRB.com with additional content by Ted Hardy

    Coming off a disheartening season for Team USA on the HSBC World Series, it appears the hill America needs to climb may be growing steeper. In order to be amongst the elite in the 7′s World, the USA faces the task of catching up with the likes of England, New Zealand, and Fiji among others. Now they face a stiff task of fending off fast up-and-coming teams like Russia, Portugal, Italy and Spain.

    As America continues to struggle to produce sub-international experience for players, the new FIRA European Sevens ‘Grand Prix’ kicks off this weekend with the first of four tournaments in Lyon, France.

    With further tournaments set to be played in Moscow, Barcelona and Bucharest, the circuit gives many HSBC Sevens World Series regulars – the likes of England, Wales, France, Portugal and Russia – the opportunity to blood new talent and maintain their focus between World Series.

    One of the key factors, expressed on multiple occassions, behind the USA’s slip this past season was the lack of preparation and game time the team had prior to tournaments. With many of the World Series regulars getting in a warmup tournament (or two) prior to each event, the USA couldn’t keep up with a week of training before each tournament.

    Now Team USA is faced with not only a shortfall of warmup tournaments, but an entire summer of international level play. While Team USA regulars and hopefuls put in a summer of club tournaments, their competition is playing in a series of organized events that mirror the competition on the highly successful HSBC World Series.

    As we inch closer and closer to the Olympic Qualification process, the only plan evident for USA Rugby is to fall back on the USOC and wait for the next Olympic cycle to begin. While USA Rugby waits, everyone else is moving forward.

    Having finished on a high with two semi final appearances in London and Edinburgh, Wales and head coach Paul John will be taking a newlook squad, aiming to develop the Wales Sevens stars of the future.

    “We are very pleased with the way we ended the IRB season, with a Plate win in Adelaide, then to reach the Cup semi finals in the last two tournaments in London and Edinburgh, losing narrowly to (tournament winners) South Africa in both,” said John.

    “Those performances show that we are not far off the best teams in the world, but if we want to keep our place in the top 10 in the world, we’ve got to keep working hard because all those teams improve so much all the time too.”

    “International Sevens is a great environment for the boys to play in and we’re thrilled that two of our players have gained regional contracts as a result. We wish Jevon (Groves) and Gareth (Davies) all the best with those. We are looking to get some new players on dual contracts for next season and these summer FIRA tournaments provide a great opportunity to see the next wave of talent that’s available to us.”

    “These are high quality tournaments with the likes of England, Portugal, France, Spain and Russia involved. They will give players an insight into international Sevens Rugby and the more competition we can create within the squad for next season, the better.”

    Meanwhile, England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan has named a blend of young and experienced players in his squad for the Lyon tournament.

    Chris Brightwell, Sam Edgerley, Andy Higgins, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Tom Mitchell and Aaron Myers have all been called up to join Marcus Watson, Nick Royle and full-time Sevens players John Brake, Chris Cracknell, James Rodwell and Mathew Turner.

    “We’ve got half the squad that played in the HSBC Sevens World Series and the rest are guys we’re looking at for the future who have the chance to show us what they’ve got,” said Ryan.

    “The European series is a brilliant tool for us to have on our doorstep to try things out on and off the field without being in the pressure environment of the World Series. We get the chance to deconstruct their games, look at new ideas in attack and defence and blood new players, so it’s a great opportunity to move the squad forward.”

    The same 12 nations will compete in all four FIRA events with Portugal lining up as the reigning European champions.

    FIRA Sevens Grand Prix circuit

    1. Lyon, France 18-19 June
    2. Moscow, Russia 25-26 June
    3. Barcelona, Spain 9-10 July
    4. Bucharest, Romania 16-17 July

    Round 1 – Lyon, France

    Pool A
    Portugal
    Spain
    Georgia
    Romaina
    Ukraine
    Netherlands

    Pool B
    France
    Russia
    England
    Wales
    Italy
    Moldova
     

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