The European climax of the HSBC Sevens World Series kicked off in Scotland with Round Eight this weekend, the Glasgow Sevens at Scotstoun Stadium. The Tournament ran from Saturday 4 to Sunday 5 May.
With ONE more game to go, who will take the CUP, South Africa or New Zealand?
Well, that question was answered in Green and Gold… Blitzbokke take the Glasgow title, with a win by 28 / 21.
Background to this week:
The event is a key stepping stone towards the World Cup Sevens in Moscow in June, but in the short term several nations have their eyes fixed on battles at the top and bottom of the Series table.
Defending Glasgow and Series champions New Zealand lead the overall race by 32 points.
However, just six points separate South Africa, Fiji and Samoa in second, third and fourth.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table the battle to avoid core team relegation guarantees intensity across the entire match schedule.
At the London Sevens at Twickenham next week (May 11 and 12) the core teams ranked 13th, 14th and 15th – after this week’s Glasgow event – will play off for three core team places next season, with Asian champions Hong Kong, Russia, Zimbabwe, Tonga and Georgia.
Currently, tournament hosts Scotland are tied in joint 12th place with United States, above Portugal and Spain – meaning that Scotland and United States are most likely battling to out-perform each other in Glasgow and safeguard their core team status for 2013/14.
* The new format, allowing for promotion and relegation from core team status, was introduced this season to allow for a system that gives all Member Unions a transparent and merit-based opportunity to qualify for the Series, and ultimately the Olympic Games in 2016.
Saturday 4 May Results
Match | Kick-Off | Team | Score | Team | Pool | ||
1. | 10:30 | Australia | 10 |
– |
17 | Argentina | Pool C |
2. | 10:52 | Fiji | 45 |
– |
0 | Spain | Pool C |
3. | 11:14 | France | 14 |
– |
22 | Wales | Pool D |
4. | 11:36 | USA | 48 |
– |
5 | Russia | Pool D |
5. | 11:58 | South Africa | 17 |
– |
14 | Kenya | Pool A |
6. | 12:20 | Samoa | 17 |
– |
19 | Canada | Pool A |
7. | 12:42 | New Zealand | 31 |
– |
5 | England | Pool B |
8. | 13:04 | Scotland | 26 |
– |
5 | Portugal | Pool B |
9. | 13:36 | Australia | 42 |
– |
14 | Spain | Pool C |
10. | 13:58 | Fiji | 28 |
– |
10 | Argentina | Pool C |
11. | 14:20 | France | 15 |
– |
14 | Russia | Pool D |
12. | 14:42 | USA | 21 |
– |
26 | Wales | Pool D |
13. | 15:04 | South Africa | 17 |
– |
14 | Canada | Pool A |
14. | 15:26 | Samoa | 26 | – | 0 | Kenya | Pool A |
15. | 15:48 | New Zealand | 40 |
– |
0 | Portugal | Pool B |
16. | 16:10 | Scotland | 7 |
– |
29 | England | Pool B |
17. | 16:47 | Argentina | 40 |
– |
5 | Spain | Pool C |
18. | 17:09 | Wales | 28 |
– |
22 | Russia | Pool D |
19. | 17:31 | Kenya | 10 |
– |
21 | Canada | Pool A |
20. | 17:53 | England | 46 |
– |
0 | Portugal | Pool B |
21. | 18:15 | Australia | 17 |
– |
19 | Fiji | Pool C |
22. | 18:37 | France | 14 |
– |
21 | USA | Pool D |
23. | 18:59 | South Africa | 27 |
– |
0 | Samoa | Pool A |
24. | 19:21 | New Zealand | 28 |
– |
0 | Scotland | Pool B |
results and schedule courtesy of SRU |
Sunday 5 May Results
Match | Kick-Off | Team | Score | Team | Competition | ||
25. | 10:30 | Samoa | 17 |
– |
14 | Russia | QF Bowl |
26. | 10:52 | Australia | 36 |
– |
0 | Portugal | QF Bowl |
27. | 11:14 | France | 7 |
– |
22 | Kenya | QF Bowl |
28. | 11:36 | Scotland | 31 |
– |
5 | Spain | QF Bowl |
29. | 11:58 | South Africa | 22 |
– |
5 | USA | QF Cup |
30. | 12:20 | Fiji | 12 |
– |
15 | England | QF Cup |
31. | 12:42 | Wales | 26 |
– |
7 | Canada | QF Cup |
32. | 13:04 | New Zealand | 42 |
– |
10 | Argentina | QF Cup |
33. | 13:46 | Russia | 41 |
– |
7 | Portugal | SF Shield |
34. | 14:08 | France | 41 |
– |
0 | Spain | SF Shield |
35. | 14:30 | Samoa | 12 |
– |
17 | Australia | SF Bowl |
36. | 14:52 | Kenya | 24 |
– |
19 | Scotland | SF Bowl |
37. | 15:14 | USA | 22 |
– |
7 | Fiji | SF Plate |
38. | 15:36 | Canada | 7 |
– |
22 | Argentina | SF Plate |
39. | 15:58 | South Africa | 24 |
– |
17 | England | SF Cup |
40. | 16:20 | Wales | 14 |
– |
26 | New Zealand | SF Cup |
41. | 16:52 | Russia | 17 |
– |
21 | France | Final Shield |
42. | 17:20 | Australia | 12 |
– |
5 | Kenya | Final Bowl |
43. | 17:48 | USA | 17 |
– |
7 | Argentina | Final Plate |
44. | 18:16 | England | 24 |
– |
21 | Wales | Third Place |
45. | 18:45 | South Africa | 28 |
– |
21 | New Zealand | Final Cup |
Saturday’s Highlights
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFdOMRevnqU[/youtube]
Wow that must have been some final will have to try watch the highlights of it. Congratulations Blitzbokke! Even bigger thumbs up as it was achieved without two of the regular big names. Roll on London…
Sadly we were too inconsistent during the series. We won 3 titles vs the 1 of NZ, but they accumulated consistently.
New Zealand beat Argentina to progress to the semi finals and in doing so claimed their 11th World Series title by gaining enough Series points to ensure they have an unassailable lead in the standings.
New Zealand 19 19 22 17 19 17 19 19 0 151
South Africa 17 7 17 10 22 5 22 22 0 122
Users Online
Total 178 users including 0 member, 178 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm