South Korea sounded an early warning to their rivals that they will be a force to reckon with at the Asian Games in Guangzhou (China) when they successfully defended the Shanghai Sevens title on Sunday.

Korea overcame partisan support and a strong challenge from hosts China in the Cup final to emerge worthy 38-17 winners to win the first of two ranking events in the IRB Asian Rugby Sevens Series and also grab the early psychological high ground.

The victory will pour cold water on the theory that Korea are a spent force in Asian rugby circles, and will firmly establish their credentials as serious contenders for a gold medal at the Guangzhou Games in November.

Despite being relegated from the elite division in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 15-a-side championship earlier this year and finishing fifth at last month’s Asian Under-20 Championship, Korea showed plenty of bottle to ward off all challengers in Shanghai.

They knocked out much-fancied Japan 33-12 in the semi-finals before storming to victory past China in a high-scoring final where they always looked in control. Mercurial Korean back Kim Won Yong, last year’s player of the tournament, again tormented his opposition in Shanghai with a hat trick of tries to help propel Korea out to a 24-7 lead at halftime, a gap that China was unable to bridge.

Korean coach Kim Yun Ki looked ahead to the Asian Games saying, “We currently have four of our sevens players playing in the Top League in Japan this weekend. We will get those players back and have a month to prepare for the Games including playing in Borneo. I believe that with these players in the team we will be even stronger in Guangzhou.”

The win over Japan will be a welcome boost to Korea who seem clearly focused on winning an Asian Games gold medal. The result will be an eye-opener for the rest of the chasing pack, especially Japan.

Another loss to Japan for Hong Kong

Japan had stormed back from a 17-0 deficit to defeat arch-rivals Hong Kong 22-17 in the Cup quarterfinals.

The victory continues a grim losing record for Hong Kong who has lost their last four outings against the Asian powerhouse – twice in the regional sevens competition last year, in the gold medal final at the East Asian Games and on the second day at the Hong Kong Sevens in March.

Hong Kong head coach Dai Rees refused to be downhearted by the loss to Japan and firmly believes the two sides remain potential rivals for the coveted gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.

“At the end of the day, we are still the top two teams in Asia,” Rees said. “But the curse continues, our losing streak against Japan goes on. We played very well, but against a side like Japan, you have to nail that one per cent and we didn’t do that today.”

Hong Kong scored three early tries to take a 17-0 lead. They could have gone ahead 24-0 but a breakaway try was disallowed and they were called back for a scrum inside their 22. Japan won the scrum and scored a length-of-the field try just on halftime.

“That was a bit unfortunate as we could have put the game beyond them,” Rees said. “Then the momentum swung their way soon after the break when we missed a tackle to concede a soft try.”

Malaysia’s Fijian onslaught

Malaysia fielding a Fijian brigade easily booked their berth in the Cup semi-finals with a 28-0 victory over India while home team China gave their supporters plenty of cheer as they rolled over Guam 31-0.

Defending Shanghai Sevens champions South Korea had a more arduous path to the final, coming up against stiff opposition from a gutsy Sri Lanka outfit before scraping through to a 21-14 victory.

Korea upped the tempo and their game in the semi-finals against Japan breezing through to a 33-12 victory while in the other semi-final, China buoyed by support from the home fans edged out Malaysia 19-12.

In the third place playoff, Japan defeated Malaysia 27-5 to clinch the bronze medal.

Hong Kong finished fifth in the tournament by winning the Plate competition with a comprehensive 52-5 victory over Guam. They had earlier defeated Sri Lanka 42-12 in the Plate semi-finals.

There will be an extra reason for teams to do well in the first ranking leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Shanghai this weekend; that is grabbing the psychological high ground before the upcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.

The top six teams decided over the two ranking legs of the series – the other being the Borneo Sevens in October (30-31) – will win a ticket to the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens next March. But this time there is the added incentive of winning the mind games before the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

“All the top teams will be vying for honours at the Asian Games and the Asian Rugby Sevens Series will be a useful build-up to the Asian Games and also an indicator of how they will go in Guangzhou,” said Jarrad Gallagher, the International Rugby Board’s regional general manager for Asia.

Japan have been seeded number one at the 12-team Shanghai Sevens which will take place this weekend at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club. Defending champions South Korea are the second seeds while Hong Kong, runners-up to Japan at the East Asian Games final last December, are the third seeds. They each head one of the three preliminary pools.

Shanghai Sevens defending champions, Korea

With the corporate club season just about to kick-off in Japan, many of the top players have not been included but the favourites are confident that they still have enough firepower to lift the Cup title on Sunday.

“A number of their key players have not been released by the clubs, but I suspect the Japanese management is also taking this opportunity to look at a few new faces before the Asian Games,” Gallagher said.

Japan is pooled with Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in the preliminary round.

Korea

Defending champions South Korea will be looking to get its back on track in Shanghai. The former Asian powerhouse has struggled to find its feet in recent times. At the HSBC Asian Five Nations this year, South Korea finished bottom of the elite Top Five competition to be relegated to Division one next year. They also finished fifth in the Under-20 Asian Championship in Bangkok last week.

“The Koreans will most likely field a very strong side as they bid to regain their standing in Asia,” Gallagher said. “They need to do well in the next couple of events so as to regain their focus before the Asian Games.”

The Koreans are bracketed with Chinese Taipei, India and Guam on the opening day.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong will also be missing a couple of key sevens specialists – Mark Wright and Rowan Varty – who are both plying their trade in Japan. They will also be missing last year’s captain and scrumhalf Jeff Wong who is still recovering from knee surgery.

But head coach Dai Rees is confident his team can go all the way. “Our aim is to contest the Cup final in every tournament we play in before the Asian Games,” Rees said.

Hong Kong are arguably in the hardest pool, drawn with China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. China, as host of the Asian Games, will undoubtedly be intent on wining top honours in Guangzhou and have brought a full-strength squad to Shanghai.

After the opening round robin competition, the top two teams in each pool plus the best two third-placed teams will advance to the Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

“It will be an interesting competition. While teams will undoubtedly want to do well, there will also be an element of not wanting to show their hands too early before the Asian Games,” Gallagher said.

Pool A: Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore

Pool B: South Korea, Taiwan, India, Guam

Pool C: Hong Kong, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka

In his latest irbsevens.com column, Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu assesses his team ahead of the Commonwealth Games – from the airport lounge in Cape Town…

To Delhi and beyond – against all odds

That’s the way I’m approaching the next few crucial months with my South Africa Sevens team.

The Commonwealth Games only come around once every four years and are such a massive opportunity for all of us and I know that my squad, announced this week, will have raised some eyebrows but I’m pleased with the players I’ve picked to take to India.

We’ve had some of our mainstays for the last few seasons opt to go on and concentrate on their 15s careers – players like Mzwandile Stick and Mpho Mbiyozo – and I wish them well. Frankie Horne is injured, some like Sampie Mastriet are involved in the Currie Cup and some, like Gio Aplon, are even now with the Sprinbgoks. It just shows that the Sevens programme is working and it’s not difficult for me right now to convince some of the best young talent in the country to come and play Sevens.

They’ve seen the team on TV, they’ve seen them win a World Series and compete all over the world in front of packed stadia. And they’re not just 20-year-olds that I’m looking at, it’s kids leaving school this year or maybe even next, who could score the winning try in the Olympic final in 2016. Not only do they realise that Sevens is a possible stepping stone to higher honours, they can see too how it is now a full time profession, a sport in its own right.

That is why we will travel to the Commonwealth Games looking to win the gold against all odds, but with the element of surprise.

Under the radar

Most people in world rugby will have seen Hosea Gear, Zac Guildford and Adam Thomson. They are All Blacks and superb players. It’s fantastic for Gordon (Tietjens) that he has been able to pick them in his squad and New Zealand will probably start as favourites to win a fourth straight gold medal, but a lot of my players will fly in under the radar.

Renfred Dazel is back for me, one of the Sevens stars who won the 2008/09 World Series, and Branco du Preez got the nod ahead of Paul Delport joining the likes of captain Kyle Brown, but the youth is what excites me as we build for future World Series and the Olympics in 2016. Even Cecil Afrika looks a bit of a seasoned campaigner in my squad!

There are two Commonwealth Games between now and the first ever Olympic Games to feature Sevens in 2016. This year in Delhi is the first and then there will be Glasgow 2014, and part of my focus is on blooding new players for future battles because they are good players but new to Sevens.

Boom Prinsloo shone for Shimlas in this year’s FNB Varsity Cup and both Lubabalo Mtembu and Sibusiso Sithole of the Sharks played key roles for the South Africa Under 20 team in this year’s Junior World Championship. Now it’s a case of giving them a first taste of Sevens, letting them get their hands on the ball, hone their fitness which is so important and once we get to Delhi get that all-important experience of being a part of a huge multi-sport event.

It will be a tough challenge for them to adapt in the time and they have a lot of work to do, but I’m confident we can go to India and bring back a medal for South Africa.

Leaving on a jet plane

Between now and then I will be putting myself through my own paces.

Every year I go on at least one professional development trip and, even as I write this column, I’m sitting waiting for a flight to Australia where I’m going to be shadowing some of the country’s best sports coaches in Melbourne.

The city is an unbelievable place to visit but it’s also a stronghold of AFL (Australian Rules Football) and I’m going to be visiting three clubs, Collingwood, North Melbourne and the Melbourne Demons, to share the knowledge and experience of their coaches.

I’ll also then be spending some time with the Melbourne Storm Rugby League club.

There is so much that Rugby Union and Sevens in particular can learn from other sports like these. Whether you’re coaching rugby, AFL, Touch or hockey the same underlying principles come into play: you have to make your first-up tackles, you have to defend well, you have to work hard, you have to be organised and you have to make sure that everyone knows their own role in the team or the squad.

More specifically I’ll be looking at the aerial prowess of the AFL players and see how I can relay that back to my Sevens team for restarts. We’ve seen how Samoa and Australia have really grabbed the ascendency in that area on the Sevens World Series so I’ll be interested there.

More than anything, though, it’s an opportunity to learn, to grow as a coach and to expand on the skill set that I can then impart onto some of the most exciting, young and talented players South African rugby has to offer.

I will try anything once, if it helps us in our quest for Commonwealth gold. Against all the odds…

(Paul Treu’s article originally appeared on irb.com)

Paul Treu with a young fan (Miguel) at the 2009 George Sevens (Pic: Sammy Horne)

New Zealand’s national airline has adopted a new attitude to engage with their passengers, recruiting several stars of the All Blacks rugby union team for an in-flight safety video.

The Air New Zealand video, which is set to be launched next Monday but is already airing on video-sharing website Youtube, features All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and coach Graham Henry as pilots.

Fellow All Blacks Conrad Smith, Mils Muliaina and Richard Kahui and prominent rugby commentator Tony Johnson also feature in the video, along with some garishly dressed rugby fans. The video is sprinkled with rugby symbolism and terminology.

Henry, a former secondary school headmaster, sternly warns passengers of the airline’s no-smoking policy: “If you find yourself needing to smoke on this flight, consider yourself dropped… we can’t have that kind of disruption in the team“.

It concludes with a Jonah Lomu-obsessed elderly woman running naked, or streaking, down the central aisle of the plane.

The video will replace the previous “bare essentials” video in which several Air New Zealand staff wearing nothing but body-painted uniforms ran through the safety procedures.

(Source: iol.co.za)

I haven’t seen this amazing video clip before, so Cheers to IRB Sevens World Series on FaceBook for posting it.

The video, the most watched on their dedicated YouTube channel (65,910 views and counting) shows US international and former (Gauteng) Lions player Todd Clever diving over his team physio to score for the USA.

The physio was busy attending to an injured teammate, so rather that risking going around them, Clever decided to take the “safer” route over them!

Check it out:

I believe I can fly. Now that’s clever!

Todd Clever scores again for the USA (Pic: scrum.com)

All Blacks Adam Thomson and Zac Guildford as well as in-form wing Hosea Gear, who scored a hat trick against England for the Maori recently, have been included in a New Zealand Sevens 22-man trial squad for the Commonwealth Games.

The All Blacks’ Hosea Gear (Pic: IRB)

Coach Gordon Tietjens has brought the wider squad together and will reduce the number to 14 next month, ahead of this year’s Games in New Delhi, India, in October.

Loose forward Thomson, who earned his stripes playing Sevens for Tietjens, and wing Guildford, who impressed for NZ’s junior ranks, were both included in the enlargened squad currently in Mount Maunganui for a training camp.

Both were omitted from the All Blacks for the upcoming Tri Nations series against South Africa and Australia, while Hurricanes and New Zealand Maori wing Gear was unable to break into the national side despite strong form.

Tietjens has also included 2009 All Blacks wing Ben Smith in his squad along with IRB Junior Player of the Year Julian Savea, who helped New Zealand win the Junior World Championship in Argentina last week.

One man to have gone the other way and forced his way into the All Blacks reckoning is former Sevens superstar Victor Vito.

Tietjens said he was pleased with the depth of the players coming into the trial camp.

New Zealand mentor Gordon Tietjens pictured at the Hong Kong Sevens (Pic: Mike Jansen)

“We have a good mix of current sevens national squad members and quality players coming in from other national teams,” he said.

Players not considered for the trial camp due to injury are Sean Maitland (shoulder), Tim Nanai-Williams (hamstring), Lelia Masaga (knee), Kendrick Lynn (groin), Jared Payne (ankle) and Scott Waldrom (hand).

Under Tietjens, New Zealand have won all three of the Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens golds on offer – in 1998, 2002 and 2006 – but face a tough test this year against the likes of IRB Sevens World Series champions Samoa, third-placed side Australia, England, South Africa, Wales and Kenya.

New Zealand Commonwealth Games sevens trial squad:

Toby Arnold (Bay of Plenty), Kurt Baker (Taranaki), Beauden Barrett (Taranaki), Tomasi Cama (Manawatu), Edwin Cocker (Auckland), DJ Forbes (Counties-Manukau), Robert Fruean (Canterbury), Hosea Gear (Wellington), Zac Guildford (Hawke’s Bay), Jason Hona (Bay of Plenty), Solomon King (Bay of Plenty), Zar Lawrence (Bay of Plenty), Fritz Lee (Counties-Manukau), Brendon Leonard (Waikato), Tim Mikkelson (Waikato), Lote Raikabula (Manawatu), Julian Savea (Welllington), Ben Smith (Otago), Ben Souness (Taranaki), Sherwin Stowers (Counties-Manukau), Adam Thomson (Otago), Save Tokula (Waikato).

(Story: irb.com)

New Zealand’s under20 player Julian Savea was recently honoured as the International Rugby Board’s Junior Player of the Year. 

Savea was part of the victorious New Zealand under20 side who won a third successive IRB Junior World Championship title with a 62-17 defeat of Australia at the Estadio El Coloso del Parque in Rosario, Argentina.

“I feel pretty stoked,”said Savea. “Once again just credit to the boys as without them I wouldn’t be here. I enjoyed the game tonight, it was great, we got up and played and I think the boys just capitalised on our opportunities more.”

We don’t often feature the women’s game on BlitzBokke.com but this one deserves a mention.

At the recently completed IRB Junior World Championships in Rosario, Argentina, the reigning South American Womens Champions Brazil played a Sevens game against their Argentinian counterparts in a curtain-raiser to the Final (between Australia & New Zealand).

It is no surprise that Sevens is experiencing massive growth in South America as Rio De Janeiro will host the 2016 edition of the Olympic Games where the game of Sevens will make it’s debut.

Video by the IRB:

Springbok Under20 mentor Eric Sauls today (Wednesday June 23) insists that there were plenty of positives to take from the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina following his side’s third place finish in this year’s tournament.

Baby Boks mentor, Eric Sauls

The Baby Boks achieved their third consecutive bronze medal after they defeated England 27-22 in Rosario on Monday night. New Zealand claimed a hat trick of Under-20 titles following their comprehensive 62-17 win over Australia in the final played on the same day.

We wanted to WIN

“Our intention was not to finish third, it was to win the competition,” said the Baby Boks coach.

“I know everyone in South Africa expected that and so did the players, management team and everyone who supported us. It would have been disastrous had we finished in fourth position as that would have meant that we regressed instead of moving forward.”

“Some critics might suggest that we are stagnating after we finished third now for the last three years. But I honestly believe that there is definite growth within this side. We have at least five players who could play in next year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Italy.”

Centres Jaco Taute, Francois Venter, winger Wandile Mjekevu, scrumhalf Lohan Jacobs and flanker Siyamthanda Kolisi are all eligible for selection in next year’s IRB Junior World Championship. Sauls however pointed out where South Africa might be lacking in terms of junior growth.

Currie Cup duty

The likes of Taute, Venter and Mjekevu will all report on Monday with their respective Absa Currie Cup sides in preparation for this year’s competition. Taute and Mjekevu along with The Sharks’ Patrick Lambie were the only players in this year’s SA Under-20 side that competed in the 2010 Vodacom Super 14.

“Australia will have 11 of their 14 forwards that played in this year’s competition that will again represent the national Under-20 side in Italy,” said the SA Under-20 coach.

“Then they have a further five players in their backline. I had a long conversion with their Manager of High Performance David Nucifora who reckons that all those players will compete in next year’s Super Rugby competition.

“Then when you look at the New Zealand side, they have already started their development and conditioning programme with next year’s group of players.

“It would be great if those five players that could represent our side next year, be given a better opportunity at Super Rugby level in order for us to constantly compete with the likes of New Zealand and Australia.

“Their systems allow growth for future Under-20 players. It would be for the better of our junior structures, if more and more Super Rugby franchise involve our youngsters in the Super Rugby set ups.”

SA Under-20 results in the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship:

South Africa 40 Tonga 14 (Pool C, Game 1)

South Africa 73 Scotland 0 (Pool C, Game 2)

South Africa 35 Australia 42 (Pool C, Game 3)

South Africa 36 New Zealand 7 (Semi-final)

South Africa 27 England 22 (Third place Playoff game)

The SA Under-20s achieved a hat trick of bronze medals in the IRB Junior World Championship on Monday after they defeated England 27-22 in Rosario.

The Baby Boks came back from a half time deficit 19-12 to record their third victory in the 2010 tournament.

Winger Nico Scheepers opened the scoring for the South Africans after diving in the corner to score the first try of the match. Fullback Patrick Lambie added the conversion to steer the Boks to a 7-0 lead after eight minutes.

England though hit back five minutes later when winger Marcus Watson broke the Baby Boks’ defence to score his first five-pointer of the game. Flyhalf Freddie Burns, who converted Watson’s try, stretched England’s lead to 14-7 when he scored a converted try in the 23rd minute of the match.

The Baby Boks though hit back two minutes later when Sibusiso Sithole crashed his way over the try line to score his first of two tries on the evening (14-12).

England stretched their lead over the South Africans when Joe Marler scored his side’s third try of the game seven minutes before the break (19-12).

The Baby Boks immediately hit back after the break when Lambie scored South Africa’s third try of the game (19-17).

The South Africans regained the lead in the 17th minute of the second half when Sithole scored his second try of the match. Lambie converted Sithole’s five-pointer to hand the Boks a 24-19 lead.

Below: Sibusiso Sithose dives over for South Africa in their match against England

With 12 minutes remaining in the match utility back Rory Clegg kept England in the game thanks to a penalty kick he converted when the Baby Boks were penalised for offside (24-22).

However the South Africans sealed the victory with seven minutes remaining in the game when Lambie kicked his first penalty of the match to hand the Boks a 27-22 result.

England though had one final attempt to snatch victory at the death, but tigerish defence from the South Africans ensured that they ended the game as victors and bronze medal winners in the 2010 IRB Junior World Championships.

“We very pleased to come away from this tournament with at least the bronze medal,” said SA Under-20 coach Eric Sauls.  “This was the first time we beat England in the Under-20 format. The guys showed great courage and character to come from behind and achieve this victory. We were naturally disappointed about our defeats against New Zealand and Australia, but this was an important win as it means that we end the tournament off on a high.”

“This third finish in the IRB Junior World Championship is something people need to take into perspective. All teams have upped their games and the standard of rugby has most definitely improved during the last 12 months.  This result also means now that the three southern hemisphere teams are the three strongest Under-20 teams in the world.”

Scorers:

South Africa – Tries: Nico Scheepers, Sibusiso Sithole (2), Patrick Lambie; Conversions: Lambie (2); Penalty: Lambie.

England – Tries: Marcus Watson, Freddie Burns, Joe Marler; Conversions: Burns (2); Penalty: Rory Clegg.

Well done, Coach Eric Sauls, the management team and the Springboks!