IRB Adelaide Sevens preview
by Paki's Corner | 17 March 2010 (23:04)
The 5th leg of the IRB World Sevens Series starts in a matter of hours with 16 teams set to challenge the Cup in Adelaide Australia. It promises to be another barn storming event for sevens lovers!
The South African side are defending champions from last year, and coach Paul Treu has been forced to make several changes due to injuries.
The team is: Mpho Mbiyozo, Chase Minnaar, Frankie Horne, Cecil Afrika, Chris Dry, Kyle Brown (captain), Branco du Preez, Ryno Benjamin, Hoffman Maritz, JW Jonker, Sampie Mastriet, Steven Hunt. This will be Kyle Brown’s first tournament as captain – making UCT and SACS old boys very proud.
Samoa will be the form team after winning the successful Las Vegas sevens tournament in the USA, but New Zealand will be challenging them to make amends. Australia performed brilliantly in Las Vegas and with the crowd support on their side could reach another semi final spot.
The USA named a similar team from the previous tournament, but with another football crossover athlete making the side. Tommy Saunders will play in his first IRB tournament and was considered one of the fittest and fastest players at the training camp in San Diego. The squad includes: Marco Barnard, Mark Bokhoven, Nick Edwards, Paul Emerick, Matt Hawkins, Valenese Malifa, Zach Pangelinan, Leonard Peters, Tommy Saunders, Shalom Suniula, Kevin Swiryn (captain), Zach Test.
My predictions for the pool stages, with these teams advancing to the all-important Cup quarterfinals:
Pool A: New Zealand, Tonga.
Pool B: Samoa, South Africa.
Pool C: Fiji, Kenya.
Pool D: Australia, USA (England should go through, but I am calling an upset here… and of course I am biased towards the USA!)
If you live outside America the IRB Sevens will be broadcast LIVE on TV like running water. However in the USA you can checkout ESPN360.com and Justin.TV for most of the action.
Adelaide Day 1 Fixtures |
| 1 |
19-03-2010 18:00 |
SAMOA |
0 - 0 |
FRANCE |
Pool B |
| 2 |
19-03-2010 18:22 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
0 - 0 |
JAPAN |
Pool B |
| 3 |
19-03-2010 18:44 |
FIJI |
0 - 0 |
WALES |
Pool C |
| 4 |
19-03-2010 19:06 |
KENYA |
0 - 0 |
PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
Pool C |
| 5 |
19-03-2010 19:28 |
NEW ZEALAND |
0 - 0 |
SCOTLAND |
Pool A |
| 6 |
19-03-2010 19:50 |
ARGENTINA |
0 - 0 |
TONGA |
Pool A |
| 7 |
19-03-2010 20:12 |
ENGLAND |
0 - 0 |
UNITED STATES |
Pool D |
| 8 |
19-03-2010 20:34 |
AUSTRALIA |
0 - 0 |
NIUE |
Pool D |
Adelaide Day 2 Fixtures |
| 9 |
20-03-2010 14:15 |
SAMOA |
0 - 0 |
JAPAN |
Pool B |
|
|
| 10 |
20-03-2010 14:37 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
0 - 0 |
FRANCE |
Pool B |
|
|
| 11 |
20-03-2010 14:59 |
FIJI |
0 - 0 |
PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
Pool C |
|
|
| 12 |
20-03-2010 15:21 |
KENYA |
0 - 0 |
WALES |
Pool C |
|
|
| 13 |
20-03-2010 15:43 |
NEW ZEALAND |
0 - 0 |
TONGA |
Pool A |
|
|
| 14 |
20-03-2010 16:05 |
ARGENTINA |
0 - 0 |
SCOTLAND |
Pool A |
|
|
| 15 |
20-03-2010 16:27 |
ENGLAND |
0 - 0 |
NIUE |
Pool D |
|
|
| 16 |
20-03-2010 16:49 |
AUSTRALIA |
0 - 0 |
UNITED STATES |
Pool D |
|
|
| 17 |
20-03-2010 17:26 |
FRANCE |
0 - 0 |
JAPAN |
Pool B |
|
|
| 18 |
20-03-2010 17:48 |
WALES |
0 - 0 |
PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
Pool C |
|
|
| 19 |
20-03-2010 18:10 |
SCOTLAND |
0 - 0 |
TONGA |
Pool A |
|
|
| 20 |
20-03-2010 18:32 |
UNITED STATES |
0 - 0 |
NIUE |
Pool D |
|
|
| 21 |
20-03-2010 19:04 |
SAMOA |
0 - 0 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
Pool B |
|
|
| 22 |
20-03-2010 19:26 |
FIJI |
0 - 0 |
KENYA |
Pool C |
|
|
| 23 |
20-03-2010 19:48 |
NEW ZEALAND |
0 - 0 |
ARGENTINA |
Pool A |
|
|
| 24 |
20-03-2010 20:10 |
ENGLAND |
0 - 0 |
AUSTRALIA |
Pool D |
|
|
Happy St.Patrick’s Day!
Cheers Dallen
Dallen Stanford played 54 matches for the USA 7s team throughout his career spanning from 2006 to 2009, including 13 IRB 7s tournament appearances. To read other articles by the South African visit www.ur7s.com and www.pakiscorner.com.
