Big names return for London Sevens

Several teams have called up their big guns for the climax of the IRB Sevens World Series, which resumes in London and ends in Edinburgh.    more

Gordon Tietjens named a full strength squad for the final two legs of the IRB 09-10 series

"It's great to have Lote, Solomon and Sherwin back into the mix and have a fully fit team. All the players know they really have to dig deep and lift our game for these next two tournaments if we want overtake Samoa and win the series," he said....     more

David Tua vs Monte Barrett

David Tua has had confirmation that he will be fighting American Monte Barrett on July 17th. The 37-year-old Tua was originally scheduled to fight in Brazil on June 26, however his American-based trainer Roger Bloodworth said on Wednesday that has been changed....    more

The prospect of Samoa winning the IRB sevens World Series is one that has Aussie Northern Territory Rugby Unioin chief Tim Heath excited.

The Samoans will headline the Federation of Oceania Rugby Union's qualification tournament at Austar Park in October. "They are the best team in the world at the moment," Heath said....    more

Samoa have edge on NZ - Forbes

New Zealand captain DJ Forbes has admitted Hong Kong Sevens winners Samoa have grabbed a psychological advantage in the race for glory on the IRB Sevens World Series.

Wales shocked Fiji as the USA triumphed against England on a superb opening day at the Adelaide Sevens, the fifth event in the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series.

The rest of the top seeds all won their matches, hosts Australia, Samoa, New Zealand and South Africa all convincingly, as Friday night's eight games provided the generous Adelaide Oval crowd with ample entertainment.

On Saturday the remaining 16 pool matches will be played and the Cup quarter final line-ups decided, USA and Wales both well placed to reach the last eight.

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The New Zealanders couldn't fight off their Samoan hex this season with the absence of three key players, having lost all three games against them including last weekend's semi-final in Wellington.

With the absence of three key players, the New Zealanders couldn't fight off their Samoan hex this season, having lost all three games against them including last weekend's semi-final in Wellington.

Victorious in the first two tournaments of the year in Dubai and South Africa, New Zealand still hold a handy lead at the halfway point of the International Rugby Board series on 84 points, with Samoa clambering to second on 70 past Fiji on 68.

The Fijians were stunned 28-7 by Australia in their quarter-final.

Once again New Zealand struggled with the physical, swarming nature of Samoa's defence. They trailed 7-14 at halftime but never looked like stopping a team who possessed the tournament's two best players in Mikaele Pesamino and Alafoti Fa'osiliva. Both scored two tries in the final - Pesamino's trademark intercept on the stroke of halftime breaking New Zealand hearts and helping lift his tournament tally to 11 tries - while the other went to Reupena Levasa.

New Zealand crossed in the first half through Kurt Baker and in the second via Tim Mikkelson but they looked an ineffective attacking unit without speedy winger Sherwin Stowers.

Uale on the attack against All Blacks

New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and England all topped their groups on day one at the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, which also produced fine results for Japan and Guyana.

The Japanese beat the defending champions Argentina and Guyana scored a fine 12-12 draw against France as Sevens' global Olympic appeal came to the fore. 

Samoan flyer Mikaele Pesamino grabbed the headlines by becoming the first player for over four years to score five tries in a single 14-minute match, against Chile. Pesamino also scored a fine hat trick against Scotland to stand well clear at the top of the try scorers list with eight.

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Samoa's Mikaele Pesamino scored eight tries in Samoa's first two matches, including five against Chile

Fiji and Samoa laid on a stunning showpiece final for the packed Westpac Stadium crowd, at the end of which the Fijians emerged as 19-14 winners.

Jiuta Lutumailagi and Mikaele Pesamino swapped converted tries in the first 10-minute half to make it 7-7 at the break.

Emosi Vucago raced over to edge the Fijians seven ahead shortly after the break and Osea Kolinisau's score put them 19-7 up with two and half minutes to go, but still the Samoans hit back.

Pesamino grabbed a second try with a minute to play and only desperate Fijian defence held the Samoans out in the dying seconds.

Earlier, Gordon Tietjens' New Zealand side came up against a superb Samoan display of power and trickery in the first Cup semi final, Uale Mai inspiring the islanders to a convincing 24-14 win

The Samoans first fought from behind to beat Kenya and then raced out to a commanding lead against the kiwis, Mai scoring two tries in the space of two minutes in the second half to turn the screw.

Fiji then produced a clinical display against injury-hit England to win the second Cup semi 28-19.

Included in the outfit are two former captains, returning playmaker Uale Mai and forward enforcer Ofisa Treviranus, both of whom played for the Samoa Barbarians at the Suva Festival in Fiji last weekend.

The two experienced stars are the only Barbarian players named in the squad - Alatasi Tupou, Apelu Faaiuga and Jerry Meafou were all named as non-travelling reserves.

"The level of Sevens play at the Suva tournament was top class and it gave us honest assessments of where players such as Apelu, Alatasi and Jerry are at," said Barbarians coach Tausa Faamaoni, who returned to Samoa with the Shield.

Manu Samoa Sevens Squad for Wellington: Simaika Mikaele, Afa Aiono, Alafoti Fa'osiliva, Pale Toelupe, Ofisa Treviranus, Paul Chan Tung, Lolo Lui (C), Reupena Levasa, Mikaele Pesamino, Timoteo Iosua, Fautua Otto, Uale Ma'i. Management: Stephen Betham (Head Coach), Tausa Faamaoni Lalomilo (Assistant Coach/Manager), Ulima Tofi (Physiotherapist)

So the Dubai Sevens is over and it didn’t disappoint. Perhaps it didn’t quite live up to the thrills and spills we saw earlier this year at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in March at The Sevens, but that is not to say this weekend’s event was any less entertaining.

In March, the four favourites got knocked out in the quarter-finals, meaning four different continents were represented in the semis and whilst this weekend saw just two continents represented, perhaps the biggest absentee was indeed the holders South Africa.

Personally I was very impressed with Samoa. Their build up to the tournament hadn’t quite been as seamless as some of the other ‘big’ sides, but to beat England at The Sevens (again) with an opening three minutes that blew their opposition out of the water certainly deserves credit.

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The 43-5 score in the Samoa and France game is a clear indication that IRB has done nothing bridge the gap between tier one and tier two teams in the last twelve years. The high score difference was anticipated as the two sides statistics all favours a tier one side with regular international schedule and a pool of contracted players active in its domestic professional league.
Samoa defended most of the game and showed passion in doing so. Players showed good strength and fitness but their efforts for the most part was rather disorganised. Whose to blame them when they're only given a few days preparation. Manu Samoa's next game is against Italy

Italy v Samoa Match Stats:

Played 3; Italy won 0; Samoa won 3

First Test: Italy 18-42 Samoa, East London, May 27, 1995

Latest Test: Italy 9-17 Samoa, L'Aquila, November 24, 2001

Drawn Test Match: Italy 8-8 Samoa, Lansdowne Road, January 10, 1970

Samoa's largest winning margin: 24 points, Italy 18-42 Samoa, East London, May 27, 1995

Samoa's winning sequence: Three Tests, May 27, 1995 to present day

France coach Marc Lievremont has made 12 changes to the line-up that beat South Africa for Saturday's match against Samoa, with wing Benjamin Fall and flanker Alexandre Lapandry handed first caps.
The French stormed to a 20-13 victory over the world champions in Toulouse on Friday night but Lievremont has chosen to ring the changes for the Samoa game ahead of the clash with New Zealand on Saturday week.
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Wales were rattled, their composure shaken by the flying blue shirts that accompanied every run with the ball.

It was like deja vu all over again as Samoa shook up Wales at the Millennium Stadium turf. Within minutes of kick-off, Lolo Lui was sin-binned for a late smash on 70-cap man Dwayne Peel.
Henry Tuilagi and his muscle-bound cohorts proceeded to brutalise their opponents for 80 minutes. Samoa could have had this in the bag had Mapusua's chip kick in the dying minutes didnt go to touch.
Wales' coaching team bemoaned the lack of clinical finishing and the failure to build a high-intensity, ball-handling game, but decision-making was disrupted by the sheer physical intensity of the Test, factors in previous Samoa wins in 1991, 1994 and 1999.
Despite their narrow defeat, Samoa did a post-match lap of the Millennium Stadium, the home crowd and hard-core travelling support showing their appreciation for the islanders' efforts.
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