Commonwealth Games Sevens
With the Commonwealth Games Sevens just over a month away, I thought we should start having a look at who is to be involved both in terms of teams and Australia's players.
The Tournament is to be held at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne with the following nations competing:
Australia
Canada
Cook Islands
England
Fiji (Current IRB World Champions)
Kenya
Namibia
New Zealand (Defending Champions)
Niue (replacing Zambia)
Samoa
Scotland
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Tonga
Uganda
Wales
Although there are some rugby minnows, the field includes seven of the top ten ranked Sevens nations in the world.
This will be a very tough competition to win with several of the nations bolstering their squads with International Capped players.
Australia to meet PNG in Wellington Sevens
Australia to meet PNG in Wellington Sevens
February 03, 2006 - 10:14am
Story by: ARU
Australian will play Papua New Guinea at 12:50pm today (AEST) when Day One of the Wellington Sevens gets underway this afternoon.
Australia will also meet Scotland and England in the cauldron of a packed Westpac Stadium later this afternoon.
The atmosphere and colour of the Wellington Sevens makes it one of the most entertaining tournaments on the IRB Sevens circuit.
It is an atmosphere that Australian coach Glen Ella would like to see recreated in Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games, which is only 40 days away.
"There is always a great buzz at the Wellington Sevens," Ella said.
"They have some pretty crazy fans over here who get dressed up and really get involved in the games. They get right behind the New Zealand team, and in between matches they are dancing in the isles.
"It creates a great carnival atmosphere, and it would be great to see a similar atmosphere in Melbourne when we play in the Commonwealth Games in less than six weeks.
"I encourage all Australian sports fans to get their tickets to the Commonwealth Games Sevens, get their Wallaby jersey out and create a sea of gold at the Telstra Dome in 40 days time."
For information about tickets to the Commonwealth Games Sevens, go to www.melbourne2006.com.au. Live results for the Wellington Sevens can be found at www.sevens.co.nz.
Wellington Sevens - Day 1
2:50pm (12:50pm AEST) Australia v PNG
5:46pm (3:46pm AEST) Australia v Scotland
9:34pm (7:34pm AEST) Australia v England
Australian team for 2006 Wellington & Los Angeles Sevens
Australian team for 2006 Wellington & Los Angeles Sevens
Shawn Mackay (c)
Randwick, NSW
Matthew Bell
Gordon, NSW
Michael Black
Southern Districts, NSW
Vinnie Byrne
Randwick, NSW
Josh Gamgee
Gordon, NSW
Luke Inman
Sydney University, NSW
Luke Milton
Southern Districts, NSW
Damon Murphy
Brothers, QLD
Richard O'Connor
West Harbour, NSW
Viliame Ratu
Southern Districts, NSW
Nick Reily
West Harbour, NSW
Anthony Sauer
Brothers, QLD
2005/06 IRB Sevens Series
2005/06 IRB Sevens Series
1-2 Dec 2005 Dubai (UAE)
9-10 Dec 2005 George (South Africa)
3-4 Feb 2006 Wellington (New Zealand)
11-12 Feb 2006 Los Angeles (USA)
16-17 March 2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne (not part of IRB Sevens)
31 March & 1-2 April Hong Kong (China)
8-9 April 2006 Singapore (Singapore)
27-28 May 2006 Paris (France)
3-4 June 2006 London (England
Four Wallabies in Games sevens team
Four Wallabies in Games sevens team
Australia has named a strong squad featuring four Wallabies for the rugby union sevens tournament at next month's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Chris Latham and Scott Fava are part of a 12-man squad, giving all four Australian Super 14 sides representation in the Games team.
Regular sevens players Shawn Mackay, Joshua Gamgee, Luke Inman, Damon Murphy and Nick Reily have been rewarded for their fine form on the IRB Sevens circuit.
Also included were Tom McVerry, Cameron Shepherd and pocket-sized speedster Brendan Williams, who has returned from Italian club Benetton for his second Commonwealth Games.
Williams played for New South Wales in the 2001 Super 12 season before heading to Italy.
Coach Glen Ella said the inclusion of four Wallabies would boost the team and the crowd numbers.
"Sevens is a high-speed game that can turn on a bounce of the ball, so there is no question that guys like Tuqiri, Fava, Latham and Giteau are well suited to it, " he said in a statement.
"They have the speed, power, footwork and big-game experience that will hopefully give us the edge when we come up against the big guns of Sevens Rugby like New Zealand, Fiji, England and South Africa."
Ella also thanked the Super 14 coaches for making their players available.
"The Commonwealth Games falls in the middle of the Super 14 tournament, but the four coaches have been really understanding in allowing us to select their star players," he said.
"It is only with their cooperation that we are able to put the best possible Australian Sevens team on the paddock in Melbourne."
Pool A: New Zealand, Kenya, Wales, Namibia
Pool B: Fiji, Scotland, Canada, Zambia
Pool C: England, Australia, Cook Islands, Sri Lanka
Pool D: South Africa, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda.
Australian team:
Scott Fava (Force),
Josh Gamgee (NSW),
Matt Giteau (Brumbies),
Chris Latham (Reds),
Luke Inman (NSW),
Shawn Mackay (NSW),
Tom McVerry (Reds),
Damon Murphy (QLD),
Nick Reily (NSW),
Cameron Shepherd (Force),
Lote Tuqiri (Waratahs),
Brendan Williams (NSW).
Latham prepared to pack down in sevens
Latham prepared to pack down in sevens
Friday, March 3, 2006
From Rugby Heaven.
The chance of a Wallabies star winning a Commonwealth Games medal would be as rare as a Test fullback packing in a scrum ... but Chris Latham is set to do both in Melbourne.
And Latham, universally regarded as the best No.15 in world rugby, is licking his lips at the prospect of playing sevens for Australia at Telstra Dome.
Elusive, highly skilful, metronomically fit, powerful and with pace to burn, Latham was born to play sevens.
With fellow Wallabies Lote Tuqiri and Matt Giteau, he was the first man picked by Australian sevens coach Glen Ella to compete in the Commonwealth Games.
But whereas his two Test team-mates are assured of staying out wide, the strapping 193cm, 102kg attacking weapon must be prepared to play in the forwards.
In his only prior sevens experience for Australia in Brisbane in 2003, Latham packed down at hooker occasionally.
Ella says he can expect more action in three-man scrums and line-outs.
"The thing with the guys in sevens is you have to be adaptable," Ella said.
"I'll train Latho in the forwards and in the backs as well.
"The good thing with Lath is if I ask him to play prop he would play prop. He just wants to play."
The 59-Test Queenslander lapped up the vast, open spaces in his sevens debut three years ago and feels his game is ideally suited to the run-and-gun game.
"It's obviously a very fast-paced game which gives you the opportunity to get one on one with guys which, in the 15-man game is very limited," Latham said.
"Given the opportunity for a one on one contest, that's the thing I enjoy the most on the 15-man game."
While the oldest in the 12-man Australian squad, Latham has no doubts he will be up to the aerobic challenge of non-stop play on a full field over two seven-minute halves.
"I found it fine (in Brisbane). I'd like to think I'm naturally pretty fit anyway."
Australia is ranked a lowly eighth in international sevens competition this season, unable to crack a semi-finals berth as England, Fiji and South Africa have dominated.
But with Wallabies Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau and Latham on board as well as Test back-rower Scott Fava, his Western Force teammate Cameron Shepherd and Queensland flanker Tom McVerry, Glen Ella's team will vie for gold.
Coach Ella certainly has talent to burn for the two-day shootout at Telstra Dome but has his work cut out moulding a successful outfit able to last the helter-skelter pace of the unpredictable 15-minute game.
Ella won't get his 12-man team, which lacks an identifiable nickname, all together for the first time until Monday March 13, two days before the Melbourne Games start.
He also must rely on his Super 14 stars being able to last the distance under the enhanced lung-busting pressure of covering the full field with the ball in play virtually the entire match.
But Ella, one third of the famous trio of brothers, is supremely confident they can deal with the aerobic and combination challenges to mix it with the best.
"I've got no doubt that they will be up for it," he said.
"Sevens is a high-speed game that can turn on a bounce of the ball, so there is no question that guys like Tuqiri, Fava, Latham and Giteau are well suited to it.
"But we still have to play well on the day to beat the other teams."
Limited preparations with most of his Super 14 conscripts alongside sevens regulars Shawn Mackay, Josh Gamgee, Luke Inman, Damon Murphy and speedster Nick Reily, plus Italy-based former NSW jack-in-the-box Brendan Williams, have shown promising signs.
"There's an old saying when you're surrounded by good players you play better," he said.
Ella's regulars have been on the way up in recent months, evidenced by a 17-all draw with reigning champions New Zealand in Los Angeles after leading 17-7.
While the Kiwis will be bolstered by All Black winger Doug Howlett, it's England, who Australia plays in a crucial pool match at the end of day one action, and the flying Fijians that most intimidate.
"The English are physically strong," Ella said.
"We've caught up with our fitness levels with these guys but we're still lacking in terms of physical strength.
"And the Fijians, they just play so many sevens. From September to March, just about every weekend there's a sevens tournament somewhere in Fiji.
"What they lack in 15s in the tight-five they don't need in sevens."
The biggest early hurdle for the Australians will come from a "home" source, in the figure of diminutive Brisbane club player Ben Gollings.
Gollings, who led Sunnybank to the Queensland premiership in 2005, is the world-record holding sevens points-scorer and key to England's powerful team.
Tuqiri, Giteau ready to entertain
Tuqiri, Giteau ready to entertain
By Will Swanton
March 15, 2006
LOTE Tuqiri is made for this caper. Ditto Matt Giteau. Tuqiri has been known to sit in the sheds after a Wallabies Test, shaking his head, kicking the cat, lamenting the fact he couldn't get his hands on the damn ball. He'll have no such problem at the Commonwealth Games.
Sevens is the 15-a-side game on an adrenaline rush, a procession of tries and attacking opportunities at every breathless turn, the perfect stage upon which Tuqiri and Giteau can showcase their outrageous range of skills.
"They let the ball sing," Tuqiri beamed after an Australian training session at Xavier College, where Australia smashed Canada in a practice match.
"Sevens lets you do things you can't do in 15s. There's a lot more flair and dynamic ability. These guys like playing off-the-cuff rugby. You can get frustrated in 15s, the ball has to go through certain phases. The forwards go forward for you and then you spin it out to the backs. Here you have a go straight away. It's going to be entertaining, there's going to be a lot of talent on show. I can't wait to play with these blokes."
Good, bad and ugly news for the Australians. The good news: Wallaby stars Tuqiri, Giteau, Chris Latham and Scott Fava are running around like hyperactive schoolchildren. They are here to play. The bad news: a groin strain to captain Shawn Mackay. He's been cleared, but is his fitness a risk? The ugly news: New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens has written off Australia's gold medal prospects because they cannot hope for their Wallabies, who only arrived in Melbourne at the weekend, to gel with the rest of squad so fast.
That ain't necessarily so, according to Australia coach Glen Ella. "He's entitled to his opinion," Ella said. "We can't say anything. We've just got to perform. That's the only way we can shut those guys up. I think they're living in a dream world, actually. It's going to be a tough competition. We'll go in and have as much of a chance as every other team. It's difficult, but I think these guys will fit in very easily. They're obviously playing at a high level and they've adapted well so far."
Tuqiri, Giteau and Latham ran riot against the Canadians. Their skills are unquestioned but rust is evident. Combinations are yet to fully click. Waiting, waiting. Thursday night's pool match against England, rated favourites for the gold by Ella, already looms large. Huge, according to Giteau. It'll be a thrill a minute - for all 14 minutes.
"The big players switch on and switch off easily," Ella said. "When they're relaxed, they're relaxed, but when they're ready to go … you can see it from talking to them. You say, 'Perhaps, maybe, if we're good enough' and they're looking at you like, 'What do you mean we're not good enough? We are good enough'. That determination and their thinking is rubbing off on all of us.