NZ win Sevens Series

They were unable to get the title in London, as they lost their quarter final game against England by 12 - 17 but they did win the remaining three games to get the Plate including the final Plate game against South Africa and sealed the Sevens series with only the Scotland fixture to go.

A number of surprises have occurred, such as Portugal emerging as a Sevens power, even defeating an Australian side full of Super 14 players (!!!) and performing well enough to lose 28 - 14 against New Zealand. Or both South Africa and New Zealand losing in the quarter finals...

Samoa went on to defeat Fiji in the final and got their first leg this year. Congratulations to the winners!

And congratulations to the Sevens Series winners!

New Zealand Sevens II: The pearl

This is the pearl that was unfolded last weekend in Wellington.

NZ Sevens: NZ win and... Yet another 7s star?

Impressive is not a word to describe Victor Vito's play this weekend in Wellington. It falls short. Do you remember Jonah Lomu's last-minute try in 2000 against Australia? Well, Victor Vito scored the winning try against Samoa in last minute of the final. Like the giant winger, Victor Vito has been moved from loose forward to wing to for the Sevens and now he seems to be the diamond Gordon Tietjens was speaking of.



New Zealand extends thus the current streak to 30 games without a loss and after the third weekend has scored maximum points and seems virtually unstoppable.

Are we witnessing the birth of a new star?

Jan 04: Latest opinions on Vito's performance

Jan04: Latest news on NZ winning the 2007-2008 Sevens series

Busy rugby February

For rugby lovers, february is meant to be a busy month: Super 14, IRB Sevens, Six Nations...

Do you know what should you put attention to and when?

Jan 28, monday:
Jan 29, tuesday:
Jan 30, wednesday:
Jan 31, thursday:

• Super 14 Preseason: Blues - Reds 19:00, Ballymore
• Super 14 Preseason: Bulls B - Lions B, 19:00 Wits

Feb 01, friday:

• Super 14 Preseason: Brumbies - Waratahs 19:00, Gosford
• Super 14 Preseason: Sharks - Cheetahs, Bloemfontein

Feb 02, saturday:

• IRB Sevens Series NZ: pool stage 13:00-22:00 , Wellington
• 6 Nations: Ireland - Italy 14:00, Dublin
• 6 Nations: England - Wales 16:30London
• Super 14 Preseason: West Force - Crusaders , Melbourne
• Super 14 Preseason: Hurricanes - Chiefs 16:00, Taupo
• Super 14 Preseason: Lions - Bulls, Windhoek

Feb 03, sunday:

• IRB Sevens Series NZ: finals 13:00 -21:00, Wellington
• 6 Nations: Scotland - France 15:00, Edinburgh

Feb 04, monday:
Feb 05, tuesday:
Feb 06, wednesday:

• Super 14 Preseason: Lions - Sharks, Durban

Feb 07, thursday:

• Super 14 Preseason: Crusaders - Waratahs, Sydney
• Super 14 Preseason: West Force - Reds, Perth

Feb 08, friday:

• Super 14 Preseason: Brumbies - Hurricanes 19:00, Levin
• Super 14 Preseason: Blues - Highlanders 17:00, Dunedin

Feb 09, saturday:

• IRB Sevens Series, USA: pool stage 10:00 - 19:00, San Diego, CF
• 6 Nations: Wales - Scotland 14:00, Cardiff
• 6 Nations: France - Ireland 15:00, Paris

Feb 10, sunday:

• IRB Sevens Series, USA: finals 10:00 - 18:00, San Diego, CF
• 6 Nations: Italy - England 15:30, Rome

Feb 11, monday:
Feb 12, tuesday:
Feb 13, wednesday:
Feb 14, thursday:
Feb 15, friday:

• Start of the Super 14 Season!!!
  

Note: All times and dates are local times and dates

New Zealand Sevens: 2 out of 2

New Zealand Sevens did it again; after winning the starting meeting of the Season in Dubai, they won again with a perfect record of 6-0 in South Africa.

Is it going to be a Federer-like record? Last time New Zealand lost a match was back in April when they lost in Australia 24-17 to Fiji. They have a perfect 24-0 record (on grass, of course) since. Federer's current strike (on grass) is 48 consecutive games won.

New Zealand win Dubai Sevens

New Zealand emerged victorious of a hard-fought final against last year IRB Sevens runner-up's Fiji.

Leading 21-0 at half-time, New Zealand had again to fight against a come-back of their rivals during the second half. New Zealand succeeded again to reach clear first spot undefeated, winning thus the Dubai Sevens tournament for the first time since 2002.

Semifinalists of the tournament were South Africa - who lost against the Kiwis 12-7 when a late try of the south africans was ruled out to a forward pass - and England, who lost 22-21 in another dramatic semifinal against Fiji.

More on http://www.allblacks.com/ and on http://www.irb.com/ .

Dubai Sevens: NZ, South Africa and Fiji advance easily

Frances's second half almost complete come back was the only cause of concern yesterday at Dubai. Luckily for the Kiwis, a late penalty by Emmanuel Etien did not go in.

Samoa, Fiji and South Africa also completed a sweep of their pool matches and the four are clear favourites for the first Sevens tournament of the season.

These, are the pairings for the QF:

Fiji vs Scotland
Samoa vs England
South Africa vs Kenya
New Zealand vs Argentina