Dubai Sevens Pool B – Samoa, South Africa, Russia and Scotland.
Samoa to recover, Scotland back themselves to compete and from Russia with love.
Samoa to recover from disappointing Oceania failure
Manu Samoa sevens coach Damian McGrath, reeling from disappointment at his side’s failure at the Oceania Regional Olympic Qualifier has only made minimal changes to the squad that will play in Dubai and Cape Town. This is a chance for Samoa to recover from that disappointment.
Their loss to Tonga in pool play at the recent Auckland event was unexpected and dealt the Manu teams chance of playing in Brazil a massive blow.
Coach McGrath has roped in former All Blacks Sevens player Belgium Tuatagaloa to replace Fale So’oialo. Missing out is veteran Lolo Lui, who earlier made the trip to Fiji but missed out on selection for the Oceania tournament and now, round one of the World Series in Dubai and the following round at Capetown Sevens.
The side will be led by veteran Fa’alemiga Selesele with innovation during attacks to be coordinated by the elusive David Tusitala and finisher Jay Saena.
The new coaching staff of Damian McGrath and “The Chiropractor” Brian Lima are in a rebuilding phase. Their focus right now is to do well in Dubai and Cape Town but the ultimate goal is getting that final spot to Rio 2016 which will be on the line at the final Qualifying tournament in June.
Expect the Samoans to come out firing in this tournament as the Island Nation is in dire need of some good, barring upsets expect them to feature in the quarter finals as they must recapture lost glory that once brought them the World Sevens Series title. The question is, can they replicate that lost form?
Samoa Squad:
Lio Lolo, Fa’alemiga Selesele (C) Fetufou Setu Laga, Francis Ieremia, Tofatuimoana Solia, PhoenixHunapo-Nofoa, Jack Saena, Danny Tusitala, Tila Mealoi, Belgium Tuatagaloa, Siaosi Asofolau and Samoa Toloa.
Manager: Tupuola Masunu Tuisila
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Scotland back themselves to compete in 2016
Wanting to capture the success of their XV’s sides glory reaching the qualifying stages at the recent Rugby World Cup, the national sevens team will be aiming to bottle that energy and have it in quantity when they reach the heat of Dubai.
To that end, Scotland head coach Calum MacRae has named three new caps in his 12-man squad to compete in the opening leg of the 2015-16 World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series, 4–5 December.
The squad will include Edinburgh Rugby’s Magnus Bradbury, his capital club-mate Nick McLennan and Scotland under-20 wing Robbie Nairn.
Calum MacRae speaking to scotlandrugby.org said: “The extended sevens off season, due to the Rugby World Cup, has afforded us time to develop aspects of our play and make gains in our strength and conditioning. The player’s application has been excellent throughout.
“The mindset has been to improve and build on last year’s strong performances, not rest on them. We have also targeted developing young, Scottish talent who have a lot of potential and a big future ahead in both the abbreviated game as well as in the 15-a-side set-up.
“The exposure they will have to the international stage, will hopefully provide the platform they need to continue their development and progression in the game, as it has with so many players previously.”
Scott Wight will skipper the squad and will be flanked by the experience of Mark Robertson, Scott Riddell and Josea Nayacavou. Glasgow Warriors’ Lee Jones, who competed in last year’s Commonwealth Games, comes back into the group alongside Hugh Blake.
Scotland 7s achieved their highest ever finish of seventh in last season’s Series, and finished sixth overall in the in Dubai leg 12 months ago, after reaching the second-tier Plate final. For 2016, they will face last year’s tournament winners South Africa, Samoa and Russia; who have improved fantastically to gain core-team status this season.
“This is going to be a very challenging and physical pool, against three quality teams, but one we believe we have the ability to progress from with accurate performances,” MacRae continued
“Russia will be on a high after their qualification to the Series full-time and Samoa will bring a fresh dimension under new coach Damian McGrath. South Africa, as always, have real fire-power across their side and will be bolstered by Neil Powell’s [Head Coach] recruitment of full internationals.
“We understand more now what it’s going to take to compete with these sides. The level of competition in training has been raised with the new faces coming in. We’ve shown we can compete with the best teams in the Series when we nail our basics, back ourselves and play with total commitment.”
If the solid sevens unit can upset some of their Pool B rivals, the positive feeling from the RWC will flow through into the Braveheart’s and they can show more than just a glimpses of success. A well-motivated side that will bottle all that energy for these first two rounds of the Sevens World series.
Scotland 7s squad:
Hugh Blake, Magnus Bradbury, Jamie Farndale, James Johnstone, Lee Jones, Gavin Lowe, Nick McLennan, Robbie Nairn, Joseva Nayacavou, Scott Riddell, Mark Robertson and Scott Wight (c)
From Russia with Love
Meanwhile, tournament newcomer Russia is ready to rumble with the big boys of Sevens rugby. The team is coached by Andriy Sokonin and will be looking to cement their place in World Series.
It will be their debut as a core team but they are not new to sevens, ever since former English stalwart Henry Paul took them to the Hong Kong Sevens few years ago, sevens rugby in Russia has grown steadily and speedily and being part of the HSBC Sevens Series is a testimony to that.
Look forward to Russia taking some big scalps this season and with love too. Big boys who can tackle and aggressive at the breakdown with fast wingers out-wide.
Playing the likes of South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand and Fiji will only increase their knowledge of sevens rugby but most of all grow the interest of the sport back home.
Expect South Africa and Samoa to come through on this pool but on the day anything can happen.
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