The last Tournament in the 2014 calendar year for the HSBC Sevens World Series of 2014 / 2015 took place in Port Elizabeth at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament was played over 2 Days, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December 2014.
When play started on Day 1, France scored within 14 seconds against Fiji, but Fiji rallied to demolish France by 45 / 5.
Canada surprised by beating Scotland 14 / 12 in the 2nd game.
A number of more surprises followed on Day one, but what remained firm was the South African Blitzbokke resolve as they monstered their way to 3 excellent wins, and only conceeding a solitary try in the process.
Apart from South Africa, the other big Sevens nations – New Zealand, England, Fiji and Australia were joined by USA, Scotland and Argentina in the Cup Quarters on Day 2.
South Africa advanced to the Final, beating England and Australia along the way, whilst New Zealand beat USA to advance to a semi against Argentina, then comfortably beat Argentina, to book their place against the South African Blitzbokke in the Final.
Australia took the 3rd Place Play-off game against Argentina, 34 / 19.
The South African Blitzbokke took Final honours against New Zealand by 26 / 17 and made it back to back tournament wins as well as a successful defence of the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens title!
To Southern Hemisphere rugby interests, this tournament represents the last action in the 2014 rugby season, with their off-season officially starting after this tournament.
In the Northern Hemisphere though, it is all action in December.
The 2014 / 2015 season carries added significance because the top-ranked sides after the ninth and final round in London in May 2015 will qualify directly for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
All times are SA Time (CAT = GMT+2)
Results – Day 1 |
||||
| 13 | Fiji | 45 – 5 | France | 10:30 |
| 13 | Scotland | 12 – 14 | Canada | 10:52 |
| 13 | Australia | 33 – 21 | Portugal | 11:14 |
| 13 | Argentina | 31 – 5 | Zimbabwe | 11:36 |
| 13 | New Zealand | 24 – 7 | Samoa | 11:58 |
| 13 | England | 45 – 0 | Japan | 12:20 |
| 13 | South Africa | 26 – 0 | USA | 12:42 |
| 13 | Wales | 29 – 5 | Kenya | 13:04 |
| 13 | Fiji | 26 – 7 | Canada | 13:46 |
| 13 | Scotland | 19 – 12 | France | 14:08 |
| 13 | Australia | 50 – 0 | Zimbabwe | 14:30 |
| 13 | Argentina | 14 – 7 | Portugal | 14:52 |
| 13 | New Zealand | 29 – 0 | Japan | 15:14 |
| 13 | England | 22 – 7 | Samoa | 15:36 |
| 13 | South Africa | 38 – 7 | Kenya | 15:58 |
| 13 | Wales | 12 – 38 | USA | 16:20 |
| 13 | France | 24 – 21 | Canada | 17:04 |
| 13 | Fiji | 19 – 12 | Scotland | 17:26 |
| 13 | Portugal | 19 – 7 | Zimbabwe | 17:48 |
| 13 | Australia | 21 – 31 | Argentina | 18:10 |
| 13 | Samoa | 14 – 17 | Japan | 18:52 |
| 13 | New Zealand | 5 – 0 | England | 19:14 |
| 13 | USA | 33 – 5 | Kenya | 19:36 |
| 13 | South Africa | 36 – 0 | Wales | 19:58 |
Fixtures & Results – Day 2 |
||||
| 14 | Wales | 24 – 22 | Samoa | 10:51 |
| 14 | Canada | 22 – 5 | Zimbabwe | 11:13 |
| 14 | Japan | 12 – 26 | Kenya | 11:35 |
| 14 | Portugal | 7 – 42 | France | 11:57 |
| 14 | South Africa | 31 – 7 | England | 12:19 |
| 14 | Fiji | 19 – 31 | Australia | 12:41 |
| 14 | New Zealand | 28 – 7 | USA | 13:03 |
| 14 | Argentina | 26 – 19 | Scotland | 13:25 |
| 14 | Samoa | 21 – 14 | Zimbabwe | 14:07 |
| 14 | Japan | 15 – 24 | Portugal | 14:29 |
| 14 | Wales | 14 – 24 | Canada | 14:51 |
| 14 | Kenya | 14 – 12 | France | 15:13 |
| 14 | England | 0 – 31 | Fiji | 15:55 |
| 14 | USA | 26 – 19 | Scotland | 16:17 |
| 14 | South Africa | 19 – 10 | Australia | 16:39 |
| 14 | New Zealand | 29 – 0 | Argentina | 17:01 |
| 14 | Samoa | 14 – 19 | Portugal | 17:43 |
| 14 | Canada | 24 – 5 | Kenya | 18:08 |
| 14 | Fiji | 14 – 21 | USA | 18:33 |
| 14 | Australia | 34 – 19 | Argentina | 18:58 |
| 14 | South Africa | 26 – 17 | New Zealand | 19:30 |
HSBC Sevens World Series Standings prior to this tournament:
| Team | AUS | DUB | RSA | USA | NZL | JPN | HKG | SCO | ENG | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiji | 22 | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 39 |
| 2 | South Africa | 15 | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 37 |
| 3 | Australia | 10 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 29 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 13 | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 |
| 5 | Samoa | 19 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| 6 | England | 17 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 |
| 7 | Argentina | 12 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 |
| 8 | Wales | 10 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
| 9 | Scotland | 5 | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 |
| 10 | France | 7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 |
| 11 | USA | 8 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 |
| 12 | Portugal | 5 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 |
| 13 | Canada | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 |
| 14 | Kenya | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| 15 | Japan | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 16 | Brazil | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 17 | American Samoa | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
OK, will be following this tournament with interest, between fixing all sorts of lightning damage here at our place on Thursday night….
Inside the house our DSTV double LNR eye, one electric fan light, pedestrian gate striker lock, a cordless phone in the house, Samsung Colour Laser printer / scanner / copier / fax was hit and damaged beyond use and the main breaker outside the yard on the street electric pole was hit so hard it had melted.
In my office there is considerably more damage… firstly the Access Point insde the outside Hot Spot tower (which covers about 2 street blocks) is completely farked and needs replacing this morning. Inside my office I lost a cordless phone (due to the charger being damaged beyond repair), a 4-port KVM Switch, a Video Splitter box, a 24-port Gigabit Hub / Switch, my Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H motherboard on my BIG Core i7 Main Computer as well as the Core i7 CPU damaged and one of 2 Graphics ports on my 2nd PC is now just black and therefore defunct.
Of course also lost about a business day in the process of fixing everything….
I personally replaced and fixed the DSTV’s LNR double eye… so at least all TV functions are OK, some of the computer stuff already fixed as well and will be sorted within the next few business days as I buy replacements… and of course the Hot Spot tower which will be fixed just now, luckily I have extra Access Points to put inside the weather-proof housing.
Argentina beats Zimbabwe 31 / 5
Now up, New Zealand vs Samoa
Enjoy!
New Zealand 24 / 7 Samoa, the final score
OK, Blitzbokke 1st game ON!
… against USA
Tryyyyyyy Senatla!
Blitzbokke 5 / 0 USA
Lemoenetyd
Blitzbokke very nicely physical… I like that!
Try Werner Kock!
Blitzbokke 12 / 0 USA
Try Philip Snyman!
Great play Bokke!
Blitzbokke 19 / 0 USA
Yellow Card for the Blitzbokke, Senatla
Try Ryno Benjamin
Final Score: Blitzbokke 26 / 0 USA
What impresses about the Blitzbokke under Neil Powel is the grit on defence… the Blitzbokke have developed an abrasive edge, which was never there under Paul Treu.
16 @ grootblousmile:
AGGRESIVE defence.
When I am NOT “logged on” to RT, but viewing/reading Articles/comments,
am I a Guest or a Bot.
Or,……………………… as Ryeman and Groot refer to me, just a ……..!
Cyclops.
That’s the word.
Anyway I’m outa here before some Guests log on and call me a bot…………………………………………………….or worse.
(I do have feeling you know).
Well I did,
once upon a time.
Rudi is anything you lost covered by insurance?
And good luck to all and every Team in PE.
May fortune favour the adventurous.
@ Stormersboy:
Might be a “Force Majeure” clause that one SB.
An Act of God.
Never trust or think you are covered. Just ask half the people in Christchurch NZ.
Lighting Strike.
F.ck how unlucky can you get.
We get special cover for that here on the highveld, with all the thunderstorms that we get.
@ cane:
I can lose anything except my amps and guits. That would be a tragedy. Must be sure to unplug everything after I am finished,
22 @ Stormersboy:
Yeah, fully covered… with Outsurance.
Problem is, I willingly chose a higher excess payment, to lower the premium per month, so still a bit to go out the pocket.
Untill insurance claim is paid, I’m replacing stuff from my pocket… hehehe
Farkit, I’ve taken down the Hot Spot Tower… and busy repairing it and the contents.
To my surprise, there were deliberate attempts to sabotage my Hot Spot too in the past, as I picked up 4 completely flattened lead pellets from inside the weatherproof box as well as many pieces of shattered box inside – the result of a high powered air pellet gun…
I only know ONE asshole with a very high-powered pellet airgun, scope and all (one of those with an air silinder attacked)…. and that is my direct neighbour who just happens to owe me some money too and the same one I do not speak to as a result. The location of the Hot Spot also suggests nobody else!
@ grootblousmile:
Yes isn’t it amazing how isolated you feel when you go off grid unintentionally?
Still, could have been worse
Our holiday house in Hermanus was hit, shorted everything out an deafened the poor old lady next door for a week. She was on the telephone at the time.
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