Dave Carrey's Super Duper Extremely Late Guide to Group A
Dave Carrey - Murgon, BNTT
Now, some of you may be wondering why I took a while to get this written up. And some of you may be wondering why I'm at home in Murgon instead of over in Burgenden over in Neu Engollon for their Brew Festival. The truth is that I've been a bit ill these past few days. Nothing super serious other than a migraine yesterday that meant I nearly had to miss all of the matches that day; I was only able to force myself to watch all of Elejamie's games and even then that was easier said than done. Fortunately, the tickets I had weren't wasted as I gave them to my neighbour (due to the fact that I'm not exactly sure where my fellow DG contributors live) and I'm feeling well enough to watch some more games, though I will still need lengthy periods of rest so I won't be watching all of today's games. And I should be feeling a lot better by the next one. I've explained more in my blog, which will be linked to at the bottom of the page, if only because I go more in depth there and I don't want to clutter this up.
With all of that said, let's look briefly at the last Rugby Sevens World Cup, which was also the first one after a lengthy dormancy (and, since I don't know what other tournaments there'll be as everything is quiet on that front, probably the last one as well). Due to the fact that we finished top of the table at the end, which meant we won some sort of Minor Premiership award, we were able to qualify for the R7WC, which is essentially a tournament for the top sixteen teams on the table once the Sevens Series is over. However, due to numerous issues, a few countries that didn't qualify originally (one of which were the hosts Alice Bay) had to take the place of those who did. But let's not talk about that, let's talk about the tournament itself, which doubled as Mical Caerofim's swan song as he retired from international rugby after the tournament. Drawn into Group B, we won our first game against the Main Nation Ministry and our second game against Nova Anglicana, both by the same score: 26-12. We then lost our third game against the Alpine Union but not by much, 24-21, and unlike that World Cup of Hockey game where they beat us 3-2 in OT there doesn't seem to be any stupid conspiracy theories about us being "jobbed" by the hosts behind the scenes. Fortunately, we bounced back with yet another 26-12 win, again against Nova Anglicana, before losing two in a row; 26-19 to Hutanjia and 29-19 to Darmen.
The outgoing Mical Caerofim, who announced his
retirement from international rugby shortly before the
start of the last Rugby Sevens World Cup. He will play his
last season with the Wyverns before calling it a day
with rugby altogether.
Our first game was against Blaneu, one of those one-tournament wonders that only appear once and then bail. I don't remember too much about this game, especially who scored for our opponents and I'm too lazy to look up the results just to check. All I know is that Gary Toda scored the first try of the tournament early on, which he converted beautifully to give us a good 7-0 start. However, a particularly bad tackle gave them a penalty, which they scored to make it 7-3. Fortunately, a penalty by Toda, followed by a drop goal from Adam McCracken just past the 7-minute mark gave Elejamie a 13-3 point lead going into half-time. A little while after the start of the second half we got another penalty, which Toda was just able to score, to make it a 16-3 lead. And while they were able to score a try, which was converted, we were too ahead to be worried. Especially when captain Diego Molina of all people managed to put it down on the ground and Toda converted the try to extend our lead even further; 23-10. Towards the end Toda managed to score a third and final penalty to make it 26-10, which was the final score. Not a bad start if I say so myself.
That afternoon we had Savojarna in a game that we were really unlucky in. Seriously, turnover after turnover. In the bits I could watch, though it was more due to illness than suspense, you could clearly see Coach Kim looking like his job was on the line. It didn't start off too badly, as McCracken was just able to score a try; however, due to him being a bad angle Toda was unable to convert and so the score was 5-0. Fortunately, he made up for it a minute with a successful try and penalty making it 12-0. However, it went downhill rather quickly as Rolf Eythorsson got the first set of points for his side with a try, which Kristjan Niskanen converted to make it 12-7. Eythorsson and Niskanen would both score and convert again to give Savojarna a 14-12 lead at the break. And things seemed to get worse when Kirill Rajanov would score a try; however, much like McCracken, he was at a bad angle and therefore his side was unable to convert. And while Paul Koppel managed to score a try, which Toda converted to level the scores, it wasn't enough to put the pressure off. We could've done with a draw but, sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Due to some bad luck in the dying seconds, Niskanen managed to take advantage of some sloppy defending to score a try by himself, giving his team the win just past the 14-minute mark, with a successful conversion being the cherry on the top. Final score? 26-19 to Savojarna. Ouch.
Fortunately, that evening we had Natanians and Nosts, a team that's super good but is currently losing momentum at the minute despite the best efforts of Captain Kaeso. And indeed, Kaeso Nunnio dos Santos managed to get an early lead doing what he did best, a couple of drop goals to give his side a 6-0 lead. Which was then swiftly followed by a try from Adam McCracken and a conversion from Gary Toda to put Elejamie out in front 7-6. Indeed, Toda would score a try himself shortly afterwards, although he'd sadly fluff the kick to make it 12-6. After one more successful drop goal from Kaeso just past the 7 minute mark, the score was 12-9 going into half-time and it seemed like it was going to be close. Except that's not what really happened as, shortly after the start of the second half, Patrick Hayden made it 17-9 thanks to a try under the posts, with Toda getting an easy two-pointer. This was then followed by yet another try, this time from vice-captain David Kramer, with Toda getting yet another conversion. Sure Kaeso would score a try for his side in the 11th minute, which got converted, but by then the match was long out of their reach. Especially when Gary Toda managed to make up for his missed conversion earlier by scoring a penalty from 32m out to make it 29-16 for Elejamie. And then just before time, Captain Kaeso scored one last drop goal just because. Final score? A 29-19 win for us.
Newcomer Adam Gates, seen here waiting for the
kick-off in Murgon's first game against Auckhampton
last season.
And who will be our last opponent? Apox, who are more well-known for their cricket side but still have quite a storied rugby sevens side. They were at the last AVBF Sevens after all, where they finished fourth in their group with two wins to their name (a 40-0 demolition of Borxinoia and a surprising yet narrow 19-17 win over Darmen), which resulted in them having to compete for the Bowl thanks to the "five group" scheme the tournament had. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far, as evidenced by them falling 24-19 to eventual Bowl runners-up New South Munster. That might've been their only one, though, as I can't seem to find any other sevens tournaments they've been in.
So where do I think everyone will end up? We'd probably claw our way back up for a Cup spot, albeit in second place, with Barunia joining us. Savojarna and the Natanians and Nosts will have to compete for the Plate and Apox and Blaneu will have to play for the Bowl. Rather than go into the different groups (especially since Lisander and Neu Engollon are both sharing a group, which will definitely be worth keeping an eye on), I'll go into who I think will be playing for the Cup in each group based on how well they're doing so far. Obviously Lisander and Neu Engollon will be the top two teams in Group C but I meant the other two group. Alpine Union and maybe Hutanjia for Group B and Darmen and quite possibly one of the newcomers (either Tolol or Alenburg) for Pool D.
Anything else I should mention? Not particularly, no. Lisander has a brand new kit just for their sevens games courtesy of Valls Rugby, which actually looks pretty decent even though normally I wouldn't be that keen on that shade of green. Indeed, Hutanjia's also got a new kit, also made by Valls, which also looks pretty good, especially the away kit. That's pretty much the main highlight. That and a shock win from Greythrone when they beat the Alpine Union 29-21. I haven't had much to go on due to my illness and it's been a fairly quiet tournament so far. I'm going to get some rest and hopefully catch the last two group stage games, as well as the quarter-finals of whichever silverware we're competing for. I should do since I've set an alarm but we'll wait and see.
- Dave's Blog: Ill, Yo
- Dave Carrey's Guide to the 2018/19 ERC Season
- Dave Carrey's Full Review of the 2018 ERC 7s
- Pool B Roundup