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[jmood88]

Damn, I didn't see this thread until after everything was over. But anyway, this is easily one of my favorite sports in the Olympics this year and I'm glad that NBC will start showing some rugby matches over here. I never liked it all that much until I was in New Zealand during the World Cup and ended up becoming a fan of the sport.

 

[Hazzuh]

Didn't watch the match but I'm from GB and super happy for Fiji. Would always be happier to see a country get their first medal than us get one!

 

[LiquidSolid]

I just wonder if the All Blacks suck up all the talented Fiji players in those formats. It always feels like the discipline, organisation and set piece skills needed can be coached and less about the raw talent.

Ugh, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but you realise that a lot of those arguments are built on a foundation of racism, right? Shocking news: Immigration is a thing down south too, New Zealand has a lot of brown people living here. Joe Rokocoko moved to NZ when he was 5 years old and yet because he's black, that's suddenly an example of NZ poaching. Hell, Kevin Mealamu was born in Tokoroa and Liam Messam's fucking Maori but they've still been used as examples at different points too.

The fact is, four Fijian born players have played for the ABs over the last fifteen years, they all came up through our system and they've all been in positions Fiji has more than enough depth in (3 wingers and a midfielder), so no, we're not responsible for sucking up all their talent. If anything, a lot of their kids coming up through our system has greatly helped their rugby.

Anyway, I'm stoked for Fiji. They've been one of the Sevens standard bearers for so long and they absolutely deserved to be the first Sevens Olympics gold medallist.

 

[Turnbl]

Genuine question - if you parachuted the best England/Wales/Scotland players into the final last night - would they be a better team?

Or is 7s such a different discipline that the GB players are genuinely the best 7s players in the nation?

 

[m3k]

id say its different... mostly rugby players dont fare greatly in 7s and vice versa

you dont see many play both and when they do, those players dont swing a game to the teams favour

as a kiwi im very happy for fiji... and japan!

 

[Turnbl]

id say its different... mostly rugby players dont fare greatly in 7s and vice versa

you dont see many play both and when they do, those players dont swing a game to the teams favour

as a kiwi im very happy for fiji... and japan!

So kind of like when League plays Union at the other discipline and each wins easily at their own?

That still slightly surprises me as 7s *appears* to be a distilled version of the backs game. Wouldn't somebody like Jack Nowell be a better player than anybody in the GB squad? But like I say, I'm not knowledgable in 7s.

Congrats to Fiji, an awesome display and clearly a class apart in the world game.

 

[justjohn]

Woke up this morning expecting GB victory because it's only Fiji and then saw that scoreline. Yikes. Well done Fiji btw

 

[danthefan]

Genuine question - if you parachuted the best England/Wales/Scotland players into the final last night - would they be a better team?

Or is 7s such a different discipline that the GB players are genuinely the best 7s players in the nation?

It's a totally different sport essentially. There are players, particularly in the forwards, who could be world class at the 15 a side code and completely useless in 7s.

There probably are some players from the English national side who could improve the team but Fiji are the best at this code, they would have won anyway.

Nakarawa for Fiji is an example of a guy who's great at both but this is rare.

 

[danthefan]

Woke up this morning expecting GB victory because it's only Fiji and then saw that scoreline. Yikes. Well done Fiji btw

It's only Fiji.

Pls

 

[justjohn]

It's only Fiji.

Pls

Don't know much about rugby 7 so didn't know about Fiji's strength in this area.

 

[Maximus P]

It's only Fiji.

Pls

If you haven't followed the sport then I can understand why some may have that thought like this.

Fiji has a population of about 800k which is about a third of Manchester.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Genuine question - if you parachuted the best England/Wales/Scotland players into the final last night - would they be a better team?

Or is 7s such a different discipline that the GB players are genuinely the best 7s players in the nation?

It started out very similar but has evolved a lot since then. Different attacking and defensive patterns, different roles in the team, etc. Jumping between the two isn't impossible and there are a select few who could probably switch on a dime but if you just threw a bunch of XVs stars in there overnight, they wouldn't stand a chance.

I remember a bunch of of Aus and NZ League players a few years back publicly saying they wanted to play in the Olympics, as if they could just jump over to Sevens as if it were a holiday and walk away with a medal. None of them ever actually did it though.

That said, I guess that was probably the thought process behind Jarryd Hayne quitting his big "NFL dream" to join the Fijian Sevens squad for the last couple of weeks of this years circuit. Then it turned out he was rubbish, didn't make the cut and he had to shuffle off back to League. Funny thing is, the Australian Rugby Union probably would've offered him a big contract if he hadn't already played for the Fijian Sevens team (as it made him ineligible to play for Australia).

 

[Blue Lou]

Fiji's Prime Minister no longer intends to change the national flag because the Rugby team winning gold has lifted the national mood.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/311240/fiji-pm-says-flag-won't-be-changed