2016 Olympics

[Armchair Fan Profile]

7th place for Spain, they ended on a high with a big 21-0 win over Fiji.

And on the tournament in general, don't forget all team sports are forced to have representation from every continent at the Olympics. You also see big margins in pool stages from other sports. So that shouldn't be an issue for rugby.

[Canalina Profile]

The crowd is shocking and reminds me very much on the women's world series. World Rugby needs to invest much more in the women's rugby to make it more competitive and thus make it more exciting for spectators.

For me Rio so far is a massive disappointment (from a rugby perspective). 30 min slots for each game (in contrast to the 22 which work perfectly on the series), a empty stadium in the middle of nowhere (read an article that it is very smelly too), apparently massive problems with the transports for both fans and players, a very boring competition in the group stages (the gap between top 4-5 and the rest is 30-50 points).

Let's hope for a cracking final which attracts the crowd the teams deserve and for a massive men's tournament, otherwise Rugby can easily be kicked out of the Olympics post 2020.

It would unfair to kick off rugby, it is a sport much more various and complete than archery or shooting or weightlifting, and more funny (to me) than some other teams sports like handball. Surely the level of women rugby is quite low, it is very few played in the world compared to many other disciplines; but I think that rugby has already the qualities to remain in the Games. And there should be good margins of improvement in the next years, overall in the women's sector

[Armchair Fan Profile]

Gold for Australia, silver for NZ and bronze for Canada. Almost perfect matches for Australia and Canada.

[thatrugbyguy Profile]

To be fair I'm watching diving now and there's loads of empty seat. There appears to be empty seats at all events. I think the men's 7s will be closer to being full. That said your right World Rugby need to do a hell of a lot more for women 7s and have a proper 8 event World Series. I think they have just 4 last year.

Is there any reason they can't run along side the men's World Series? It's not like you couldn't find room in the schedule given there's an hours break between each round of pool matches, that's almost 3 games you can fit in.

[Ser Podrick of Payne Profile]

That was a terrific final day and the 2nd day was also very enjoyable, only the first day with some clear mismatches fell a little flat. Surprising how GB was so easily put aside by Canada for Bronze but each the medal winners had one really tough or bad game on day one or two and USA also had a poor one on the first day before pulling themselves together. Maybe teams need to be pushed to the limit to really sharpen up and focus for the do or die games whereas GB hadn't been tested so much before the semis.

And the final was a pulsating affair although the sinbinning clearly swung it hugely in Australia's favour, but you couldn't count NZ out once they were back up to strength. Massive commitment and great skills from both teams with Australia's gold medal thoroughly deserved.

A big thumbs up for Womens Olympic 7s from me

[Canalina Profile]

A big thumbs up for Womens Olympic 7s from me

[Ser Podrick of Payne Profile]

[Thomas Profile]

This was big thumbs up for Womens Olympic 7s. it had it all.

One interesting point Australia have been planning this since 2009 and recruited non-rugby athletes from other sports. The ARU went about sourcing players from touch football (500,000 kids play it in Australia) which is where Caslick came from. She`s 21, 7s was admitted in 2009 - so she was 14 then. Many countries including the UK don`t have that kind of foresight. Plan for what's coming and WHO will be involved, not just pick a squad on the best at that time, develop years in advance. Tools for the job.

Here are there profiles of the gold medal winners:

Chloe Dalton, 23

Basketball guard for the WNBL Sydney Flames team, 2012-13

Ellia Green, 23

Sprinter who represented Australia in 100m at World Schools, 2009.

Shannon Parry, 26

Member of Australia’s 2010 and 2014 World Cup XVs team.

Nicole Beck, 28

Member of winning 2009 Australian sevens World Cup team & 2010 Australian 15s World Cup team.

Charlotte Caslick, 21

Australian touch football representative 2012-13. Australian 800m champion in primary school.

Amy Turner, 32

Represented NZ Maori in sevens, NZ in touch football and Queensland in rugby league. Drove trucks in Mt Isa mines.

Sharni Williams, 28

Played hockey for Canberra Strikers in the national league. Debuted for Wallaroos in 2008.

Former mechanic.

Evania Pelite, 21

Represented Australia in touch football, 2013

Emma Tonegato, 21

Represented Australian Jillaroos in rugby league, 2013

Alicia Quirk, 24

Represented Australia in touch football, 2010-13

Emilee Cherry, 23

Australian touch football representative 2011-12

Gemma Etheridge, 29

Australian touch football representative, 2012

[YamahaKiwi Profile]

Yes Australia brought in a lot of touch players. interesting that NZ also did a programme Go for Gold doing tryouts all over the country and also snared some cross-over athletes (McCallister & Woodman have been amongst the best of the team and you wonder how NZ would have done without them) but nowhere near to the same extent as Australia, and also NZ didn't get many skilled touch players coming across either comparatively-speaking. It's interesting that NZ kept a much higher proportion of rugby players in their squad than Australia. When the Aussie touch girls came in I can remember seeing immediate improvement in the skills. NZ had an advantage in that area three or so years ago when the Aussie touch girls were still a bit green but that has been well and truly flipped and quite frankly the NZ team's skill and unit execution have been pretty average this last year including in Rio. What's left me also unimpressed is how many times they made the wrong decision i.e not throwing a pass when there was a one on two or multiple times getting isolated or going for a switch to the inside when that was already well covered (dumb!). The reading of the play was just poor from experienced players who by now should know better and were actually making better decisions in Moscow three years ago.

I think the NZ team has peaked and is in need of a better, high-level coach that can improve the team in those areas to catch Australia up again. It will be interesting to see if Rio has an impact on more talented young women athletes maybe going for rugby or even some established players in other sports crossing over. It seems the biggest difference between the two is that the Aussie squad has been centralised for the whole year whereas the NZ players stayed in their own areas and came together for regular camps. Good but maybe not good enough. While the NZ team got silver this should actually be a wake up call for the NZRFU to take this even more seriously than they have because it's only going to get harder for NZ to medal in this sport not easier. Unfortunately some Kiwis think we have a god given right to win every rugby competition as though it's some kind of manifest destiny.

BTW I was very unimpressed with the poor coaching of NZ coach Horan in the last part of the NZL-GBR semi. I can't believe after going into an unassailable lead with 3mins to go he left on his top players, and subjected them to possible injury and tiredness. In the event Tyler Nathan-Wong almost suffered a bad injury in the last minute. Honestly wtf was Horan doing??!!

[Canalina Profile]

New Zealand and Australia have really to choose different flags. I take two minutes every time to understand which of those little flags are Aus and which are NZ : )

[YamahaKiwi Profile]

New Zealand and Australia have really to choose different flags. I take two minutes every time to understand which of those little flags are Aus and which are NZ : )

Hey if it was up to me guys we'd have the Silver Fern and a flag as unique and iconic as Canada's Maple Leaf right now. If I was a NZ athlete in Rio I would refuse to wear the current flag over my shoulders and if I was a gold medallist on the podium I would instead have the Silver fern draped over my shoulders and deliberately face away from the current flag as it went up the flagpole. Unfortunately we need to get rid of my parents generation first and then I think the numbers will fall in the favour of changing the flag.

[Thomas Profile]

Yes Australia brought in a lot of touch players. interesting that NZ also did a programme Go for Gold doing tryouts all over the country and also snared some cross-over athletes (McCallister & Woodman have been amongst the best of the team and you wonder how NZ would have done without them) but nowhere near to the same extent as Australia, and also NZ didn't get many skilled touch players coming across either comparatively-speaking. It's interesting that NZ kept a much higher proportion of rugby players in their squad than Australia. When the Aussie touch girls came in I can remember seeing immediate improvement in the skills. NZ had an advantage in that area three or so years ago when the Aussie touch girls were still a bit green but that has been well and truly flipped and quite frankly the NZ team's skill and unit execution have been pretty average this last year.

I think the NZ team has peaked and is in need of a better, high-level coach that can improve the team in those areas to catch Australia up again. It will be interesting to see if Rio has an impact on more talented young women athletes maybe going for rugby or even some established players in other sports crossing over. It seems the biggest difference between the two is that the Aussie squad has been centralised for the whole year whereas the NZ players stayed in their own areas and came together for regular camps. Good but maybe not good enough. While the NZ team got silver this should actually be a wake up call for the NZRFU to take this even more seriously than they have because it's only going to get harder for NZ to medal in this sport not easier. Unfortunately some Kiwis think we have a god given right to win every rugby competition as though it's some kind of manifest destiny.

BTW I was very unimpressed with the poor coaching of NZ coach Horan in the last part of the NZL-GBR semi. I can't believe after going into an unassailable lead with 3mins to go he left on his top players, and subjected them to possible injury and tiredness. In the event Tyler Nathan-Wong almost suffered a bad injury in the last minute. Honestly wtf was Horan doing??!!

Interesting from a Kiwi perspective, living in the UK even though I am an Aussie I am more familiar with the UK program they went for try and tested players and no thought for the future. I do hope they rebuild the program instead of talking this British nonsense that prevails about "Glorious losers" Speaking to a Coach in Canada they brought players from others sports as well particularly Ice Hockey. Eddie Jones was in this years Tour De France as an observer of how the teams are run players are coached and their training programs.

He was interviewed on French TV and talk about cross over ideas and what he is taking with him back to Rugby Union. I hope he sows the seeds for the future. far too many elite clubs are stuck in the past.

About Horan he made some comments about the Aussie women on the eve of the final they put on their whiteboard and used it as motivation!.

[YamahaKiwi Profile]

Yeah it's been widely reported about Horan's comments providing motivation for Aussie. Again dumb. NZ coaches are traditionally quiet and it's usually been the Aussie coaches, and media being the cocky ones and providing changing room resources. A reminder to NZ coaches to keep to the "we'll do our talking on the pitch thanks" line.

Yeah I don't like how in NZ the womens 7s team has been lauded as good losers and let's just celebrate the silver. FFS they went to Rio to the win the gold and really didn't do themselves justice in that final. I'm pretty pissed off about that final effort and so should be other NZers. I wouldn't be so pissed off if the team had given 100%, in the main played well and had just been pipped at the post. I can take that. But let's get real. They were blown off the park. And yes, I am like the person who did the article linked below pissed about Tonegato's try and the Spanish ref's performance too. For some reason NZers have decided to shrug their shoulders about and I agree with the author that it's probably because it's "only" the womens team and not the ABs. I disagree as made clear in my previous and above comments that we were robbed though (just like I never agreed that we were robbed in 2007).

http://thespinoff.co.nz/sports/09-08-2016/rio-2016-why-arent-we-vomiting-with-rage-over-the-womens-sevens-ref-who-robbed-us/

Gees I hope Eddie didn't follow the Tour de France teams too closely. It's not like that event and those participating in it have been ideal role models for sports the last decade and more. I'd wouldn't be getting within a bargepole distance of anyone associated with that event!

[Ser Podrick of Payne Profile]

The great thing about the Aussie squad is that the core of them are under 25. Just a few older players but the means to keep the key players together and gradually bring in some new members means they could dominate the 7s circuit and the major trophy tournaments for years.

Other nations are seriously going to have to up their game!

[Canalina Profile]

Do you know which are the ethnic roots of Emma Tonegato? I thought it was an aboriginal surname but I've seen just now that she seems to have not at all an aboriginal somatic and that there are traces of italian immigrants surnamed Tonegato in the district of Wollongong, the city where Emma is born

[Canadian_Rugger Profile]

On the issue of attendances, this is what you get when you hold the Olympics in a developing country with massive security, economic and social issues. I've never been to Brazil but I've worked with the Brazilian Army and if the way I've seen them conduct business is anything to go by, I can understand why they're having problems. Portions of their force are more concerned with LOOKING GOOD than actually BEING GOOD. They've got some switched on units but the vast majority of their Armed Forces is a conscript force with all the inherent weaknesses that comes with that.

I'd imagine mobilizing a security force of sufficient quality and creating an integrated security plan is proving to be quite challenging. I've heard lineups to get in to the venues are hours in length and the whole process is incredibly inefficient.

[Canalina Profile]

Water polo men's tournament, this morning. All in all, there were more spectators for the rugby women's event

[Canalina Profile]

The only video about women at the Olympics I can find



I don't know why there's a so severe censorship about Games videos. I understand about media rights but also the spreading of the message and the propaganda of the sports are important, they could release videos seven days -let's say- after the event

[Canalina Profile]

Last seconds of the bronze final and the joy of Canada's players, on a brief vimeo video
https://vimeo.com/178104729

[victorsra Profile Website]

On the issue of attendances, this is what you get when you hold the Olympics in a developing country with massive security, economic and social issues. I've never been to Brazil but I've worked with the Brazilian Army and if the way I've seen them conduct business is anything to go by, I can understand why they're having problems. Portions of their force are more concerned with LOOKING GOOD than actually BEING GOOD. They've got some switched on units but the vast majority of their Armed Forces is a conscript force with all the inherent weaknesses that comes with that.

I'd imagine mobilizing a security force of sufficient quality and creating an integrated security plan is proving to be quite challenging. I've heard lineups to get in to the venues are hours in length and the whole process is incredibly inefficient.

Yes, LOOKING GOOD is what they wanted. But security is definitly not the issue on Brazilian attendances in any sport or any event! People in Brazil, and in Rio, go out in the night, go out in the weekends to sports matches normaly at any time in the year. It is a country with hard violence issues, but it is not a war zone! And zika virus was a huge mambo jambo.

The problem with Rio 2016 is that popular sports in Brazil had really expansive tickets and all locations are far from the most populated areas of the city. Traffic, public transportation (although it REALLY improved in Rio for the Olympics), distances and expensive tickets answer the empty places. About not popular sports, like rugby, there are two things: most of those that were held in the main Olympic clusters had very good attendances. But Deodoro was REALLY far... it is an isolated military area.

I went to matches i Deodoro (rugby and hockey) and in the Olympic Park and indeed there was a big difference. As a friend said, Deodoro is the "Serie B" (2nd division ) of the Olympics. It was MUCH funnier to be in the Olympic Park. I think for those that were not already rugby fans it made all the difference the location when they were choosing where they wanted to be.

Some years ago I defended rugby to be in Western Rio, but now I realised that it wasn't the best decision. Even people that lived in the suburbs probably with money in the pockets to spend in Olympics tickets prefered to go to the main hub to feel the Olympics.

[ugrugbychiclet Profile]

The only video about women at the Olympics I can find



I don't know why there's a so severe censorship about Games videos. I understand about media rights but also the spreading of the message and the propaganda of the sports are important, they could release videos seven days -let's say- after the event

I am also frustrated that there are no videos of the women's games as I missed most of them.

[Canalina Profile]

Do you know which are the ethnic roots of Emma Tonegato? I thought it was an aboriginal surname but I've seen just now that she seems to have not at all an aboriginal somatic and that there are traces of italian immigrants surnamed Tonegato in the district of Wollongong, the city where Emma is born

Emma Tonegato has really italian roots, despite her features seem more scandinavian; an uncle of her lives in the province of Vicenza, a city in the north-east near Verona and Treviso.
Bianca Farella's grandparents instead were born in the southern regions of Campania and Puglia.
Isadora Cerullo, the brazilian player which received a "merry me" purpose at the end of the Games, has probably roots in Naples, chief town of Campania.
The region of Veneto and the south were effectively the main bases of italian immigration to Americas and Australia

[Canalina Profile]

There are two girls in the Paraolympics wheelchair rugby: Coral Batey in the GB team and Miranda Biletski in the canadese one
Today the first round of matches

[Canalina Profile]

FInally I found some images of the bronze medal match. Just quick highlights, there are not even all the tries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT45GRySVew

[Canalina Profile]

Final ranking at the wheelchair rugby paraolympics tournament, with mixed teams

Gold Australia
Silver United States of America
Bronze Japan
4th Canada
5th Great Britain
6th Sweden
7th France
8th Brazil

Australia defeated USA 59-58 at the second over-time.
There were just two women in the tournament: british Batey scored 12 tries, canadian Biletsky scored two tries