Update on 7's

Just an update for those that are interested. Rounds in the men's and women's competitions were held in the weekend in Japan and China.

The men's competition was won by South Africa who beat NZ in the Final. The competition once again reflected the increasing level of competition with quality sides such as England, wales, Argentina and Kenya being relegated to the bowl. We also saw Fiji and Samoa being beaten by the USa and Scotland. So far this season no one team has really been able to dominate in full. The results in full are:

1 South Africa
2 New Zealand
3 Australia
4 France
5 United States
6 Scotland
7= Fiji
7= Samoa
9 England
10 Argentina
11= Kenya
11= Wales
13 Canada
14 Japan
15= Portugal
15= Spain

NZ now have a virtually unassailable lead due to their consistency. SA are currently (with a mathematical chance of winning) in a battle for second with Samoa and Fiji. At the other end of the table 1/2 dozen teams are fighting to avoid the relation tournament at the end of the season. At this stage it looks like Spain and Portugal will be their with either the USA or Scotland (see points table below).
1 New Zealand 132
2 South Africa 100
3 Fiji 98
4 Samoa 94
5= France 77
5= Kenya 77
7 Wales 68
8= Argentina 62
8= Australia 62
10 England 58
11 Canada 54
12= Scotland 46
12= United States 46
14 Portugal 34
15 Spain 25

In the women's game NZ beat England in the final. It seemed to me that these two teams are ahead of the rest. These two teams head the rankings, with a group made up of Canada, USA and Australia chasing. There is a fair amount of variation in the women's game with teams like Russia, Brazil, Netherlands and Ireland all being competitive on their day (Ireland and Russia would no doubt be further up the board but haven't competed in all the tournaments).