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CAPE TOWN – While the Rugby Sevens World Cup knockout format has been declared a success by the governing body, does it really work for an event as big as it is? a World Cup?
and scrapped the usual stage of the round robin. Instead, they opted for a playoff formula, which means that a defeat immediately eliminated the Cup teams.
Of course, it added drama – like when Australia was sent on the first day of the tournament in San Francisco – but in a World Cup, especially in a match like the Sevens, it's pretty brutal that an error may cause teams to wait another four years to claim the title.
World Rugby General Manager Brett Gosper, however, believes that the "brutal" nature of the 2018 tournament has added to the excitement.
"It played in the tournament drama," said Gosper. "We get a lot of positive feedback from the fans about the drama of KO, it makes every game exciting, it can be brutal for the teams, but the sport is brutal."
Yes, the sport is brutal. But aside from some extra chills, knowing that your team – that she's ranked 14th or first – could be competing for the Bowl after a loss, what direct knockout format has added ? How did it improve the World Cup?
Any change as important as this is supposed to be done in order to enhance the sporting event, and if it was simply aimed at satisfying American fans, then we hope not to see that as we have often seen in the World Series Rugby 7, teams sometimes need a game to start, so there is not much sense to play one game a day and to be cut if this game does not work. go your way
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Also, the Blitzboks – who clinched the bronze medal – could easily have been scrambled Friday night seeing their first tournament match was against Ireland – which had momentum and some confidence after beating Chile earlier in the day (considering that the Irish were ranked 16th and the first Blitzboks, this may sound very unlikely, but as Blitzbok coach Neil Powell said before the tournament – no team can be underestimated). allows a little room for a hiccup or two in the first game, and then you have two more exits to compensate for the first and go faster. And until now, it worked, so why change it now?
I hope that World Rugby will return to the proven format for the 2022 World Cup. And perhaps also consider changing the official name of "Rugby World Cup Sevens" to " Rugby World Cup VII "or" Rugby World Cup Sevens ".
There is not much to complain about. Sevens looks like a subsidiary of Fifteens. And I think it's safe to say that the Sevens game has turned out to be more than just a variation of the rugby union.
Keeping with World Cup formats will of course also help a lot. ] @Wynona_Louw
Cape Argus
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