New Zealand Sevens (semi) Live Blogging Underway!

Ok, here’s the deal. Setanta Sports has been advertising that coverage of tonight’s New Zealand Sevens was going to be LIVE in the United States. So I get an email and Day 2 is already underway. Are you kidding me? I was looking forward to “Live Blogging” Day 2 and apparently Setanta Sports lied to me. LIARS!!!

I apologize. Maybe they are only showing the end of it live instead of the entire day…no idea. I just double checked the Setanta USA website and it still says the coverage was going to be live tonight. Fuckers, but I probably fucked up and misunderstood.

Well…I’m pissed. But, at least let me get everyone caught up to what has gone down so far.

Bowl Quarterfinals

England-33 Canada-17

France-17 USA-12 –Not a great start for the Eagles. They are now eliminated from the Bowl competition and must now play for the Shield. The French get a measure of revenge after losing to the Eagles in George. It should be noted that the score was 12-12 at the end of regulation and France scored the winning try in “sudden death” over time.

Argentina-19 Kenya-7

Cook Islands-24 Papua New Guinea-17

Cup Quarterfinals

New Zealand-40 Wales-5

Australia-31 Scotland-7

Tonga-14 South Africa-10–What an upset! Tonga did not compete in Dubai or George and yet they knock off one of the tournament favorites. Congrats to them.

Samoa-19 Fiji-17 –Hell yeah! The upsets continue. This is probably good news for the Kiwis as I felt Fiji was the only squad strong enough to defeat the hosts.

Shield Semifinals

USA-19 Canada-7 –The Eagles advance to the Shield Finals! Sure, its the lowest trophy you can win in a Sevens Tournament, but any hardware is an accomplishment. They will get a chance to avenge their loss to Kenya in the Plate Finals back in December at the South Africa Sevens as the two squads will meet for the Shield Finals. This also gives the U.S. two straight victories over our rivals to the north. Michael Palefau and Matthew Hawkins scored tries for the U.S.

Kenya-38 Papua New Guinea-7

And that catches you up to date.

Please click on “READ MORE” below as I will now begin LIVE TRYGOL.COM COVERAGE of the rest of the New Zealand International Sevens!!!

Bowl Semifinals

*Update (11:48 PM ET) England-14 France-5 –What a difference a day makes! England put their shitty Day 1 performance behind them and now seemed poised to win the Bowl Championship. France exits with only 1 victory at the New Zealand Sevens. Unfortunately, that lone victory was at the expense of the Yanks.

*Update (11:53 PM ET) Argentina-36 Cook Islands-5 –The Pumas, much like England, have stepped their game up on Day 2. Remember, the Pumas made it to the Cup Semifinals in George before losing to the eventual champion Kiwis. As for the Cook Islands, congrats to them on a very memorable performance. They stunned England yesterday and picked up one victory today before bowing out. So this sets up England versus Argentina for the Bowl Championship.

Plate Semifinals

*Update (12:11 am ET) Wales-24 Scotland-12–Wales moves on to the Plate Finals as they doubled up rivals Scotland. Wales is not known as “7’s Super Power” so making it to the Plate Finals is a great accomplishment.

*Update (12:15 am ET) I’m watching Setanta Sports right now and “Football Asia” is on. “Live Coverage” of Day 2 of the New Zealand Sevens begins in 14 minutes. If their coverage is truly live, looks like it will begin with the Cup Semifinals. I may be giving Setanta too much shit for this mix up. Maybe I’m just a fucking idiot and shouldn’t have assumed the entire day was going to be live.

*Update (12:21 am ET) South Africa-26 Fiji-19–I felt Fiji were one of the favorites to win the NZ Sevens and after Day 1, how could you argue with that? Day 2 has been a while different story. Fiji will hope to rebound next week in San Diego at the USA Sevens while the Springboks will take on Wales in the Plate Finals.

Cup Semifinals

*Update (12:25 am ET) The cup semifinals will be very interesting. We kick it off with rivals New Zealand & Australia going to battle. That will be followed by another Pacific Nation rivalry as Tonga takes on Samoa. Now that I’m truly “live blogging” this event, let me throw out my quick predictions. Look for New Zealand and Tonga to each win and meet in the Finals.

*Update (12:39 am ET) Well I’m still waiting for Setanta’s “Live Coverage” to begin. According to my DirecTV guide and Setanta’s Online Schedule, this was suppose to begin 10 minutes ago.

*Update (12:43 am ET) This is getting to be funny. Just as I was about to cut Setanta a break and rip myself for misunderstanding their “live coverage” of the NZ Sevens, they are currently airing “Gillette World Sport”. If you get Setanta, you know that during commercials they typical plug what is on NOW, what is on NEXT and what is on LATER. Well it said “Now-Gillette World Sport 11pm”. Did we have a time change I wasn’t aware of? Its 12:45 am, not 11pm!!! Guess I’ll keep my eyes on the IRB website for updates as it seems Setanta is all fucked up for some reason.

*Update (12:50 am ET) Hmmm…any chance the New Zealand versus Australia match got pushed back a bit? Oh…and COME ON YOU WHITES…BEAT VILLA!!! Yeah they don’t play until Sunday but it’s not like I have anything to “live blog” about at the moment.

*Update (1:03 am ET) Finally!!! Cept they are showing Tonga vs Samoa. Looks like Setanta must have had some technical problems. So now I gotta look up who won the Australia vs New Zealand match. Before I find that score, Tonga is leading Samoa 7-5 early on.

*Update (1:09 am ET) Better late than never. New Zealand defeated Australia 32-7. No big deal that Setanta’s live coverage began late as the Kiwis smacked the Wallabies around. Getting back to the live match, Samoa is leading Tonga at the half 17-7. After Tonga took the lead, Samoa scored two quick tries to end the half.

*Update (1:13 am ET) Samoa is starting to pull away. A great try that went the length of the pitch. Whoever that guy was is lighting quick. Samoa now leads 24-7.

*Update (1:16 am ET) Another great try, except this time it was Samoa’s #11 going the length of the pitch. Tonga now pulls with in 10 points as the score stands 24-14. This is getting exciting with like a minute and a half to go.

*Update (1:18 am ET) TONGA SCORES!!! One minute to go and now the score is 24-21.

*Update (1:19 am ET) What a match! Tonga had a late charge at goal and fell only meters short of a fantastic comeback. However Samoa survives and wins 24-21. Tonga had a great tournament and is a real threat for the rest of the World Series this year. Samoa won the New Zealand Sevens last year and will now attempt to defend their title versus the host nation New Zealand. Up next, the Shield Finals between USA and Kenya. COME ON EAGLES!!!

Shield Finals

*Update (1:24 am ET) As we wait for the Shield Finals to begin, they are showing shots of the crowd having a good fucking time. The crowd is always electric at Sevens Tournaments and I think that is great. I hope to one day attend the USA Sevens. We got about a foot of snow in Michigan today. San Diego in February sounds good to me!

*Update (1:30 am ET) Kenya and the Eagles take to the rugby pitch as the Shield Finals is about to begin. Interesting the PA System is playing “Born in the USA” even though I feel most of the people there are supporting Kenya. Hell the crowd is singing along. Bruce is loved world wide.

Kenya is about to kick off and now we are underway!

*Update (1:32 am ET) Kenya gets off to a flying start. Dennis Mwanja scores a try as Kenya leads 5-0. At least they missed the conversion.

*Update (1:35 am ET) Clever with a nice run for the Americans but he’s stopped short. After a scrum, Kenya’s Collins Injera goes the length of the pitch for the try. The USA’s defense sucks at the moment. Kenya is now up 10-0.

*Update (1:37 am ET) The Eagles are in trouble! After a clever chip and chase, Dennis Mwanja scored once again and now Kenya is up 17-0 at the half. Kenya seems to have our number. They slipped past us by 1 point in George to win the Plate Championship back in December. Very impressive performance thus far for the African nation.

*Update (1:40 am ET) USA scores! Todd Clever scores a try and the score now stands at 17-7. I just thought, it would have been nice to have Takudzwa Ngwenya for this tournament but he has bigger fish to fry playing club rugby in France.

*Update (1:42 am ET) Kenya was driving towards the try line and Jason Pye intercepted a pass and Jason goes the length of the pitch as the USA are now back in it! The Score is now 17-12. There is 3 1/2 minutes left in the match.

*Update (1:45 am ET) Kenya is playing keep away as they attempt to burn the clock. 1 1/2 minutes to go.

*Update (1:46 am ET) Final possession for the Americans. Clever is awarded a penalty try!!! We need this kick!!!

*Update (1:47 am ET) USA WINS!!! WHAT A SECOND HALF COME BACK!!! The United States won the Shield Championship 19-17 on a Dallen Stanford penalty try. Todd Clever set up the penalty try and carried us on his back the entire second half.

Your 2008 New Zealand Sevens Shield Chamipions- THE USA EAGLES!!! Congrats boys, you deserved this. Hopefully we can collect a few more trophies as the IRB World Series continues.

BOWL FINALS

*Update (1:53 am ET) Coming up in 7 minutes is the Bowl Finals between England and Argentina. Both squads played poorly on Day 1 and came back strong on Day 2. I’m going to be pulling for the Pumas but I think England will take it.

*Update (2:02 am ET) England and Argentina are underway and the match is scoreless 3 minutes in.

*Update (2:08 am ET) Setanta Sports isn’t the only ones having technical problems tonight. Out of no where, my blog slowed down. Maybe I’m just updating too fast and furious!!! Anyways, the Pumas scored a late first half try and lead England 7-0. And as I type this out, it would seem Setanta is having more technical problems.

*Update (2:11 am ET) Setanta is back and the second half is underway. This blog may be lagged a bit, so bear with me. Argentina made a nice charge towards the try line via a chip and chase but the ball was put into touch. The Pumas are still threatening. England now with the chip and chase and England scores! Anthony Elliot showed much pace and now the score is tied 7-7.

*Update (2:28 am ET) Man the WordPress.com servers are slow at the moment. I’ve been trying to update with no luck. Anyways, England won the Bowl Championship 12-7 over the Pumas. England went winless yesterday and went undefeated today. Up next, South Africa versus Wales in the Plate Finals.

Plate Final

*Update (2:47 am ET) I apologize to the visitors tonight. It’s been a strange night. I couldn’t log into my WordPress.com account for almost 20 minutes. Very slow at the moment. South Africa defeated Wales 19-12 to take home the Plate. South African jumped out to a 19-0 lead at the half. Wales scored twice in the second but it wasn’t enough to over take the Springboks.

And now the Cup Finals between New Zealand and Samoa. Can the Kiwis win their 3rd Cup out of 3 tournaments this season? We shall see.

Cup Finals

*Update (3:01 am ET) Samoa jumps out quickly and scores a try. The Samoans are playing fearless rugby early on. The crowd is stunned!!!

*Update (3:09 am ET) Kiwi Victor Vito scored a try and New Zealand closes the gap as the score is now 7-5. Very physical match so far as we are nearing the end of the first half. The action is back and forth as we reach the final minute of the first half. New Zealand’s Zar Lawrence takes the hand off about 50 meters out and breaks free for the try. New Zealand now leads at halftime 12-7.

*Update (3:15 am ET) The second half is underway. WordPress.com is messing with me right now much like Setanta Sports was earlier. What a great time to perform “server maintenance.” Didn’t they know I was attempting my first Live Blog? Hahaha…anyways. If the second half is anything like the first half, we are in for a treat. Play is stopped at the moment as a Samoa player is injured.

*Update (3:18 am ET) Samoa retakes the lead 14-12. A great “team try” as the defending NZ Sevens Champs look to take it to the defending World Series Champs.

*Update (3:21 am ET) LoLo Lui hits a rare drop goal, putting Samoa up 17-12 to extend their lead. However this lead was short lived as New Zealand came right back with a try in the left corner to tie the match at 17-17 with 3 minutes to go. What a Cup Final!

*Update (3:25 am ET) Two minutes to go and New Zealand is driving up the pitch. The Kiwis are around 22 meters away from the try line. 30 seconds to play and New Zealand have possession . 15 seconds to go and Victor Vito breaks loose for the Kiwis, heading for the try line. The Samoans can’t catch him and Vito scores his second try of the match! The match is over. New Zealand defeats Samoa 22-17 in the final seconds. New Zealand have now won all 3 IRB Sevens World Series tournaments this season. Can they make it 4 in a row next weekend in San Diego? They will be tough to beat. Congrats to Samoa, they played the Kiwis tough two days in a row but came up short.

Well my first “Live Blogging” event was full of glitches but I had a good time. Time to get some sleep as I have a busy sports day ahead of me tomorrow.

Again…here are your champions in Wellington:

USA-Shield

England-Bowl

South Africa-Plate

New Zealand-Cup