Under the Posts – Week of July 8, 2018

This week we continue our focus on #RWC7s with squad announcements, oh so many squad announcements! We’ll actually sneak a bit into next week’s post but we wanted to have all the announcements in one place. If more squads come out we’ll update our master RWC post.

Other coverage includes USA 7s teams that are working their way through various 7s qualifiers as they fight to reach the USA Rugby 7s Club Championships.

Also, France Rugby goes professional with XVs contracts & Rachel Taylor of Wales takes on a new coaching role. 

Can’t wait a week? Join us on Twitter, Facebook page or Instagram (NEW) as we will be posting daily. Give us a shout!

We’re getting so much closer to RWC 7s and teams are giving us unique insight into their preparation. Beatriz Futuro Muhlbauer – commonly known as Baby – tells World Rugby how the Brazil team is shaping up.

Training at Sao Paulo’s High Performance Centre, the team is financially supported by both the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby and the government, allowing them to have their focus solely on their opening RWC Sevens match against Canada, one they must win to remain in title contention under the new innovative knock-out format.

Ghislaine Landry shares her thoughts ahead of RWC 7s in a quick video.

With the first squad announcement for RWC 7s, New Zealand came out of the gate swinging! They have all their stars back and will face off against Mexico on day one.

The second squad announcement is Spain. Coming off their best performance in the HSBC 7s Series they are ready to battle with Fiji in their first match. This is an interesting match up as both teams are known to spoil and frustrate their opponents.

Spain also released a hype video ahead of RWC 7s. Are you ready?

Squad announcements continued to roll in over the week, South Africa was next. Their squad includes four uncapped players but they will be surrounded by veterans Zenay Jordaan and Mathrin Simmers. South Africa will see Russia on day one of the tournament.

and then Australia…Sharni Williams returns to the line-up after an ankle injury, she is co-captain along with Shannon Parry. Ellia Green has also returned from injury  not a minute to late. They look to return to the podium but will face Papua New Guinea first.

USA announced a squad of 12 World Cup veterans and four Olympians. The lone new comer is Ilona Maher who was quite impressive in her two starts in the HSBC 7s Series. USA will see China on day one of RWC 7s.

BREAKING: USA Rugby announces that Kelter is out of the RWC 7s due to an ongoing injury.

Russia has a young squad but most of the team participated in the HSBC 7s Series and they had a strong showing all year. Bayzat Khamidova and Maria Perestyak are the only two squad members who return from the 2013 World Cup.

The French squad may look familiar as their full of part-time contracted players that have improved year on year. They will face Japan in their opening match.

England is coming off a bronze at the Common Wealth games and the team remains mostly unchanged. They will see Ireland in their first test.

Brazil has had quite the buildup to the RWC 7s with multiple camps and events. They face a tough Canadian squad who is most often playing in the medal rounds.

Captain Chiharu Nakamura is one of four survivors from the Japan team that played at the last Rugby World Cup. They will face France on Friday.

Fiji will be lead by Ana Maria Roqica and includes five members from the 2013 rugby 7s world cup. They’ll face formidable foe Spain on the first day of competition.

We had asked NBC Sports if their broadcast coverage would be men’s and women’s and we FINALLY have our answer! YES!

Domestically in the USA, Club teams are also ramping up for the USA Rugby National 7s Championships and ORSU doesn’t want to miss out this year again. They’ve evolved this year with more physical and mental training as well as adjusting their coaching philosophy.

San Diego has punched their tickets to USA Rugby 7s Championships as they won both Pacific South Qualifiers.

Shifting gears from all the 7s…France is the latest union to offer professional contracts for their fifteens program. 26 players will have part-time contracts as there continues to be a focus on allowing players to develop their careers outside of rugby.

Rachel Taylor will history in the coming season as the first female coach of a national league Welsh rugby team with Colwyn Bay. They break with 137 years of male-dominated tradition in the sport by bringing on Taylor.

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