Cyprus National Rugby team all the very best of luck in the up and coming 2018 European Men’s 7’s Trophy tournament in Croatia.
The rugby 7’s game is played by 7 players over 7 minutes per game hence the
Cyprus will be playing 3 games on June 8th against the following:
Lithuania v Cyprus 8th June 12:06 (local time)
Romania v Cyprus 8th June 14:29 (local time)
Cyprus v Hungary 8th June 17:36 (local time)
All games are listed at:
https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/2018-men-7s-trophy
If they are victorious they will progress to the next round of the tournament.
All results will be covered in the next edition of the Parikiaki.
All games can be watched live at https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/2018-men-7s-trophy
Tune in and cheer on the boys!
Go the Mouflons!!
Some additional facts
THE main difference between sevens and regular fifteen a-side rugby is, as you would guess, the number of players on the pitch.
The pitch size and the rules and regulations remain the same.
The other major difference is the duration of a game. A regular game of rugby lasts 80 minutes whereas a game of sevens is only seven minutes each way.
However sevens games are not isolated to one per week. Instead a tournament of six games is played over two days.
These fundamental differences result in two very different games.
Many of the technical intricacies of rugby are not relevant to sevens. Firstly at set piece. A scrum only consists of 3 people and is seen as a way of restarting a game rather than the tactical battle it has become in the fifteen a-side game.
Similarly lineouts only have three people which cuts out any driving mauls, another hugely technical part of rugby.
Secondly, fewer players on the pitch also affects the breakdown. The general principle in fifteens is that the ball carrier is supported by three or four players whereas in sevens it is only one support player.
This results in far quicker rucks and thus a faster paced game.
The one player clearing the ruck has to be very accurate. If they are not technically spot on, aggressive and quick to the breakdown they do not have the cavalry arriving to help them out.
Instead they are likely to be pushed off the ball and their team will lose possession.
In fact, the accuracy of basic skills is highlighted in sevens. Each player has to be able to execute all skills.
A winger will have to clear rucks and pass the ball away from breakdowns whilst a forward is expected to side step and throw twenty yard passes.
Offensively, there are bigger distances between the attackers so passes have to be longer. They also have to be accurate as a pass slightly behind an attacker can take the momentum out of an attack and allow a scrambling defence the split second they require to make a tackle.
Defensively there are also bigger spaces between players.
This takes out the two man tackle that is common in fifteens. It also places greater emphasis on your positioning.
We always try and align on the inside shoulder of the attacker so they can only run to one side. If you get this wrong and a player side steps you it is difficult for another player to cover for you.
Thus the opposition are likely to break through.
Nobody wants to miss a tackle, and defence coaches hate when you do, however it is harder for your team-mates to cover a missed tackle in sevens.
There tend to be players covering in fifteens, the scrum-half in the ‘Bobby’ role or a flanker that gambles a tackle may be missed and drops behind the defensive line.
Along with the full-back and one or two wingers who drop deep to cover kicks or breaks. In sevens there is only the sweeper.
The other major difference, the length of games, results in a different tactical approach between sevens and fifteens.
Dominating the set piece and territory are crucial to fifteens, teams hoping to force their opponents in to mistakes that they can exploit through tries or penalties.
There is not enough time for this in the abbreviated game. Sevens is all about possession with momentum proving vital.
Whilst there are obviously many similarities the differences listed above show how far apart the two games have grown.
With sevens now in the Olympics there is potential for the games to grow further apart but they will still share the same key values.
Cyprus are fancied to go a long way in this competition with a relatively young squad with the odd one or two superfit experienced guys along
