Fijian rugby has been revolutionised by Ben Ryan's arrival. They had very much an amateur attitude in a professional era, in terms of the players lifestyle off the field. He's sorted that out and got them focused on their rugby first and foremost now.

With the pace and power they have, if Fiji could master the setpieces they could really become a major force in the fifteen a side game.

Fiji would never have the participation levels to compete with the likes of he powerhouse southern hemisphere sides let alone England

Ben Ryan has added a missing piece, but 7's was pretty much the Fijian nation national sport already. They had been the team to beat for the last 20 odd years but the game started to change and they got left behind a little. Ryan has brought them in line with other countries and the power game rather than fast and loose.
I think if SA had made the final the result might have been different. SA are very strong also and only just below Fiji in the rankings in 2nd.
To give some perspective on GB's performance England are ranked 8, Scotland 10th and Wales 12th. Kenya and Argentina have a higher ranking than all the home nations.

Good stuff from the rowers - lifts us above the aussies in the medals table.

Yep with the rowing and the track cycling starting will really help us bring in the medals. What's been good is that we've won medals or come close to in so many different sports and not just a select few. The heptalthon is already looking promising after 2 events for both Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Got to say the crowds have looked pretty poor at a lot of the venues throughout the week.

Im remain thoroughly unconvinced that I was watching some subtle tactical masterclass in the 7s, that just looked like a lack of basic rugby skills.

Fiji's performance if anything simply proved what i was saying and a GB side which conceded next to nothing in their previous games got 40 points put on them by a fiji side who ran direct, ran at the gaps, and went forwards not laterally.

I think you also have to accept that the GB tackling was terrible

Congratulations, you have named one country. Only another 195 to visit to research the strengths or otherwise of their broadcasters.


But you stated "The BBC drives up standards across the board". I quite clearly gave an example of where it hadn't driven up standards & then invited you to withdraw the "across the board comment". You have chosen to ignore this, which I can only assume is an admission of error. I know from previous ramblings on here that you are stubborn individual, so I shan't expect a specific reply to this omission.



If it is so incredibly successful, why does it need to extract £145.50 from every household in the UK per year?



Um, OK. Try smiling, you'll feel much better for it.



Ah, but as you well know I cannot choose not to receive the BBC, but watch Sky & other terrestrial channels instead. That, to me, is a gross misuse of power handed to it by successive governments.



Undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the BBC is not an example of one of them.

British swimming's response to having it's funding slashed after London was to produce it's best ever Olympics.
Do you think the Aussies will try the "only good at sports where you're sat down" gag again if we dominate the cycling?

It's been a strange one for me as I've been on holiday this week just kicking around the house so I've been watching a lot of it. Was thinking about the emptiness of a lot of the venues, seems tragic compared to the total sell outs in London. Surely there are masses of locals who would have filled cut price or free seats and upped the atmosphere. Even when Brazil were playing in the women's beach volleyball today the venue was virtually empty. I appreciate that there wasn't anything the organisers could have done about Zica but surely a key part of the highly competitive bidding process must be about filling seats? Naive child that I am I ignore the fact the whole process is bent. Brazil must have spent all the cash on bribes to get the World Cup and Olympics.

Like I said, Fiji are ranked 1 in the world the best ranking of a GB nation is 8th. Rather than slagging off the final performance we should be celebrating a great silver medal for a totally unfancied GB team who played well above themselves to even get out of their group (Kenya are ranked higher).
England, Wales and Scotland just aren't very strong at the moment. I also think all the emotion and effort was blown in the semi. They looked gassed before they even started the final.
Teams like the All Blacks who dominated 7's until a couple of years ago, use the tour as a place to look at juniors and younger potential star players. English clubs won't do that, so 7's players are generally guys that like the lifestyle and probably don't fit in 15 a side so well.
For Fiji it's a little bit the other way around.

GB were smart and determined in the early rounds and worked incredibly hard to over achieve but were rightly put in their place by the excellent Fijians.

Whatever GB cycling put into the water every four years ahead of the Olympics, there must be a lot of coaches in different sports wishing they could borrow some.

Absolute masters of peaking at exactly the right time, whether it's the sprint or endurance boys.

Quote son of headingley="son of headingley"Congratulations, you have named one country. Only another 195 to visit to research the strengths or otherwise of their broadcasters.'" Canada? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ating.html Australia? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ating.html It may offend your fragile randian sensibilities but the BBC, and its sports coverage, are admired the world over. Quote son of headingleyBut you stated "The BBC drives up standards across the board". I quite clearly gave an example of where it hadn't driven up standards & then invited you to withdraw the "across the board comment". You have chosen to ignore this, which I can only assume is an admission of error. I know from previous ramblings on here that you are stubborn individual, so I shan't expect a specific reply to this omission.'" No you didnt, you pointed out you like sky's coverage better, i pointed out that the BBC's technical and production expertise are so admired other countries pay for them. Quote son of headingleyIf it is so incredibly successful, why does it need to extract £145.50 from every household in the UK per year? '" Because it does far more than simply £1b worth of business. Including being one of the largest investors in british tv production by far, creating a mutli-billion pound industry that the UK sells throughout the world. Things the private companies simply dont do. Quote son of headingleyUm, OK. Try smiling, you'll feel much better for it.'" Try not lying. It will make you look less stupid. Quote son of headingleyAh, but as you well know I cannot choose not to receive the BBC, but watch Sky & other terrestrial channels instead. That, to me, is a gross misuse of power handed to it by successive governments.'" You wouldnt have Sky or the other terrestrial channels without the BBC. They simply wouldnt exist. Quote son of headingleyUndoubtedly. Unfortunately, the BBC is not an example of one of them.'" except by an reasonable measure, it comfortably is.

Quote son of headingley="son of headingley"Congratulations, you have named one country. Only another 195 to visit to research the strengths or otherwise of their broadcasters.'" Canada? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ating.html Australia? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ating.html It may offend your fragile randian sensibilities but the BBC, and its sports coverage, are admired the world over. Quote son of headingleyBut you stated "The BBC drives up standards across the board". I quite clearly gave an example of where it hadn't driven up standards & then invited you to withdraw the "across the board comment". You have chosen to ignore this, which I can only assume is an admission of error. I know from previous ramblings on here that you are stubborn individual, so I shan't expect a specific reply to this omission.'" No you didnt, you pointed out you like sky's coverage better, i pointed out that the BBC's technical and production expertise are so admired other countries pay for them. Quote son of headingleyIf it is so incredibly successful, why does it need to extract £145.50 from every household in the UK per year? '" Because it does far more than simply £1b worth of business. Including being one of the largest investors in british tv production by far, creating a mutli-billion pound industry that the UK sells throughout the world. Things the private companies simply dont do. Quote son of headingleyUm, OK. Try smiling, you'll feel much better for it.'" Try not lying. It will make you look less stupid. Quote son of headingleyAh, but as you well know I cannot choose not to receive the BBC, but watch Sky & other terrestrial channels instead. That, to me, is a gross misuse of power handed to it by successive governments.'" You wouldnt have Sky or the other terrestrial channels without the BBC. They simply wouldnt exist. Quote son of headingleyUndoubtedly. Unfortunately, the BBC is not an example of one of them.'" except by an reasonable measure, it comfortably is.