Canada go marching on

Canadas unbeatable 7s team picked up their fifth major in a row last weekend, retaining their Las Vegas Sevens title this year without losing a game. It is now over a year since Mandy Marchaks rugby machine has even lost a game.

In truth, the Canadians were barely troubled in any of the games they played winning every match by more than a single score. Placed in what had appeared, on paper, to be by far the tougher pool Canadian total dominance was only questioned once, when Stars and Stripes the US development team held them to 7-7 at half time. But nineteen unanswered second-half points soon put the young Americans back in their place.

This relative avalanche of second-half points was not unusual. When the leading professional teams played other sides the relative difference in fitness and stamina between the teams was readily apparent far more so than in 2011. Japan showed that they are a talented team, and would often hold their own in the opening stages of each game, but by the second half were frequently on their knees especially in the pool phase where they had to play three games in a day.

The oldest professional team, Netherlands, came through the same pool as Canada, dismissing both Stars & Stripes and Brazil with ease. However in the latter game the Dutch (already missing their leading player Kelly van Harskamp) lost two more players though unlucky, almost freak, injuries losses that may have had an effect on the team for the rest of the tournament as they failed to win another match. In their next game they not only lost but were outclassed by Canada, their opponents pouncing on every mistake to run away with a 28-0 win.

In the other pool, USA took pole position as expected though France pushed them all the way in the opening days best game. The young, mercurial, French had already exorcised their demons in their opening game when they beat the Maple Leafs, gaining revenge for their shock defeat in Dubai. Over the weekend they put in the best performance by a French sevens team since, well, Las Vegas last year. In the semi-final stages they lost to Canada by a single try, and then retained their third place ranking with an exciting 17-12 win over the Dutch.

Netherlands had lost their semi-final to the USA by 17-5, a result and certainly a scoreline that surprised many, but with now lacking three leading players perhaps not a real surprise. Overall, although fast and strong, the Dutch continued to make too many mistakes, both handling and tackling. Also, like every other opponent, the Dutch also had huge problems dealing with the USAs Vanesha McGee probably the player of the tournament who routinely (if she could be stopped at all) required two of three players to bring her to ground, thus opening up vast holes in opposition defences.

Before the final was staged the minor placings had already been decided and here there were some surprises. Brazil to great South American joy lifted the plate title with wins over Maple Leafs and Stars & Stripes. For a team that had conceded 97 points on the opening day it was a remarkable turnaround, again perhaps showing that sevens is as much about stamina as sheer ability. With time to recover overnight, Brazil were a different team.

And so to the final, and unfortunately the first thing to note was not what happened on the field. For the second year running the final day in the Sam Boyd Stadium was broadcast live in the USA by NBC (and also by Sky in the UK who took the NBC feed). However, when it came to the womens final the host broadcaster chose instead to turn off the live rugby and switch instead to 20 minutes of studio discussion. The IRBs plan for womens rugby published last week speaks about the problem of media recognition and the need for commercial strategies to increase the commercial value of womens rugby. One way might be to ensure, by contractual requirement if need be, that host broadcasters have access to all women's feeds in all IRB tournaments, something that seemingly wasn't given as an option so therefore broadcasters showing the tournament couldn't show the women's final.

The result was that the final itself was only seen by those in the stadium, or those watching the YSC/USA Rugby live web feed a great pity as, for the second year running, it was a classic. In the first period USA came back quickly from a Marchak try with a typical score from McGee, who almost scored again minutes later just before the break. Unfortunately (for USA) almost the entire second half took place in the USA end, Marchak doubling Canadas score as her team retained their title 14-5.

The German development team - playing as "Adler Sevens" and Chile's national team were also in Las Vegas, in the Women's Elite Sevens - a tournament that the young German side won, beating several leading north American club teams (including Chile 22-5).