Cape Town 7s: Day One LIVE
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Scotland got the day off to a flying starting by beating Canada 21-14.
After a tense deadlock at half-time, Australia took the lead against Wales with three minutes to go – after a slick break from Lachlan Anderson, before Dane Blacker powered over with 30 seconds on the clock. And with the last play of the game, Australia sneaked it with Maurice Longbottom, throwing the dummy before touching under the posts.
After a nervous start, And Fiji finally broke the deadlock against France – Waisea Nacuqu cut inside down the right after they recycled from the left. Aminiasi Tuimamba then found plenty of space, after Vilimoni Botitu made a wonderful interception. a lovely no-look pass from Mesulame Kunavula to Aminiasi Tuimamba, who had a clean run at the line to make it 21-0 at the break. In the second half Fiji tan riot – Vilimoni Botitu, Kalione Nasoko, Alosio Naduva and Jerry Tuwai (twice) adding to the try count – 50-0.
Despite a scrappy start, England Ethan Waddleton opened the scoring against Kenya. Cyprian Kuto levelled up the scores with Kenya’s first try. Dan Norton broke down the left to give England a 12-7 lead at the break. Leonard Mugaisi scored first after the break, but then Dan Norton turned the game on its head – scoring twice – before Phil Burgess seals a 29-12 win with his team’s fifth try.
Spain produced the first boilover, against Argentina, winning 35-12 after a tight first half. Mateo Carreras opened the scoring for Argentina, before Javier Carrion levelled the scores. Franco Sabato regained the lead for Argentina, giving them a 12-7 lead at the break. However, that was to be their last score. Second half tries by Pablo Fontes (twice), Pol Pla and Javier Carrion wrapped up the win for Spain.
The United States, one of the pre-tournament favourites, had a complete shut-out against Japan – winning 54-0. Tries in this one-sided match came via Martin Iosefo, Madison Hughes, Perry Baker, Stephen Tomasin (twice), Brett Thompson, Matai Leuta and Carlin Isles.
It was pure strength from David Afamasaga that opened Samoa’s account against hosts South Africa. South Africa had plenty of strength of their own in Zain Davids and after Samoa went down to six men for a high tackle, veteran Kyle Brown got in at the left-hand corner. Right on the half-time break Brown set up captain Philip Snyman for the BlitzBoks’ second try – 10-7.
Quick hands from South Africa, as they offload right and the space opened up for Justin Geduld to run through for the first try after the break. Samoa continued to employ a physical game – trying to bully the South Africans into submission. A powerful run from Impi Visser gave the BlitzBoks a handy lead, before John Vaili got a late consolation try – 22-12.
New Zealand produced the only score in a scrappy first half against Zimbabwe, Andrew Knewstubb finding space after selling a great a dummy, and there was no catching him – 7-0. It was a quick start from New Zealand after the break. They won a penalty inside Zimbabwe’s five-metre area Scott Gregory powered over from the quick tap.
That broke the Zimbabwean resistance. Luke Masirewa, Scott Gregory and Luke Masirewa added tries to make it 35-0.
Max McFarland puts Scotland into the lead in their second match of the day, against Wales. They then went 14-0 up against their Celtic rivals – Robbie Fergusson held off a tackle before an underhand pass behind him to Gavin Lowe, who had the easy job of sprinting unchallenged for the try. With Wales a man down Scott Riddell made good use of his team’s one-man advantage. Joseva Nayacavou got Scotland’s fourth try. Ben Jones got a late consolation try for Wales – 28-7.
Australia got off to the perfect start against Canada. Lewis Holland accelerated down the right and kicked inside for John Porch to score the try. Quick feet by Maurice Longbottom exposed Canada’s defence, followed by quick hands from Lewis Holland’ – Nick Malouf released into space for the try. Malouf also got the third try. John Porch and Ben O’Donnell combined for the fourth try, by Porch. Justin Douglas eventually got Canada on the board and he also got a second, before Nathan Hirayama got a third for the Canadians – making the final score 29-15.
Fiji was simply too powerful for Kenya – Meli Derenalagi opening the scoring, Alosio Naduva – the creator of the first try – then getting on the scoreboard himself. Kalione Nasoko, Naduva (his second), Sevuloni Mocenacagi and Meli Derenalagi completed the rout – before Vincent Onyala got a late consolation score for Kenya, 38-7.
France got off to a flying start against England, superb inside run from Nisie Huyard, receiving the ball late and running into space to fool the English defence. Tom Mitchell hit back for England, as he broke through the French defence, collecting a lovely offload from the ground and using his pace. Nisie Huyard got France back into the lead – using his strength to make it to the line. England built up slowly, but s a superb kick across field to Dan Norton, who brought it down cleanly raced clear to level up the scorers again. Will Muir gave England a crucial lead when he broke out from the France defence after a great ball from Ethan Waddleton. Ryan Olowefela wrapped up the win for England – 26-12.
Mateo Carreras put Argentina ahead early in their encounter with Japan, as the South Americans looked to bounce back from their shock loss to Spain earlier. Lautaro Bazan Velez got Argentina’s second try, from a quick-tap penalty five metres out from the Japan line. Franco Sabato got Argentina’s third, when he picked up the ball just inside Japan’s half, shrugged off two tackles and then weaved his way through the defence for a clean run – 21-0 at the break. Marcos Moroni and Luciano Gonzalez scored in quick succession early in the second half, as Argentina stretched their lead further, before Yoshihiro Noguchi scored a consolation try for Japan – 35-7.
Kevon Williams used his pace to get The United States on the board against Spain. However, an interception from Ignacio Rodriguez-Guerra levelled the scorers and then Joan Losada put the Spanish team into the lead. Perry Baker went on a sublime run and when he was brought down just inside the 22, he offloaded to Stephen Tomasin to give the Americans a 14-12 at the break. Marcos Poggi put Spain in front again, before a powerful surge by Danny Barrett reclaimed the lead. Stephen Tomasin, Carlin Isles and Maceo Brown added further tries to seal a 38-17 win for the Yanks.
Siviwe Soyizwapi got South Africa off to a perfect start against neighbours Zimbabwe, using his pace to outstrip the defence. Rosko Specman was then released down the middle and it was a ‘no-contest’ in the race to the line. Siviwe Soyizwapi required the assistance of the TMO, but there was no doubt about Kyle Brown’s try as the BlitzBoks took a 26-0 lead into the break. Justin Geduld was first to score after the break, before Impi Visser and Soyizwapi (his hat-trick score) completed the rout – 43-0.
Samoa claimed an early lead against New Zealand, Alamanda Motuga slipping through the middle of the New Zealand defence at the breakdown. Sione Molia hit straight back for the Kiwis, skipping through the Samoan defence with ease to level the scorers. Tone Ng Shiu managed to squeeze between two defenders to give New Zealand a 12-7 lead at the break. David Afamasaga scored the try that gave the lead to Samoa, before Sione Molia reclaimed the lead. However, there was drama to come – as Samoa won a penalty on their own try line, with ten seconds remaining, and Tila Mealoi broke out from the pack to sprint 75 metres for the match-winning try, 21-17.
Canada opened the scoring against Wales, Justin Douglas being put into space on the left by Nathan Hirayama. Connor Braid got a second for Canada, before Afon Bagshaw got the Welsh on the board. However, Matt Mullins and Justin Douglas put daylight between Canada and Wales on the scoreboard – the Canucks winning 28-7.
Maurice Longbottom used his quick feet to put Australia on the board first in their encounter with Scotland. Australia then stole the ball away from Scotland, with John Porch finding Lachie Anderson, and his pass to Jesse Parahi bounced perfectly. Maurice Longbottom then got a second try in the match, as Lewis Holland plucked the restart out of the air, made 10 metres, and offloaded to Longbottom to do the rest. Robbie Fergusson gave Scotland some hope when he opened the Scottish account, but it was John Porch who shut the door with Australia’s fourth try. Harvey Ellis managed to give the Scottish scoreline some respectability – 26-14.
Kenya was first on the board in their encounter with France – Alvin Otieno the scorers, after Leonard Mugaisi put him into space on the left. Thibaut Mazzoleni levelled it up for the French, with Terry Bouhraoua giving the French a 12-5 lead right on the stroke of half-time. Otieno used his power to get Kenya’s second try and put them on level terms, but Paulin Riva got the crucial score to give France a 19-12 win.
The Fijian skills were on full display in the opening exchanges of their encounter against England, Meli Derenalagi finishing off a great move. A stray Phil Burgess pass found Aminiasi Tuimaba and he made him pay. With Vilimoni Botitu in the sin bin, Will Muir was able to make the extra man count – 14-7 at the break. Jerry Tuwai made the most of turnover possession, but Will Muir and Alex Davis scored in quick succession as England kept the game alive. Fiji survived the late fightback and hung on for a 21-19 win.
Pol Pla set the tone for Spain, as he broke around the blindside of a scrum and left the Japan defenders for dead. Francisco Hernández, Joan Losada, Pol Pla (his second) and Marcos Poggi added further tries in a 33-0 first-half rout. Francisco Hernández got Spain’s sixth try, with tries by Tobias Sainz-Trapaga and Alejandro Alonso taking the full-time score to 52-0.
It was a brilliant run from Kevon Williams – when he got the ball in midfield and powered his way through – that opened the account for America against Argentina. Franco Sabato got Argentina on level terms, before a reckless tackle from Danny Barrett on Gaston Revol reduced the United States to just six players. Lucio Constantino Cinti Luna used the extra man to give Argentina a 14-7 lead at the break. Madison Hughes has the first score in the second half, with a well-executed grubber gifting Martin Iosefo an easy run in for the try. Matai Leuta and Perry Baker completed the second-half rout – 31-14.
David Afamasaga got things going for Samoa against Zimbabwe. Elisapeta Alofipo was the next to score for Samoa and he was followed by Danny Tusitala, before Stephan Hunduzza finally pulled one back for Zimbabwe – to make it 19-7 at the break. Tafadzwa Chitokwindo opened the second-half scoring for Zimbabwe, but David Afamasaga stretched Samoa’s lead. Chitokwindo got a second for the Africans, but Alamanda Motuga completed the scoring for a 33-12 win for Samoa.
It was all to play for between New Zealand and South Africa. An exchange of early penalties and some astute play by Kyle Brown saw the BlitzBoks work their way into the New Zealand 22 – where Rosko Specman got out of a tackle for the opening try. Andrew Knewstubb ran almost the length of the field to score a try and tie up the scores. Sione Molia then stepped out of a weak tackle to make it 14-7 at the break.
Werner Kok went beast mode early in the second half as he got the BlitzBoks on level terms with a powerful surge from close to the New Zealand line. Branco du Preez then showed his stepping skills to unlock the New Zealand defence to get South Africa back in the lead. Sione Molia then exposed the BlitzBok defence to tie the game up yet again, before Vilimoni Koroi went on a run down the left wing to salvage the win (26-21) and secure New Zealand a place in the Cup play-offs.
Results:
Matches one to eight:
Scotland 21-14 Canada
Australia 21-14 Wales
Fiji 50-0 France
England 29-12 Kenya
Argentina 12.35 Spain
United States 54-0 Japan
South Africa 22-12 Samoa
New Zealand 35-0 Zimbabwe
Matches nine to 16:
Scotland 28-7 Wales
Australia 29-15 Canada
Fiji 38-7 Kenya
England 26-12 France
Argentina 35-7 Japan
United States 38-17 Spain
South Africa 43-0 Zimbabwe
New Zealand 17-21 Samoa
Matches 17 to 24:
Canada 28-7 Wales
Australia 26-14 Scotland
France 12-12 Kenya
England 19-21 Fiji
Spain 52-0 Japan
United States 31-14 Argentina
Samoa 33-12 Zimbabwe
New Zealand 26-21 South Africa
