Hong Kong Sevens: Cup Quarterfinal line-up confirmed
DAY TWO WRAP: The BlitzBoks will face Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday.
The South Africans recorded two victories from their three pool games. On Friday, they beat Ireland by 14-7, and followed that up with a good 26-17 win over Kenya in their final Pool D clash, but New Zealand – who won all three pool games – proved too strong early on Saturday, winning a tight encounter by 12-7.
New Zealand will face Argentina in their quarterfinal. The other quarterfinals will see France against Spain and the USA facing Great Britain.
The South Africans came up just short against the Kiwis with the team in black scoring twice to the solitary BlitzBok try by Mfundo Ndhlovu. Scores were tied 7-7 at the break.
The BlitzBoks managed to hold onto the ball much better and at times stretched New Zealand’s defence, but the Kiwis held on.
Their first try came from a scrum after the South Africans lost the ball in the Kiwi 22, with Leroy Carter breaking through a tackle to put his team 7-0 ahead.
But the BlitzBoks didn’t drop their heads and Ndhlovu scored late in the first half, and Ricardo Duarttee’s conversion ensured the teams go into the break level on the scoreboard.
The second half delivered more of the same, and the Blitzboks were made to defend a bit more which they did very well, but Cody Vai found space out wide in the 10th minute to edge NZ ahead by five points.
The South Africans tried very hard to breach the Kiwi defence, but a few errors cost them and New Zealand managed to hold on for the win.
In their second game against Kenya, the Blitzboks started very well, scoring three tries in the first half en route to a 26-17 win.
Australia were the day’s surprise losers, edged out of a super-tight Pool C by Spain and USA. All three sides won two of three games, with the Aussies losing out on points difference.
The All Blacks saw off Ireland in their final group game 26-7, to add to their wins over Kenya and South Africa.
They currently sit atop the World Rugby Sevens Series standings, but had a disappointing start to the tour on the first Hong Kong stop in November, when they finished ninth.
Brady Rush got his first try of the weekend in the Ireland match. He said New Zealand were “pretty happy about” their three-from-three start and wanted to avenge November’s disappointment.
“That was our first tournament, so coming ninth was a bit of a shocker. But yeah, happy to be playing some good rugby at the moment.”
On a personal note, Rush added it was “good to be on the scoreboard. Hopefully some more over the weekend.”
Their next-round opponent Argentina came second in Pool A.
The group was won by November’s beaten finalists Fiji, who also boast a 100-percent record after seeing off the Pumas in the tricky pool as well as Samoa and Canada.
“We wanted to win all three, and we’ve converted that which is fantastic,” said coach Ben Gollings. “But other than getting us to a quarter-final now that doesn’t mean much. We’ve got to turn up tomorrow on day three.”
This year’s tour – which has three stops to go after Hong Kong – also serves as Olympic qualifiers, with the top four teams automatically heading to the 2024 Games in Paris.
Elsewhere in the draw France – who qualify automatically for Paris, as hosts – have three wins from three and will face Spain, who stunned USA on Friday.
Results:
Day One:
New Zealand 29-5 Kenya
Ireland 7-14 South Africa
Fiji 12-7 Samoa
Argentina 17-7 Canada
United States 0-7Spain
Australia 26-5 Japan
Great Britain 14-12 Uruguay
France 21-14 Hong Kong China
Day Two:
New Zealand 12-7 South Africa
Ireland 26-14 Kenya
Fiji 40-7 Canada
Argentina 26-19 Samoa
United States 31-0 Japan
Australia 12-7 Spain
Great Britain 33-12 Hong Kong China
France 17-14 Uruguay
Kenya 17-26 South Africa
Ireland 7-26 New Zealand
Samoa 29-5 Canada
Argentina 19-26 Fiji
Spain 31-7 Japan
Australia 5-24 United States
Uruguay 24-14 Hong Kong
France 17-14 Great Britain
