Kiwis have one hand on trophy
New Zealand have taken a step closer to a 10th Series title after beating England 29-14 in the Final at the Glasgow leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
The result meant the Kiwis increased their lead over Fiji to 11 points going into the last round at Twickenham next weekend.
With Fiji only able to finish third after losing to England in the semifinals, New Zealand go into the London Sevens needing only to reach the Plate final to retain their Sevens World Series crown.
New Zealand now have 150 points with Fiji on 139.
England’s run to the Final has lifted them above South Africa into third on 123, with the BlitzBokke (115), Glasgow Plate winners Samoa (114) and Australia (99) completing the top six.
We look at all the Day Two drama!
CUP COMPETITION
Final:
New Zealand have one hand on their 10th Series title, after beating England 29-14 in the Final of the Glasgow Sevens tournament.
Tim Mikkelson and captain DJ Forbes scored either side of James Rodwell’s try for England to give New Zealand a 12-7 lead at half-time.
That lead grew when Ardie Savea touched down a minute into the second half and, although Dan Norton cut the deficit there was to be no denying New Zealand with Lote Raikabula and Forbes crossing the try-line.
Result:
England 14-29 New Zealand
Third-place play-off:
Fiji kept alive their hopes of edging New Zealand in the 2011/12 World Series with a comprehensive win over Australia in the third-place play-off.
Con Foley gave the Aussies an early lead, 90 seconds into the game, but that there was no denying the flying Fijians – with tries by Ilai Tinai, Waisea Nayacalevu (two) and Levani Botia giving the Pacific Islanders a 24-5 lead at the break. Even though Jordan Tuapou managed to put the Aussies back in contention with two tries, Metuisela Talebula sealed the deal with less than a minute left on the clock.
Result:
Fiji 31-17 Australia
Semifinals:
New Zealand inched closer to a 10th World Series title after capitalising on Fiji’s loss to England with a four-try, 22-7 victory over Australia – Solomon King’s try on the stroke of half-time giving them a lead they never looked liked relinquishing.
Turner had been England’s hero with his extra time try securing a 26-21 victory over Fiji in the first semifinal.
That try took Turner’s tally to eight in Glasgow and was his second in the match, England’s other tries coming from Tom Mitchell and captain Rob Vickerman. England did have the chance to win it without extra time, but Mitchell’s penalty attempt with time up never got near.
Results:
England 26-21 Fiji
Australia 7-22 New Zealand
Quarterfinals:
England became the first side in the semifinals with a hard-fought 19-14 victory over South Africa, Mat Turner grabbing another brace of tries. Ben Ryan’s men didn’t have it all their own way, though, as South Africa fought back from 12-0 down at half-time with tries from Cornal Hendricks and Branco du Preez, and had a chance to score at the death but spilled the ball to England’s relief.
They now face Fiji, who simply blew Samoa away in the second half with tries from Isake Katonibau, Waisea Nayacalevu and Joeli Lutumailagi securing a 32-10 victory. The win keeps Fiji, who are six points behind New Zealand in the Series title race, on a knockout collision course with Gordon Tietjens’ side.
Australia remain on course for back-to-back titles after battling past Wales 17-7, bouncing back from conceding a Richard Smith try with efforts by Allan Fa’alava’au-while Mick O’Connor’s men were down to six players with Matt Lucas in the sin-bin-and Shannon Walker. Australia now meet trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, who scored six tries-two of them by Waisake Naholo-after conceding the opening score in a 36-5 win over Argentina.
Results:
New Zealand 36-5 Argentina
Wales 7-17 Australia
Fiji 34-10 Samoa
England 19-14 South Africa
PLATE COMPETITION
Final:
Tom Iosefo scored his second hat-trick of the day as Samoa beat Wales 31-12 in the Plate final to claim their first piece of silverware under new coach Faamoni Lalomilo.
Result:
Samoa 31-12 Wales
Semifinals:
Samoa banished the disappointment of losing to Fiji in the Cup quarter finals with a scintillating display of Sevens against South Africa in the first semi final, Tom Iosefo scoring three of their seven tries in a 47-0 victory as the BlitzBokke found it hard to get any time on the ball.
Wales didn’t have such dominance and had to come from behind to beat Argentina 12-7 in what was a repeat of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 final, Tom Grabham and Sion Bennett scoring the tries in the second half.
Results:
Wales 12-5 Argentina
South Africa 0-47 Samoa
BOWL COMPETITION
Final
Russia got better with every match in Glasgow and were deserved winners of the Bowl, scoring five tries in a 33-19 victory over a Spanish team who will join the Series as a core team next season. Yury Gostyuzhev, Alexander Yanyuskin, Ivan Kotov, Vladimir Ostroushko and Igor Galinovskiy scored the tries for Henry Paul’s team.
Results:
Russia 33-19 Spain
Semifinals:
Henry Paul was a relieved coach when Russia held on for a 12-10 victory over France to reach the Bowl final, two long-range tries from Yury Gostyuzhev in the first half proving enough after France could not convert Renaud Delmas’ last gasp try out wide to force extra time. Spain confirmed their place in the final with a victory by the same scoreline over Scotland, Javier Carron scoring the try that denied the home crowd a chance to cheer their side on to silverware.
Results:
Scotland 7-10 Spain
Russia 12-10 France
Quarterfinals:
Russia staged an impressive second half recovery to beat USA 22-21 in the first match of the day, Igor Galinovskiy scoring the try with time up on the clock after taking a quick tap, making their opponents pay for electing to take a drop kick in the final minute. Russia had trailed 21-5 at half-time, but two tries from Vladimir Ostroushko began the Russian fight back.
They now meet France, who edged Portugal 7-5 with Paul Albaladejo’s conversion of Thibaut Zambelli’s try proving the difference between the teams. Scotland gave the home crowd something to shout about as Andrew Turnbull’s hat-trick saw them beat Kenya 19-12, setting up a semifinal against Spain, who continued to impress this weekend with a 14-7 win over Zimbabwe.
Results:
Spain 14-7 Zimbabwe
Scotland 19-12 Kenya
Portugal 5-7 France
United States 21-22 Russia
SHIELD COMPETITION
Final:
Kenya finished the tournament on a high with a 22-14 victory over USA in the Shield final, much to the delight of their raucous fans who had cheered their every move all weekend. Biko Ademo helped make certain victory for Kenya with two tries in the second half.
Result:
United States 14-22 Kenya
Semifinals:
USA bounced back from the disappointment of a last gasp loss to Russia in the first match of the day with an escape act of their own, Andrew Durutalo scoring after the hooter to snatch a 17-14 victory over Portugal. Aderito Esteves seemed poised to be Portugal’s match-winner but he ended up with his head in his hands after a gamble on making the big hit backfired, creating space for Durutalo to score out wide.
Kenya claimed the other place in the final after winning the battle for African pride with Zimbabwe. Neither side had managed a win to that point, but Kenya delighted their vocal supporters with a four-try, 24-7 victory. Zimbabwe had scored first, but tries from Horace Otieno, Willy Ambaka Ndayara, Felix Ayange and Sidney Ashioya saw Kenya home.
Results:
Kenya 24-7 Zimbabwe
United States 17-14 Portugal
