Singapore Sevens: BlitzBoks crumble, Fiji win title

DAY TWO WRAP: Fiji returned to the World Sevens Series with a bang as they were crowned Singapore Sevens champions after they beat New Zealand 28-17 in the Cup Final on Sunday.

Fiji and New Zealand did not participate in the first four rounds of the 2022 series because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Prior to Singapore, South Africa had won all four rounds of the World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 to date – and six in total in a row – but in Singapore’s National Stadium it was to be Fiji’s moment.

The last time anyone but South Africa had won a men’s tournament on the big stage was in March 2020 in Vancouver when New Zealand took top honours.

The BlitzBoks won the two events in Vancouver and Edmonton in the shortened 2021 Series and had won the first four competitions this year in Dubai (2), Malaga and Seville.

However, having seen their 36-match unbeaten run ended on Saturday evening by the USA in the pool stage, they lost again on Sunday to Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals and then to Argentina in the fifth place semi-final.

That meant that day two in Singapore was all about who would join the winners circle for 2022 – and it was to be Fiji.

“I was thinking about my family back home, they are my why. Why I’m doing this”

With two tries in the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens Cup final, Vuiviawa Naduvalu is the @HSBC_Sport Player of the Final.#HSBC7s | #Singapore7s | @fijirugby pic.twitter.com/jjtAl3HTJS

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— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 10, 2022

Fiji first half firepower sees them beat New Zealand

In a repeat of the Olympic final from Tokyo 2020, Fiji and New Zealand met here. Fiji had won the gold medal in Japan last year after a 27-12 victory and matches between these two powerhouses are always classics.

Vuiviawa Naduvalo scored his ninth try of the weekend after two minutes to give Fiji the lead in this one with Kaminieli Rasaku converting. Waisea Nacuqu then scored – and converted – Fiji’s second try and they had a healthy 14-0 lead. Just before the break, Joseva Talacolo scored Fiji’s third try, converted by Rasaku, and it got worse for New Zealand as Leroy Carter was yellow carded.

New Zealand needed the first try in the second half to give themselves any hope and a score came from Regan Ware, but it was not converted. With Jerry Tuwai pulling the strings, Fiji’s fourth try came through Naduvalo, his 10th of an amazing two days. Rasaku converted.

A Moses Leo try – converted by Akuila Rokolisoa – and then an unconverted effort from Caleb Tangitau for New Zealand made the final score 28-17.

Fiji captain Tevita Daugunu said: “It was a very good final. We knew we had to keep the ball away from New Zealand and for most of this final we did just that.

“The team stuck to the game plan perfectly and with it being Palm Sunday back home we hope this has made our family, friends and supporters happy.”

Australia hold on to defeat plucky Irish

Australia raced into a 14-0 lead in the first half, but far from their march to bronze being easy it went all the way with Ireland showing they really are one of the emerging rugby sevens nations.

Corey Toole, Ben Marr and Dietrich Roache tries – and three conversions from the latter – had Australia 21-14 up heading into the last minute, but with Nick Malouf in the sin bin, Ireland took advantage.

A great finish from Andrew Smith out wide made it 21-19, but the tough conversion attempt hit the upright and the Australians held on to take a medal from a hard fought weekend.

Corey Toole of Australia was the Impact Player of the Tournament.

Cup semifinals

If we thought we had seen drama before these games over the weekend there was even more to come here with both last four ties going right down to the wire.

In the first semifinal, scores from Australia’s Nick Malouf and Henry Hutchison and tries for Fiji from Joseva Talacolo and Vuiviawa Naduvalo – plus one conversion apiece – had the sides level at 12-12. That was until a try a minute from time from Elia Canakaivata, converted by Waisea Nacuqu, got the Fijians through the tie 19-12.

In the second semifinal, giant killers Ireland were at it again. Tries from Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy and Gavin Mullin, plus two conversions, had them 19-12 up against New Zealand and on the cusp of a massive shock.

That was until late unconverted tries from Trael Joass and Akuila Rokolisoa broke Irish hearts and saw New Zealand through 22-19.

Cup quarterfinals

In the Cup quarterfinals earlier in the day, Australia had come flying out of the blocks to see off Argentina 29-5. Corey Toole was the main man in that one with a hat-trick of tries with Matthew Gonzalez also crossing and Dietrich Roache kicking the rest of the points.

South Africa were then looking to bounce back from their day one evening loss to USA, but they could not do it as Fiji got the better of them 19-14 to really open up the tournament.

Vuiviawa Naduvalo, Joseva Talacolo and Waisea Nacuqu’s tries and two conversions from the latter gave Fiji a 19-7 lead which meant that even though the South Africans scored a converted effort late on through Siviwe Soyizwapi, they could not get back in front.

A Steve Rimoni converted try double had Samoa 14-12 up going into the last couple of minutes against New Zealand in the third last eight tie, but the latter rallied. Caleb Tangitau and Kitiona Vai went over for five pointers before the end of the game and New Zealand had scraped through 22-14 and shown great battling qualities.

USA were leading Ireland 12-7 at half-time in the fourth tie, but the Irish had taken heart from defeating Fiji on day one and a Jordan Conroy try, converted by Billy Dardis, with four minutes to go gave them a 14-12 victory.

Day Two Results:

Cup quarterfinals:

Australia 29-5 Argentina
Fiji 19-14 South Africa
New Zealand 22-14 Samoa
USA 12-14 Ireland

Ninth-place quarterfinals:

England 19-24 Wales
France 40-12 Canada
Scotland 10-27 Spain
Kenya 12-10 Japan

Thirteenth-place semifinals:

England 22-7 Canada
Scotland 21-24 Japan

Ninth-place semifinals:

Wales 12-38 France
Spain 19-10 Kenya

Fifth-place semifinals:

Argentina 22-15 South Africa
USA 24-17 Samoa

Cup semifinals:

Australia 12-19 Fiji
Ireland 19-22 New Zealand

Thirteenth-place Final: England 28-14 Japan

Ninth-place Final: France 24-19 Spain

Fifth-place Final: Argentina 42-24 USA

Bronze-medal Final: Australia 21-19 Ireland

Cup Final: New Zealand 17-28 Fiji