Unbeaten Blitzbokke thrill PE crowd
Hosts South Africa, current Series leaders Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand all reached the Cup quarter-finals of the Nelson Mandela Bay South Africa Sevens with 100 percent records at the end of day one.
The 2011 Dubai Sevens champions England reached the last eight following a 19-0 victory against Argentina, and join France, Australia and Wales in the last eight.
We bring you all the Day One action!
Pool A:
(England, Argentina, USA, Samoa)
Having entered the Shield competition for the first time last week in Dubai, Samoa came out firing to record three victories on day one after a narrow 14-12 victory against USA ensured they remained unbeaten heading into day two.
The Dubai Sevens Cup winners England joined them as runners-up, beating Argentina 19-0 in their decisive match with Argentina thanks to two tries from Dan Norton and they now face Gold Coast champions Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals.
Earlier Paul Perez scored twice for Samoa against England in a 24-14 victory after a 17-5 win in their opener against Argentina.
Ben Ryan’s side also got off to a winning start as they beat Al Caravelli’s USA 19-7 thanks to tries from James Rodwell, Marcus Watson, Mat Turner and Nick Royle.
USA edged Argentina 21-14 thanks to a last minute try from Mark Bokhoven.
Fixtures/results:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus two hours)
England 26-7 United States
Argentina 5-17 Samoa
England 14-24 Samoa
Argentina 14-21 United States
United States 12-14 Samoa
England 19-0 Argentina
Pool B:
(France, New Zealand, Scotland, Morocco)
New Zealand ended day one with a 100 percent record, beating last week’s runners-up, France 41-0, as Tomasi Cama added 16 points of his own including two tries and three conversions.
Frank Halai scored a hat-trick as the reigning World Series champions defeated Scotland 45-0 in their second Pool B match.
Gordon Tietjens’ side also proved too strong for Morocco, a side that hasn’t competed on the World Series since 2003, scoring seven tries in the 39-7 victory, including one for Kylem O’Donnell on his debut and a hat-trick for Toby Arnold. The biggest cheer however came for Karim Abad who scored the last try of the match for Morocco.
The 2011 Dubai Sevens Cup runners-up France recorded a 31-7 victory in their opening Pool B match, despite conceding the first try to Scotland’s Andrew Turnbull.
Terry Bouhraoua scored twice in the match, with Paul Albaladejo, Mathieu Acebes and Julien Jane also crossing following their first Cup final in six years at the Sevens, before Jane added two further tries in their 19-7 win against Morocco.
Scotland finished third in Pool B and enter the Bowl competition after James Fleming’s four tries helped them to a 50-0 victory against Morocco.
Fixtures/results:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus two hours)
France 31-7 Scotland
New Zealand 39-7 Morocco
France 19-7 Morocco
New Zealand 45-0 Scotland
Scotland 50-0 Morocco
France 0-41 New Zealand
Pool C:
(South Africa, Australia, Kenya, Canada)
The Blitzbokke stormed to three wins on the first day of their home tournament including an impressive 26-0 triumph over Australia.
Steven Hunt scored four tries as the hosts secured a massive victory over African neighbours by Kenya 45-0.
South Africa began their campaign on home soil by beating Pan American Games champions Canada 33-0 thanks to tries from Branco du Preez, Chris Dry, Hunt, Cornal Hendricks and Mark Richards.
Last week’s Plate winners Australia defeated Kenya 31-14 to end the first round of pool matches as Lewis Holland. Greg Jeloudev, captain Ed Jenkins, Jordan Tuapou and Pama Fou all scored for Michael O’Connor’s side.
Fixtures/results:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus two hours)
South Africa 33-0 Canada
Australia 31-14 Kenya
South Africa 45-0 Kenya
Australia 33-10 Canada
Canada 26-5 Kenya
South Africa 26-0 Australia
Pool D:
(Fiji, Wales, Portugal, Zimbabwe)
Current Series leaders Fiji ended day one with a 100 percent record after coming from 14-0 behind to win 29-14 against Wales in the Pool D decider.
Earlier Osea Kolinisau and Semi Radradra both scored twice in their opening 31-7 victory against Portugal before Josala Lotawa and Watisoni Votu crossed twice each against the Cheetahs in a 42-17 win.
Owen B Williams also scored twice in both of Wales’ victories – 42-7 victory against Zimbabwe and 34-7 over Portugal – and they will meet Samoa in the Cup quarterfinals.
Portugal ensured they finished third in Pool D after coming from 7-0 behind to beat Zimbabwe 24-14 thanks to two tries from Aderito Esteves.
Fixtures/results:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus two hours)
Fiji 31-7 Portugal
Wales 42-7 Zimbabwe
Fiji 42-17 Zimbabwe
Wales 34-7 Portugal
Portugal 24-12 Zimbabwe
Fiji 29-14 Wales
