Singapore SVNS: BlitzBoks learn semifinal opponents after thrilling loss to Fiji
DAY ONE WRAP: The BlitzBoks will face France in the HSBC SVNS Singapore semifinals after winning their first two pool games on Saturday, before going down in extra time against Fiji in the last clash of the day.
Fiji will face New Zealand in the other semifinal
POOL A: Fiji and BlitzBoks show their class
Fiji will be overflowing with self-belief when they take on New Zealand in Sunday’s semifinal.
Three Pool A wins against Great Britain, USA and South Africa have seen to that and encouraged hopes the Fijians could repeat last year’s title win in Singapore.
In the final game of Saturday, they thrillingly beat the BlitzBoks 24-19 in extra-time to top Pool A and lay down an emphatic marker.
Fiji, noted for their dazzling attacking skills, opened with a 22-19 win over Great Britain with the prolific Viwa Naduvalo claiming a superb hat-trick.
Nacani Boginisoko added Fiji’s fourth while Charlton Kerr, Brent Jackson and Joshua Radcliffe scored for Great Britain.
South Africa beat Spain 21-14 in their opener with tries from Donavan Don, Zander Reynders and Shilton van Wyk with Anton Legorburu Anso and Francisco Cosculluela scoring in reply.
Fiji claimed their second win of the day with a resounding 28-7 victory over Spain courtesy of tries from Iowane Teba, George Bose, Terio Veilawa and Nacani Boginisoko.
Josep Serres claimed the Spaniards’ only try as they were outscored by four tries to one.
South Africa then enjoyed a huge win after beating Great Britain 33-12.
A sublime display harvested tries for Donavan Don, Tristan Leyds, Shilton van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen and Sebastiaan Jobb while Joshua Radcliffe and Matt Davidson went over for Great Britain.
Spain beat Great Britain 29-14 to secure their only win with tries from Jaime Manteca, Juan Ramos, Jeremy Trevithick (two) and Gabriel Rocaries.
Marcus Kershaw and Brent Jackson replied for Great Britain, who lost all three games.
The real drama was still to come, though, as Fiji edged out South Africa in the final game of the day.
Tristan Leyds, Donavan Don and Christie Grobbelaar touched down for the BlitzBoks but Fiji were not to be denied.
Terio Veilawa scored twice and Jeremaia Matana was also on target before Nacani Boginisoko burst clear to score a superb winner in extra-time.
POOL B: France top group and New Zealand also progress
France did not win a game in Singapore last year but earned a notable 19-12 victory over New Zealand in their opening game on Saturday.
Simon Desert, Antoine Zeghdar and Nelson Epee touched down with Akuila Rokolisoa and Regan Ware replying for New Zealand.
The All Black Sevens players wore black armbands as a mark of respect to honour those who died in the recent landslides at Mount Maunganui.
This tragedy is close to home with their womens and mens teams based on New Zealand’s North Island.
Led out by captain Henry Hutchison – the most capped Australian in Sevens history with 62 tournaments – Australia beat a gutsy Argentina 19-14 in their opener.
They established control through Aden Ekanayake, Jayden Blake and Dietrich Roache before Los Pumas Sevens hit back through Marcos Moneta and Santiago Mare to ensure a tense finish.
France showed their class again with a comprehensive 31-7 win over Australia.
Simon Desert, Jordan Sepho (two), Nelson Epee and Paul Leraitre touched down for the French, with the Australians’ sole reply coming from Aden Ekanayake.
There was a much closer-fought affair when New Zealand edged out Argentina 26-20 with tries from Tone Ng Shiu, Frank Vaenuku, Kitiona Vai and 19-year-old Kele Lasaqa’s dramatic late winner.
Santino Zangara, Santiago Vera Feld, Marcos Moneta and Eliseo Morales were on target for Los Pumas Sevens.
New Zealand then beat Australia 29-10 with tries from Akuila Rokolisoa, Sofai Notoa-Tipo, Rob Rush (two), Michael Manson with Aden Ekanayake and Jayden Blake scoring for the Australians.
Tries from Paulin Riva, Simon Desert and Ali Dabo gave France a 19-15 win over Argentina, for whom Santino Zangara scored a delightful hat-trick.
Day One Results – Saturday, January 31:
Men:
France 19-12 New Zealand
Argentina 14-19 Australia
Fiji 22-19 Great Britain
South Africa 21-14 Spain
France 31-7 Australia
Argentina 20-26 New Zealand
Fiji 28-7 Spain
South Africa 33-12 Great Britain
New Zealand 29-10 Australia
Argentina 15-19 France
Great Britain 14-29 Spain
South Africa 19-24 Fiji
Day Two Fixtures – Sunday, February 1:
(kick-off is local time – GMT plus eight hours)
Men:
Fifth-place Semifinals:
Spain v Argentina – 12.44
Australia v Great Britain – 13.06
Cup semifinals:
Fiji v New Zealand – 14.52
France v South Africa – 15.14 (09.14 SAST)
Seventh-place play-off – 15.58
Fifth-place play-off: 16.42
Third-place play-off – 18.33
Cup Final – 19.41
