LAS VEGAS 7s 2016
FIJI came from 15-0 behind at half-time to successfully defend their HSBC USA Sevens Cup title in sensational fashion, beating Australia 21-15 in round five of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Having not won since the opening tournament in Dubai, two tries from Kitione Taliga and one from Savenaca Rawaca plus three crucial conversions from Vatemo Ravouvou proved the difference in front of 25,981 fans on a windy day in Las Vegas with the players dedicating the win to those back home.
"One week after Cyclone Winston struck we went back into camp and all the players said we were going to play here in Vegas," said captain Osea Kolinisau.
"I reminded the boys this week that we needed to remember the people back home who were victims of Cyclone Winston and that we needed to give them something to be happy about after all the devastation. To come up against Australia like that was tough, but we said 10 minutes is a long time and all we needed to do was to get back the ball to have a chance to win."
In a pulsating final Sam Myers began proceedings before captain Ed Jenkins and Cameron Clark took their lead to 15-0 at half-time, but three missed conversions proved costly for the Australians who finished runners-up for a second successive tournament.
Fiji's win gives them a five-point lead at the top of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings ahead of South Africa (86) and New Zealand (82) at the halfway stage of the 2015-16 series with Australia in fourth. Hosts USA finished fourth in Las Vegas after losing to South Africa in the third place play-off and sit fifth in the overall standings.
ALL BLACKS FINISH FIFTH
FRESH from two Cup wins on the trot, New Zealand had to settle for the Plate this time round after beating Japan 27-7. All Blacks Sevens stalwart DJ Forbes got Sir Gordon Tietjens' side off to a flyer with an early try, which was further added to by Kurt Baker who weaved his way through the Japanese defence to dot down. Lewis Ormond added a third try for New Zealand to make it 15-0 at half-time, and his side were soon 22-0 up after Forbes bagged his second try of the game. Kameli Soejima scored Japan's only try of the half, but after New Zealand's Beaudein Waaka powered over in the left-hand corner it was game over for Japan.
SILVERWARE FOR WALES IN BOWL
WALES proved too strong for France in the Bowl final as they ran in four tries to win 28-14 in Nevada. Captain Luke Trehane sped away from the French defence to get the first points on the board for Wales and then set up the second score for Tom Isaacs to make it 14-0. France came back into the game immediately through Sofiane Guitone, to make it 14-7, but it was a short-lived comeback as Ethan Davies scooted off the back of a scrum to increase the Welsh lead. Davies then turned provider for Luke Morgan, and with just over a minute left there was suddenly a 21-point gap putting the game out of reach. A late consolation try from Guitoune made it 28-14 at the final whistle.
SAMOA SHIELD IN VEGAS
SAMOA walked away with the Shield after beating Canada 24-12. Despite going behind early on thanks to a quick try from Canada's Mike Fuailefau, Samoa found their rhythm with an immediate response from superstar Samoa Toloa. It was all square at the break, 12-12, and the match was in the balance before Toloa again stepped on the gas to grab Samoa a seven-point advantage. Alefosio Tapili finished off the game with a late try to gift the Pacific islanders some silverware at the HSBC USA Sevens.
FOUR teams remain in contention for the HSBC USA Sevens Cup title after a second enthralling day of action at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.
POOL A
1 2 3 4
POOL B
1 2 3 4
POOL C
1 2 3 4
POOL D
1 2 3 4
After a second pulsating day in front of 35,716 fans, USA beat Kenya to set up a semi-final with defending champions Fiji on day three, while South Africa await Australia after beating New Zealand for the first time since the 2014 Port Elizabeth Sevens.
In the first quarter-final Mike Friday's hosts beat his former side Kenya 26-14 to delight of the home crowd and booked their place in the last four of the fifth round on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series thanks to tries from Danny Barrett, Perry Baker, Martin Iosefo and Zack Test.
Kenya had earlier beaten New Zealand 22-0, their first win over the All Blacks Sevens side since the 2013 Wellington Sevens, to top Pool A before coming up short against the USA despite Collins Injera scoring his fourth try of the weekend and 218th overall.
Ben Ryan's Fiji bounced back from their opening pool match defeat to Samoa to top Pool C thanks to a narrow 15-12 win over Argentina before beating Japan 36-7 in the quarter-finals. Two tries from Jasa Veremalua and one each for captain Osea Kolinisau, Jerry Tuwai, Pio Tuwai, Savenaca Rawaca and Amenoni Nasilasila proved the difference and setting up a semi-final with the hosts.
Japan had beaten Scotland 26-19, adding to their 19-19 draw with England on day one, to secure their place in a Cup competition for the first time since the 2015 Tokyo Sevens and only third time in history, but could not stop the reigning series champions.
The Blitzboks will meet Australia in the second semi-final after Seabelo Senatla scored his eighth and ninth tries of the tournament to help his side beat the Wellington and Sydney champions New Zealand 14-7. It was Neil Powell's first win over Sir Gordon Tietjens since the 2014 Port Elizabeth Sevens, ending a run of five successive defeats.
In the fourth quarter-final tries from Ed Jenkins, Allan Fa'alava'au and two from Sam Myers gave the HSBC Sydney Sevens runners-up to a 26-12 win over Los Pumas.
NEW ZEALAND, Kenya, South Africa and Australia have all booked their spots in the quarter-finals at the HSBC USA Sevens after an enthralling opening day of action at the Sam Boyd Stadium.
Four spots are still up for grabs with the all-important and decisive third round of pool matches taking place on day two before the quarter-finals in Las Vegas, with more record crowds expected after a new day one attendance record of 18,441 turned out.
In Pool A, back-to-back champions from Wellington and Sydney New Zealand picked up where they left off in round five of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, scoring 80 points and conceding just one try in wins over Russia and Portugal, the same sides that tasted defeat to Benjamin Ayimba's Kenya.
Humphrey Kayange scored his 150th and Kenya's 1,500th sevens try in their win over Russia while Collins Injera scored three times on day one to move within three tries of Ben Gollings and second place in the all-time leading try-scorers list behind Santiago Gomez Cora.
South Africa also won both of their matches on day one with Bryan Habana returning to rugby sevens after a 12-year absence to score one of the tries of the day as the Blitzboks opened up with a 33-7 win over Canada before Seabelo Senatla scored a hat-trick in their 36-7 win over Wales, taking his tally for the day to five and 30 for the season.
Canada bounced back from their defeat to Neil Powell's side to draw 26-26 with the hosts USA with both sides aiming to take the second qualification spot from Pool D.
The hosts won their opening match 19-12 against Wales before the enthralling draw with North American rivals and next week's hosts Canada. Having led 26-7 thanks to two superb tries from Perry Baker, Conor Trainor, Nathan Hirayama and Phil Mack, playing in his 50th tournament, drew the scores level to leave it all to play for in Pool D.
Elsewhere Pool C is wide open after defending Las Vegas champions and current series leaders Fiji lost to Samoa in their opening match of the day, their first defeat in a pool match since the 2014 London Sevens, before beating France 42-12.
Samoa had the chance to qualify for the Cup with a victory over Argentina but were beaten 25-12 with Bautista Ezcurra scoring twice in the win. Los Pumas' win was their second of the day having earlier beaten France but must wait until day two to confirm qualification for the last eight with a match against Ben Ryan's Fiji.
Australia were the only other side to win both of their matches on day one, beating Scotland and Japan in Pool B to secure qualification to the last eight.
England left it late to snatch a 19-19 draw with Japan who had led 19-5, Jack Wilson and Phil Burgess scoring the tries to secure the draw before they lost to Scotland 24-14 in the last match of day one.
FRIDAY 4th MARCH 2016 |
|||||||
1 |
15:51 |
NEW ZEALAND |
42-7 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
2 |
16:13 |
KENYA |
24-21 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
3 |
16:35 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
33-7 |
CANADA |
POOL D |
||
4 |
16:57 |
USA |
19-12 |
WALES |
POOL D |
||
5 |
17:19 |
FIJI |
24-28 |
SAMOA |
POOL C |
||
6 |
17:41 |
ARGENTINA |
26-7 |
FRANCE |
POOL C |
||
7 |
18:08 |
AUSTRALIA |
26-0 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL B |
||
8 |
18:30 |
ENGLAND |
19-19 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
9 |
18:52 |
NEW ZEALAND |
38-0 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
10 |
19:14 |
KENYA |
38-0 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
11 |
19:36 |
USA |
26-26 |
CANADA |
POOL D |
||
12 |
19:58 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
36-7 |
WALES |
POOL D |
||
13 |
20:20 |
FIJI |
42-12 |
FRANCE |
POOL C |
||
14 |
20:42 |
ARGENTINA |
25-12 |
SAMOA |
POOL C |
||
15 |
21:04 |
AUSTRALIA |
35-5 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
16 |
21:26 |
ENGLAND |
14-24 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL B |
SATURDAY 5th MARCH 2016 |
|||||||
17 |
11:32 |
PORTUGAL |
0-31 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
18 |
11:54 |
NEW ZEALAND |
0-22 |
KENYA |
POOL A |
||
19 |
12:16 |
SAMOA |
17-31 |
FRANCE |
POOL C |
||
20 |
12:38 |
FIJI |
15-12 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL C |
||
21 |
13:24 |
SCOTLAND |
19-26 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
22 |
13:46 |
AUSTRALIA |
36-7 |
ENGLAND |
POOL B |
||
23 |
14:08 |
CANADA |
10-17 |
WALES |
POOL D |
||
24 |
14:35 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
29-0 |
USA |
POOL D |
||
25 |
16:03 |
SCOTLAND |
17-12 |
SAMOA |
BOWL QF |
||
26 |
16:25 |
FRANCE |
21-19 |
ENGLAND |
BOWL QF |
||
27 |
16:47 |
WALES |
31-12 |
PORTUGAL |
BOWL QF |
||
28 |
17:09 |
RUSSIA |
19-10 |
CANADA |
BOWL QF |
||
29 |
17:31 |
KENYA |
14-26 |
USA |
CUP QF |
||
30 |
17:53 |
FIJI |
43-7 |
JAPAN |
CUP QF |
||
31 |
18:15 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
14-7 |
NEW ZEALAND |
CUP QF |
||
32 |
18:37 |
AUSTRALIA |
26-12 |
ARGENTINA |
CUP QF |
SUNDAY 6th MARCH 2016
Shield Semi Final (33)
Canada 24-7 England
Shield Semi Final (34)
Portugal 14-29 Samoa
Bowl Semi Final (35)
Russia 14-15 France
Bowl Semi Final (36)
Wales 21-14 Scotland
Plate Semi Final (37)
Kenya 14-19 Japan
Plate Semi Final (38)
New Zealand 24-19 Argentina
Cup Semi Final (39)
USA 14-21 Fiji
Cup Semi Final (40)
South Africa 12-14 Australia
SHIELD FINAL
Canada 12-24 SAMOA
BOWL FINAL
France 14-28 WALES
PLATE FINAL
Japan 7-27 NEW ZEALAND
THIRD PLACE
USA 10-21 SOUTH AFRICA
CUP FINAL
FIJI 21-15 Australia
POOL A |
POOL B |
POOL C |
POOL D |
WORLD RUGBY has announced the pools for the fifth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas, to be played on 4-6 March 2016, ahead of the Cup final in Australia.
The pools for the HSBC USA Sevens were drawn ahead of the Cup final at the Allianz Stadium, with Cup winners New Zealand heading Pool A at the Sam Boyd Stadium thanks to a 27-24 win over Australia.
Sir Gordon Tietjen's side will face Kenya, Portugal and Russia in Pool A while Australia, runners-up on home soil in Sydney, meet England, Scotland and Japan.
Ben Ryan's series-leading Fiji await Argentina, Samoa and France in possibly the toughest of the four pools, and an exact repeat of the Sydney event, in Pool C. The Pacific Islanders will be looking to extend their remarkable record of 39 victories from their last 39 pool matches when they hit American soil where they are defending champions.
Hosts USA, who ended the Sydney Sevens tournament with a 24-21 defeat to Kenya having held a 21-0 lead at half-time, are in Pool D and face South Africa, Wales and North American rivals Canadian in a mouth-watering clash in Las Vegas.