![LV= Cup [Anglo-Welsh]](images/LV Cup 2011 SB.jpg)
SINGAPORE 7s 2016
KENYA won the eighth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in sensational fashion, beating Fiji 30-7 to claim an historic triumph, their first ever Cup title at the Singapore Sevens.
Collins Injera, named HSBC player of the final, scored twice in the final as his side blew the series leaders Fiji away with 20 unanswered first half points.
It was a fitting end to a sensational weekend of rugby sevens, with more than 45,000 people turning out at the National Stadium with Singapore returning to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series after a 10-year absence.
Fiji's place in the final after victory over South Africa in the semi final extended their lead at the top of the standings to eight points with two rounds remaining in Paris and London while the Blitzboks returned to second place having finished third after beating Argentina 28-0 in the third place play off which included a 50th career try for Kwagga Smith.
Earlier two enthralling semi-finals set up the final with series leaders Fiji coming from behind for the second time of the day to win with the last play of the match. First Kitione Taliga helped Ben Ryan's side beat Australia 19-14 having trailed 14-5 before they beat South Africa 26-21 with substitutes Amenoni Nasilasila and Alivereti Veitokani scoring the decisive tries in the first semi final.
The second semi-final was just as dramatic with a Collins Injera penalty drop goal giving Kenya the lead for the first time in the match and sealing a 15-12 win with the last kick.
Samoa dented New Zealand's series' hopes with their second plate of the season. Having trailed 21-14 with less than two minutes left on the clock, Samoa scored twice to give them a 26-21 victory over New Zealand who dropped to third in the standings. First a brilliant weaving run from Belgium Tuatagaloa accounted for the first try before Tila Mealoi intercepted a stray pass to race 40 metres and send the Samoans into raptures. It was Mealoi's second in the match, having also scored two in their semi-final win over France. Samoa last beat New Zealand in 2012 and the victory will give them a lot of confidence heading into the last two rounds of the series and ultimately the repechage where they will compete for the last place in the Olympic Games.
Hugh Blake and Mark Robertson score tries for Scotland in their Bowl final against USA which ultimately proved too much for the USA. Despite Zack Test and Maka Unufe crossing, both tries left difficult conversions which were unsuccessful. Danny Barrett went on one of his rampaging runs towards the end of the match but the Scotland defence held firm to secure a second Bowl victory this season.
Russia won their third consecutive Shield trophy, beating Wales 24-7 in the final. Vladimir Ostroushko powered down the right flank for the match's opening try, before setting up Mikhail Babaev for Russia's second as they powered to a 12-0 lead. Two further tries from Stanislav Bondarev and Vladislav lzarenko extended the lead to 24-0 before a Nicky Griffiths try gave Wales some consolation.
SOUTH AFRICA joined France as the only sides to win all three of their matches at round eight of the World Rugby Sevens Series. France won all three of their matches against New Zealand, USA and Canada to book their place in the quarter finals on day one of the HSBC Singapore Sevens.
Les Bleus opened up with a shock 24-0 win over New Zealand, their first over Gordon Tietjens' side since the 2005 Paris Sevens Cup semi finals - a tournament they went on to win. France will face Kenya in the quarter finals after finishing top of Pool B thanks to 19-17 and 26-19 victories against the USA and Canada with Virimi Vakatawa scoring in all three matches, notching up his 50th career try on the way.
South Africa also maintained a 100% record on day one and will play New Zealand in the last eight after wins against Scotland, Russia and Kenya. Kenya made their way through on points difference over Scotland having played out a 12-12 draw despite the 14-0 defeat to their African neighbours. Seabelo Senatla scored four for the Blitzboks on day one including his 50th of the season.
Argentina were the third side to ensure they topped their pool despite finishing their day with a 21-21 draw with Japan. Having beaten Australia 12-7 in their first match with tries from Javier Ortega Desio and Ramiro Finco and Wales 42-21 thanks to a hat-trick from Juan Pablo Estelles their draw was enough to set up a match with the runners-up from Pool A Samoa.
POOL A
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL B
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL C
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL D
1 
2 
3 
4 
Fiji topped Pool A despite losing 28-14 to Samoa in their opening pool match for the second time in a row after doing the same in Las Vegas and losing Semi Kunatani to injury in the same match. Ben Ryan's side bounced back with 38-0 and 28-12 wins over Portugal and England however, with Fiji's most capped sevens player of all-time Osea Kolinisau playing in his 50th event and converting three of the four tries in the last match of the day to set up a quarter final with Australia.
"It was a day of mixed emotions, especially after we lost to Samoa in the opening match," said Kolinisau. "We wanted today to be more than about one person and it to be a team effort so although it’s great to get my 50th tournament, we had to really focus on getting through to the Cup quarter finals."
England, captained by James Rodwell in his record 69th consecutive tournament, missed out on the last eight on points difference with Samoa taking the runners-up position to reach the Cup, something they were unable to do in Las Vegas.
Having been promoted to core team status for next year's series by winning the qualifier tournament in Hong Kong last week Japan demonstrated their ability to compete at the top level with a 26-19 victory over Wales, a narrow loss to Australia 17-12 and their draw with Los Pumas.
SATURDAY 16th APRIL 2016 |
|||||||
1 |
10:00 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
33-0 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL C |
||
2 |
10:22 |
KENYA |
21-7 |
RUSSIA |
POOL C |
||
3 |
10:44 |
NEW ZEALAND |
0-24 |
FRANCE |
POOL B |
||
4 |
11:06 |
USA |
36-14 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
||
5 |
11:28 |
AUSTRALIA |
7-12 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL D |
||
6 |
11:50 |
WALES |
19-26 |
JAPAN |
POOL D |
||
7 |
12:12 |
FIJI |
14-28 |
SAMOA |
POOL A |
||
8 |
12:34 |
ENGLAND |
14-7 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
9 |
13:21 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
21-10 |
RUSSIA |
POOL C |
||
10 |
13:43 |
KENYA |
12-12 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL C |
||
11 |
14:05 |
NEW ZEALAND |
24-17 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
||
12 |
14:27 |
USA |
17-19 |
FRANCE |
POOL B |
||
13 |
14:49 |
AUSTRALIA |
17-12 |
JAPAN |
POOL D |
||
14 |
15:11 |
WALES |
21-42 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL D |
||
15 |
15:33 |
FIJI |
38-0 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
16 |
15:55 |
ENGLAND |
12-5 |
SAMOA |
POOL A |
||
17 |
16:42 |
SCOTLAND |
31-10 |
RUSSIA |
POOL C |
||
18 |
17:04 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
14-0 |
KENYA |
POOL C |
||
19 |
17:26 |
FRANCE |
26-19 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
||
20 |
17:48 |
NEW ZEALAND |
19-12 |
USA |
POOL B |
||
21 |
18:20 |
ARGENTINA |
21-21 |
JAPAN |
POOL D |
||
22 |
18:42 |
AUSTRALIA |
31-12 |
WALES |
POOL D |
||
23 |
19:04 |
SAMOA |
28-12 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
24 |
19:26 |
FIJI |
26-12 |
ENGLAND |
POOL A |
||
SUNDAY 17th APRIL 2016 |
|||||||
25 |
10:30 |
ENGLAND |
26-17 |
WALES |
BOWL QF |
||
26 |
10:52 |
SCOTLAND |
26-19 |
CANADA |
BOWL QF |
||
27 |
11:14 |
JAPAN |
7-14 |
PORTUGAL |
BOWL QF |
||
28 |
11:36 |
USA |
24-5 |
RUSSIA |
BOWL QF |
||
29 |
11:58 |
FIJI |
19-14 |
AUSTRALIA |
CUP QF |
||
30 |
12:20 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
12-7 |
NEW ZEALAND |
CUP QF |
||
31 |
12:42 |
ARGENTINA |
12-7 |
SAMOA |
CUP QF |
||
32 |
13:04 |
FRANCE |
7-28 |
KENYA |
CUP QF |
||
33 |
13:51 |
WALES |
24-22 |
CANADA |
SHIELD SF |
||
34 |
14:13 |
JAPAN |
15-17 |
RUSSIA |
SHIELD SF |
||
35 |
14:35 |
ENGLAND |
14-19 |
SCOTLAND |
BOWL SF |
||
36 |
14:57 |
PORTUGAL |
0-26 |
USA |
BOWL SF |
||
37 |
15:44 |
AUSTRALIA |
7-31 |
NEW ZEALAND |
PLATE SF |
||
38 |
16:06 |
SAMOA |
21-7 |
FRANCE |
PLATE SF |
||
39 |
16:28 |
FIJI |
26-21 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
CUP SF |
||
40 |
16:50 |
ARGENTINA |
12-15 |
KENYA |
CUP SF |
||
41 |
17:37 |
WALES |
vs |
RUSSIA |
SHIELD FINAL |
||
42 |
18:05 |
SCOTLAND |
vs |
USA |
BOWL FINAL |
||
43 |
18:33 |
NEW ZEALAND |
vs |
SAMOA |
PLATE FINAL |
||
44 |
19:01 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
vs |
AUSTRALIA |
BRONZE |
||
45 |
19:38 |
FIJI |
vs |
KENYA |
CUP FINAL |
||
Shield Semi Final (33)
Wales 24-22 Canada
Shield Semi Final (34)
Japan 15-17 Russia
Bowl Semi Final (35)
England 14-19 Scotland
Bowl Semi Final (36)
Portugal 0-26 USA
Plate Semi Final (37)
Australia 7-31 New Zealand
Plate Semi Final (38)
Samoa 21-7 France
Cup Semi Final (39)
Fiji 26-21 South Africa
Cup Semi Final (40)
Argentina 12-15 Kenya
SHIELD FINAL
Wales 7-24 RUSSIA
BOWL FINAL
SCOTLAND 14-10 USA
PLATE FINAL
New Zealand 21-26 SAMOA
THIRD PLACE
SOUTH AFRICA 28-0 Argentina
CUP FINAL
Fiji 7-30 KENYA
POOL A |
POOL B |
POOL C |
POOL D |
FOLLOWING on from the drama and excitement of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, World Rugby has announced the draw for round 8 of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Singapore.
Hong Kong Cup winners Fiji head up pool A and will face England, Samoa and Portugal, while Hong Kong's beaten finalists New Zealand will play USA, France and Canada in pool B.
South Africa will play Kenya, Scotland and Russia in pool C and in the fourth of the pools Australia will face Wales, Argentina and Japan.
After seven rounds of the series Fiji have stretched out to a five-point lead at the top of the HSBC, now ahead of New Zealand who are one point clear of third-placed South Africa. Australia and USA remain fourth and fifth travelling on to Singapore.
THE 16 captains of the participating teams joined for the launch of the HSBC Singapore Sevens, round eight of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
After a 10-year absence, the series returns to Singapore and will be played at the new look National Stadium under a closed roof for the second time this season.
Fiji are the defending champions in Singapore having won the last tournament back in 2006 and the current series leaders will be aiming to add to their five-point lead at the top of the standings in their defence of the series title.
"I always remember it (the 2006 final) because someone dislocated his arm in the final," said captain Osea Kolinisau. "I always remember that day.
"I was a student at home watching with my friends and family, I was nervous and always found it hard to sleep when Fiji lost. You would go to bed thinking about it and wondering why they lost, what they could have done better.
"But it’s a new destination for everyone and some of us didn’t realise we were reigning champions here as it was so long ago. It was brought up in a team meeting and a lot of people were surprised.
"We just want to continue where we left off in Hong Kong. Our communication in Hong Kong was key to us winning. In the semi-finals it just clicked, like a light bulb turning on and then everyone was just firing full cylinders."
In Hong Kong, Japan qualified as a core team after a victory over the hosts to ensure a return to the core sides for next year's series after a year's absence. Having also qualified for Rio as Asia's representative their attention can now focus on their road to Rio.
"It’s good for the Japan team to have qualified as it means that after the Olympics we will have a chance to qualify again for the 2020 Olympics if we can stay in the series," said captain Yusaku Kuwazuru. "It’s a good motivation for us and means a lot to the players and the country.
"Our defence was the most important part of our success in Hong Kong. We trained hard at it and were able to minimise the amount of points scored against us.
"Singapore is the last round before the Olympics for us so we are going to use this tournament to try and find the right combinations before we head into the Olympics against these teams."
Elsewhere Liam Messam, who won the Singapore Sevens in 2005, will captain the All Blacks Sevens in the absence of the injured Scott Curry and Tim Mikkelson and rested DJ Forbes, and James Rodwell has been named as England captain for this weekend's tournament, one which will be a record 69th consecutive series tournament appearance for the forward.
The coaches of the 16 participating teams for the HSBC Singapore Sevens have named their final squads of 12 on the eve of the tournament.
With seven rounds played and just three remaining before the champions are crowned in London, HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series leaders and defending champions Fiji make three changes to the side that won in Hong Kong last weekend.
Pio Tuwai, Isake Katonibau, Savenaca Rawaca have been replaced by Emosi Mulevoro, Nemani Nagusa and Alivereti Veitokani while captain Osea Kolinisau will appear in his 50th tournament for Fiji.
There is also a landmark for England's captain for Singapore James Rodwell who will play in a record 69th consecutive series round. Having finished fifth with a Plate win in Hong Kong, England are in a pool with Fiji, Samoa and Portugal and have rested Tom Mitchell and Phil Burgess for the weekend.
"I am very grateful to the coaches, I love playing the game and I don't want to stop," said Rodwell.
"You ask any player and they want to play every time and I am lucky to still be involved. When I first started I was really excited to be involved with England sevens. Since 2010 I have been full-time and there are no easy games, you have to be on full go just to get out of your group.
"I have been working hard, trying to keep my form, and the numbers have been ticking over. It's only been the last few weeks I've thought about it (the record) and it's a nice feeling to still be around."
