Fiji hammer Kiwis to set up Cup quarter against Canada
LONDON: Toulon winger Josua Tuisova crossed for a brace of tries as Fiji hammered New Zealand 27-7 in their final pool match on Saturday to set up a Cup quarter- final against Canada in the London leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series.
Boasting not only Tuisova but also free- running BordeauxBegles-bound back Semi Radradra among their ranks, the Fijians had far too much firepower for the Kiwis, who only managed to score a late consolation try through Sam Dickson.
Series leaders Fiji had earlier seen off Argentina, 28-19, and Scot land, 39 - 12, whi le New Zealand also beat those two sides ( 36- 5, 24-12) to finish second in Pool A and set up a quarter-final against South Africa.
The Blitzboks topped Pool D after wins over Russia and Canada, though they dropped their final pool game, 21-12, to Samoa, who had lost their first two games.
Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell was far from pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was disappointing losing to Samoa, but even more so because we did not bring the effort as a team. That is not who we are as a team. We could not find any momentum all day,” said Powell.
“Against Samoa our problems were compounded by lots of individual errors.”
Powell added: “This is now time to get together as a team, regroup and show that we really want to remain the champions. The quarterfinals will be tough, as New Zealand play with a lot of confidence. We need to play at least four times better than today if we want to make an impact on Sunday.”
The two other Cup quarterfinals see the United States take on Ireland, in their maiden Cup knock- out appearance, and Australia play England.
The home side could only finish second in Pool C behind a confident-looking US side, which recovered from an opening 19all draw with Kenya to register a morale- boosting 31-14 victory over the English and a 38-14 rout of France.
“We knew we had to control the contact area, when we did that we maintained possession,” USA’s coach Mike Friday said after the win over former team England, heaping praise on the electric Carlin Isles.
“Second half we looked after the ball and asserted ourselves. Carlin stepped up as always, he’s at the top of the scoring list for a reason.”
The Australians topped a topsyturvy Pool B after a vital 33-7 win over second-placed Ireland, Spain claiming a 24-12 victory over Wales and running the Wallabies close in a 28-22 defeat. — AFP