NZ 7s fail to fire in Vancouver

New Zealand’s second day at the Vancouver Sevens lurched from bad to worse, with elimination at the quarterfinal stage at the hands of the USA closely followed by defeat to England in the playoff for fifth.

Kenya, meanwhile, shocked the in-form Americans 24-19 in a semifinal thriller to set up a final matchup against Fiji, only to lose the decider 31-12.

The Kiwis were stunned 17-0 by a dialled-in USA side in the third quarterfinal, then pipped 21-17 in the first of the playoffs for fifth place by England who snapped a seven-game losing streak at the hands of the New Zealanders.

The Americans, winners last week in Las Vegas, kept Clark Laidlaw’s side tryless in a clinical display, crossing three times themselves in the second half to secure a semifinal against Kenya who upset defending Vancouver champions England 12-0 in the last of the quarterfinals.

The USA-New Zealand quarterfinal had been in the balance after a stalemate first half, but the in-form Americans ran away with the contest in the second spell with tries to substitute speedster Carlin Isles, Danny Barrett and, right at the death, Kevon Williams.

The New Zealanders did not help their cause by missing 10 tackles, and were a little bereft of ideas as they failed to break down the American defence.

Later, the Kiwis had trailed England 14-5 at halftime, with skipper Scott Curry’s touchdown sandwiched by scores from Ryan Olowofela and Will Edwards. Curry added a second soon after the restart but Ruaridh McConnochie’s seven pointer gave the northerners the buffer they needed to withstand Joe Ravouvou’s late score.

Fiji proved much too strong for Kenya in the final, despite the Kenyans taking leads in the opening six minutes of the match.

William Ndayara opened the scoring in the first minute before the Fijians struck back a minute later. The lead was restored, however, when Samuel Oliech crossed to give Kenya a 12-7 lead.

The Fijians put the foot down from that moment on, with Sevuloni Mocenacagi scoring twice to go with tries to Alasio Naduva and Paula Dranisinukula in their 33-12 victory.

South Africa had led their semifinal against Fiji 12-5 at halftime, with Philip Snyman and Dylan Sage answering Josua Vakurunabili’s first-half scores. But tries to Kalione Nasoko and Amenoni Nasilasila after the break put the islanders in front, and when Blizboks veteran Cecil Afrika dropped the ball on the final play with the line at his mercy the result was sealed.

The Americans looked to be well on the way to a second straight final when they led the Kenyans 14-0 early courtesy of a Perry Baker brace. But two scores from Nelson Oyoo got the Kenyans back to 14-12 by halftime.

A Carlin Isles try took the Americans back out to 19-12, before the Kenyans finished with a wet sail with scores to William Ambaka Ndayara and Oscar Ouma in the closing minutes snatching the upset victory.

In earlier quarterfinal action, defending series champions South Africa produced a stunning secondhalf comeback to pip Australia 24-19 and secure a semifinal matchup against the rampant Fijians.

The Australians had looked on course for the upset when they ran in first-half tries to Ben O’Donnell, Lachie Anderson and Josh Porch to lead 19-0 at the break.

But then back came the Blitzboks after some stern words from their coach at the interval. Siviwe Soyizwapi crossed twice in quick succession to narrow the deficit to 19-12, Afrika then levelled the scores when he pounced on chargedown ball and, finally, well past the fulltime hooter Dylan Sage went over wide on the right for the winner.

Fiji dominated their quarterfinal against Argentina, running in seven tries, including a brace for Mesulame Kunavula, for a 43-7 victory.

Kenya’s upset over England was their first victory over the traditional powerhouses since 2011.