Sevens to face US in last eight

The All Blacks Sevens finished pool play in Vancouver in the Canadian leg of the World Series with a confidence-boosting 33-14 win over South Africa.

The Blitzboks were left chasing the game after the New Zealanders racked up three tries in the opening seven minutes.

Scott Curry crossed first, with Dylan Collier following soon after, set up by a beautifully weighted floating pass from 21-year-old newcomer Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.

McGarvey-Black’s fifth-minute try completed a strong first half to give the All Black Sevens a 21-0 lead at halftime.

Dylan Sage’s try put South Africa on the board one minute into the second spell, but Collier’s second two minutes later restored the Kiwi lead.

Kyle Brown added a second for the Blitzboks, with New Zealand having the final say through Luke Masirewa.

Skipper Scott Curry said the All Blacks Sevens had known how crucial a strong start was against the series-leading South Africans.

“We knew they were going to be physical and they really were at the start. We wanted to take it to them and I think we did pretty well,” Curry said.

“We had three pretty tough games [yesterday], so to get through it with three wins in a pool like that, we’re really pleased.”

New Zealand had earlier beaten Scotland and Russia in contrasting matches, battling to defeat the Scots 31-26 before dissecting Russia 31-5.

New Zealand play the United States in this morning’s quarter-finals at 7.52am, with the semifinals set to start at 11.08am and the final at 2.19pm.

The All Blacks Sevens were second in the World Series standings with 82 points, 10 behind South Africa, heading into the sixth of 10 rounds.