NZ bow to US and then to England
New Zealand’s second day at the Vancouver Sevens has lurched from bad to worse, with elimination at the quarterfinal stage at the hands of the United States 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 who also took it to the wire before pipping series leaders South Africa 15-12 in an equally knife-edge encounter.
However, in the final Kenya were no match for Fiji, who went on to win 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 in the second half to secure a semifinal matchup 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, despite a wealth of early possession.
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.