NZ pipped by Fiji in quarterfinal
‘‘We’re a really tight-knit bunch and I think we’ve been as frustrated as anyone with some of the stuff in the first three games,’’ he said. ‘‘I think we just wanted to go out and attack today, whether we had the ball or not.
‘‘We’re best whenever we go and attack situations and we’ve definitely played within ourselves, and it was nice to see us take a big step towards what we expect from each other.’’ The New Zealand men’s sevens side suffered a dose of quarterfinal heartbreak at the Vancouver Sevens yesterday.
Clark Laidlaw’s Kiwis were pipped 22-21 by Fiji in a thrilling knockout contest that was only decided on the last play of a topsyturvy encounter at BC Place Stadium.
The two sides have shared four of the five world series titles thus far between them, and did not disappoint with a high-quality affair that went right to the wire, with Fijian speedster Alesio Naduva the hero as his side progressed to a semifinal matchup against South Africa.
The Kiwis had led 14-12 at halftime after first-half tries to veterans Sam Dickson and Tim Mikkelson bookended scores by Fiji’s Josua Vakurunabili and Aminiasi Tuimaba.
A brilliant long-range individual effort by Tuimaba put the Fijians in front, 17-14, midway through the second half before supersub Vilimoni Koroi restored the lead for the Kiwis with an excellent strike from deep off a tapped penalty, with telling contributions from Ng Shiu and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.
Then Koroi went from hero to zero as New Zealand, leading 21-17, looked to seal the deal.
Koroi’s loose pass was seized on by Paula Dranisinukula who launched a 70-metre strike that was finished by Naduva in the left corner, and the Fijians were through to yet another semifinal.
Fiji went on to lose to South Africa 31-12, while France stunned the United States 33-5 in the other semifinal. In the final, South Africa beat France 21-12.
Fiji beat the US 24-14 for third place and New Zealand beat England 26-14 to finish fifth.