Match action
Speedster: Dan Norton charges forward to score for England against France in the London Sevens
FIJI, warming to their task on an afternoon of blissful heat and sunshine, swept into the quarter-finals of the HSBC London Sevens in impressive style at Twickenham yesterday as they go in search of a third World Series in four seasons.
England, not without alarm, made it through to the quarter-finals, but both Scotland and Wales missed out on the knockout stages of the Cup competition.
Meanwhile, there was much joy in the Irish camp when, playing in a World Series event for the first time since 2004, Billy Dardis and his team made it through to the business end of the competition.
The main attraction though – the team that tempted the fans back from the sun-drenched tournament village, funfair and food outlets – were the Fijians who didn’t disappoint, although London is not usually a happy hunting ground.
Going into this tournament, and with Paris next week bringing the series to a conclusion, the Fijians led South Africa by just four points and with the Blitzbokke also through to today’s quarter-finals it’s still everything to play for, but Gareth Baber's Fijians are looking in ominously good form.
As if they haven’t been playing well enough this season, Baber decided to call up Josua Tuisova and Semi Radradra for the final two legs, the Toulon duo who laid waste England when mustering for the Barbarians last week.
Both were in prime form yesterday dispelling the nonsense that you can't switch between Sevens and Fifteens and the mythology that a very different kind of fitness is required. If you are a Fijian it makes absolutely no difference.
Not that Fiji got to off to the quickest of starts on a dank morning before the clag had burnt off.
A determined Pumas outfit lay in wait and were 19-14 up with just over a minute left when they opted to for a penalty – a dropped kick in Sevens remember – from 30 yards out on a slight angle. Gaston Revol missed the opportunity to put the Pumas eight points clear and predictably the Fijians went for the jugular, first Alasio Naduva going in for a try and then, with full time expired but play continuing, a second from Eroni Sau. Having survived that let off, Fiji upped a couple of gears in their next game, a 39-12 thumping of reigning London champions Scotland before a commanding performance in their final pool game, a 27-5 win over old rivals New Zealand which was a satisfyingly niggly and physical affair as well as extremely skilful. Perhaps the strongest challenge today might come from the USA who are building nicely before their home World Cup in San Francisco later this summer. Carlin Isles, normally billed as the world’s fastest rugby player, been hampered a little recently but looked in great form on the firm ground with the sun on his back
With follow speedster and former track star Perry Baker back home nursing a shoulder injury, Isles was his side’s go-to man and with tries in an impressive 31-14 win over England and then a blazing hat-trick against France.
The England match, incidentally, was noteworthy for two blistering tries from Dan Norton, the second of which involved a man-to-
man footrace against Isles.
The American will claim Norton had the angle on him and might also have been blowing from a sprint a minute or so earlier but from the stands it looked like a rare example of Isles losing a footrace – Norton has still got serious wheels!
The England wing was in outstanding form during an impressive 34-0 win over France before they lost all shape and discipline in the second half against the USA. Happily it was just a blip and they powered into the quarter-finals with a convincing 38-12 win over Kenya.
It hasn’t, however, been a cracking World Series season for England – currently eighth, although they could climb a place or two – or indeed Scotland (10th) and Wales (14th) which poses a few questions midway through the Olympic cycle.
From a Great Britain perspective one of those teams need to finish in the top four in next year’s Series to guarantee a place at Tokyo and avoid having to qualify via a European competition.
It could all get very tricky and, as was the case four years ago, you wonder if there is a coherent plan for Great Britain.
As Ben Ryan, an interested spectator yesterday commented: “The alarm bells are ringing but in a house that is empty. Who is in charge of this? What is the plan?”
Judging from 2016 a wing and prayer are heavily involved but GB did win silver lest we forget.