Poor Start At Silicon 7s

Fijians cop one red and four yellow cards

It was a disappointing start for the Fiji Airways 7s team at the Silicon Valley 7s tournament as they were thrashed by Australia 29-0 in their pool opener before being held 26-all by Japan.

The Saiasi Fuli coached-side finished third in their pool and managed a Cup quarterfinal clash against hosts United States of America (USA).

The Fijians were leading Japan 2621 in the dying stages but could not hold on due to discipline as they copped three yellow cards. Their points came from Nacanieli Batina who scored twice while Josua Kurinabuli and Jasa Veremalua scored a try each with three being converted.

In their clash against Australia, veteran halfback Amenoni Nasilasila was shown the red card in the second half for a dangerous tackle. Captain Veremalua said: “Discipline was our main weakness, we failed to maintain our discipline.”

They fought back in their final round of pool game to beat China 35-15 where Veremalua was shown a yellow card in the dying moments of the match.

DAY OF UPSETS

Chile held on in the wet conditions to beat New Zealand 7-0 and as you might expect, the Condors were ecstatic after the victory. Canada also upset England 19-10 and captain John Moonlight said, this was just the first step in getting back to the higher levels.

“England is a development team but they’ve played together, they’ve had games, so for us to come out beat them, we’re pretty happy,” he said.

Ireland, not normally a big-time 7s team, almost upset Samoa, losing 10-5, and for the most part tries were tough to come by with cold early rain in the day making ball handling difficult. Japan had no such difficulties, exposing China’s somewhat fractured defensive line to the tune of 47-0.

RESULTS

USA 29-14 Chile, NZ 36-0 Tonga, Canada 12-17 Samoa, England 21-0 Ireland, Australia 36-7 Japan, Fiji 21-10 China, NZ 12-24 USA, Chile 39-0 Tonga, Canada 5-19 Ireland, England 14-14 Samoa, Australia 47-0 China, Fiji 26-26 Japan, USA 29-7 Tonga, NZ 0-7 Chile, Samoa 10-5 Ireland, England 10-19 Canada, Fiji 0-29 Australia, Japan 47-0 China

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Bowl Semi-finals: Ireland v China, Canada v Tonga.

Cup Quarterfinals: Australia v New Zealand, USA v Fiji, Samoa v England, Chile v Japan

Photo: Ian Muir Fiji Airways 7s forward Anare Tevita bursts through the Japanese defence in the Silicon Valley 7s tournament in San Jose, California, United States of America on November 5, 2017. They drew 26-26 as the Fijians qualify for today Cup quarterfinal...