NZ men’s sevens into semifinals
The All Blacks Sevens will today play their first Olympic semifinal after outclassing Canada in last night’s quarterfinals at Tokyo Stadium.
New Zealand made light work of their overmatched opponents, with a trio of first-half converted tries proving enough to advance to the medal round with a 21-10 victory.
Coach Clark Laidlaw might have been left a little disappointed with the concession of two late tries but they never threatened to be any more than consolation for the Canadians.
In the other quarter-finals, Great Britain edged the United States 26-21, Argentina upset South Africa 19-14 and Fiji saw off Australia 19-0.
The All Blacks Sevens face Great Britain in their 2pm semifinal, with Fiji playing Argentina in the other semifinal at 2.30pm. The medal matches are tonight at 8.30pm (bronze) and 9pm (gold).
Four years after being bundled out in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Fiji, New Zealand never looked like suffering a repeat.
The victory was built on a base of total ascendancy at the breakdown, with the Kiwi side winning a penalty or turnover almost every time the ball was contested on the deck.
That trend began with the opening try, coming after sustained defensive pressure near the Canadian line eventually produced a penalty that Andrew Knewstubb tapped before slipping through a gap and over the line.
The second came moments later when New Zealand counter-rucked to enable Scott Curry to easily cross. And the third try also saw co-captain Curry streak clear after a turnover, with great handling down the right proving much too elusive for Canada to contain.
New Zealand were seemingly content to preserve their legs and their lead in the second half, occasionally relying on some physical defence to snuff out Canadian threats.
The only real blemish came when the game had already been won, with Pat Kay and Harry Jones salvaging something for the underdogs from a one-sided game.
The favourable quarter-final match-up showed the benefit of the All Blacks Sevens advancing unbeaten from pool play, with a nervy 14-12 win over Australia earlier yesterday — fighting back from 12-0 down at halftime — following victories over South Korea and Argentina on the opening day.
Laidlaw was delighted to top the group and earn an easier quarter-final opponent.
“We’ve had to defend a lot — we’d like to get a bit more ball,” Laidlaw said. “We all know the Olympics is about winning games. You can try and improve but it’s all about getting to that quarter-final [from pool play].
“Everyone has shared the workload and we think that’s really important. We know it’s going to take 13 guys to progress. We often talk that sevens is a true game of consequence, so humility has to be really high because it can find you if you slip off. Now it’s a race to recover.”