New Zealand are out of men’s title contention at SVNS Perth following pool stage defeats to Uruguay and Fiji at HBF Park. After a heavy loss to the Fijians on Saturday, the All Blacks Sevens needed other results to go their way, but those matches didn’t play as they’d hoped.
Following relatively strong performances at the HSBC SVNS Series season-opening event in Dubai – where they finished fourth at The Sevens Stadium – and a sixth-place finish at last month’s stop in Cape Town, New Zealand turned their focus to Perth.
For the second year in a row, the top-flight rugby sevens competition headed to the west coast of Australia, which has been played in front of a passionate crowd. On a scorching January morning, the All Blacks Sevens started their tournament with a promising win over Kenya.
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New Zealand beat the Kenyans 29-14 which set them up well, and they had a chance to make a statement against Uruguay in their second match – a side who had shocked the rugby world with a 24-17 win over Fiji earlier on day one.
But Tomasi Cama’s men fell to Uruguay in another shock upset, which set the stage for an unmissable pool stage showdown between the men in black and Fiji. Both teams had to win to secure their spot in the Men’s Cup quarterfinals or risk elimination if they lost.
Iowane Teba got the party started for Fiji with a long-distance runaway try in the second minute. While Andrew Knewstubb hit back for the All Blacks Sevens a few minutes later, it was all Fiji from there as they took control with another four tries.
Jiji Nasova, Pilipo Bukayaro, Viwa Naduvalo and Terio Veilawa all crossed for a five-pointer each as the Men’s SVNS Series leaders secured a dominant 33-5 win over New Zealand. Fiji had survived a scare to make the next round while New Zealand were in trouble.
“A little blip on the radar yesterday with the defeat to Uruguay but restoring their position as top dog and Fiji are through to the Quarter Finals 33 points to 5. Absolutely emphatic over their rivals,” commentator Rikki Swannell said on the broadcast.
“New Zealand, well it’s written on their faces isn’t it? They are in a jam, struggling to find a way out at the moment.”
Great Britain booked their place in the next round with a big win over Ireland. They went through to the next round as one of the top-two ranked third-placed teams out of pool play, finishing in third spot behind France and Spain in Pool B.
For New Zealand to make it through, they needed results to go their way in Pool A with hosts Australia taking on a valiant USA side and reigning SVNS Perth champions Argentina taking on Cape Town winners South Africa in this heavyweight bout.
Australia did enough to book their spot in the next stage after hanging on for a 19-12 win. Aaron Cummings scored the opener for the USA with an impressive runaway effort in the first minute but the Aussies hit back through Michael Icely and Henry Hutchison.
Jack Wendling made things very interesting for the Americans with an effort in the eighth minute, but a James Turner try for Australia two minutes after the siren completed the win which was no doubt met with a positive cheer from the Perth crowd.
Following that, Argentina bounced back from two extra time matches on Friday with a clinical win over South Africa. Matteo Graziano, Marcos Moneta and Matias Osadczuk all contributed as Los Pumas Sevens went into the break with a 19-nil advantage.
South Africa mounted a minor comeback in the second term but Argentina never really looked like surrendering their lead, holding on for a 19-17 win. It was enough for the defending champions to book their spot in the quarterfinals.
Those results saw New Zealand place in the bottom four.
The All Blacks Sevens will take on Ireland in the second ninth-place semi-final, while the USA and Kenya will meet in the other men’s clash outside of the Cup quarterfinals.
