Share

Holy crap, the U.S. rugby sevens team beat New Zealand

The win puts Fiji on top of the series standings with 22 points, ahead of England (19), US (17) and New Zealand (15).

Advertisement

New Zealand surged ahead with Joe Webber going under the posts.

The giant forward – who is likely to miss the quarter-final clash against Samoa with a shoulder problem – admitted he was still growing into the role.

Much of the daytime action on Friday went as expected, with numerous fancied sides banking two victories on the bounce to qualify for the Cup quarterfinals and leave only the final placings to be determined in the evening encounters.

On the brink of heading into the Bowl after losing to France earlier on day one, the side that won the final Cup title of the last season in London created more drama at 7he Sevens Stadium.

In the women’s event, grand final surprise packets Russian Federation, who defeated the Kiwis 33-7 in pool play, were organised early on.

South Africa had to settle for the Plate crown after beating Australia 19-14 in sudden death extra time of the Plate final.

“The game against England feels like one that got away”, coach Scott Bowen said after the loss.

The All Blacks Sevens have scraped through to the semifinals at the opening World Series leg in Dubai.

TWO Toowoomba players have helped Australia make its Olympic Games intentions clear.

“We’re not where we want to be, that’s for sure, but the World Series is tough and brutal”.

“We scored a lot of points and our defence on the whole was OK, with a couple of soft tries conceded”.

Justin Douglas scored a late consolation try for Canada.

The successful conversion by Madison Hughes sent the United States into the semi-finals and the South Africans into the Plate semi-final against Argentina.

“We had a plan on how we wanted to play which worked well but we couldn’t execute at crucial times”, the coach said.

The other quarter-finals are Fiji versus Australia, England versus Argentina and New Zealand versus Samoa.

The US hammered home their growing reputation with a stunning 14-12 win over New Zealand on Friday.

“It’s especially frustrating because we felt coming into the tournament that although we are missing a half-dozen players from our last tournaments – Pan Am Games and Amsterdam – there was still enough quality in this side to finish better than we did”.

Advertisement

The US had also seen off defending Dubai champions South Africa 21-19 in the last eight.

Australia staked its claim for an Olympic medal by winning the women's sevens world series event in Dubai