New Zealand, meanwhile, have had a hard tournament, with 15-a-side World Cup victor Sonny Bill Williams being ruled out of the Olympics after partially rupturing an Achilles tendon during the All Blacks Sevens’ shock 14-12 defeat by Japan.
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Rugby powerhouse New Zealand have been knocked out of the inaugural Olympic sevens tournament in the quarterfinals after a 12-7 loss to top seeds Fiji.
Gold-medal contender New Zealand was expected to easily account for Japan, but went behind quickly when Teruya Goto dived over in the left corner and Lomano Lemeki converted from out wide.
The All Blacks Sevens only made it through to the last eight as one of the two best third-placed finishers in the group stage.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Osea Kolinisau and his world champion Fijians face enormous expectations in the Olympic rugby sevens semifinals. “Now we need to step up – it’s a must-win game for us against Kenya”.
Australia beat Pool B victor South Africa 12-5 to move through as one of the two best third-place finishers, meaning those two countries will meet again later Wednesday in the quarterfinals. The two will meet again in the quarters.
In their last pool match against Great Britain, New Zealand slipped to a 21-0 halftime deficit before roaring back after the break with three tries.
“It is disappointing – injuries and all that”, he said.
“But we’re No. 1 in the world, we’re not trying to be arrogant, we’re saying this is what we want”.
With mainstream media around the world not really understanding the difference between the 15-man game and the seven-man version, global headlines have centered on Japan “beating the All Blacks” in Rio.
The New Zealanders, shocked by Japan on day one, only qualified on for-and-against differential by one point.
“We are definitely good enough to go all the way”.
“Everyone will come back and review the process and we’ll learn some lessons as we always do”.
Britain’s James Davies, brother of Wales and Lions centre Jonathan, called his side’s first-half performance “a cracker”. That loss for New Zealand, their second at the tournament, left the pre-tournament medal favorites relying on Fiji to beat the Americans.
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Tuqiri, who shares the same name as a cousin who played a Rugby World Cup final for Australia, is hoping for an influx of talented young Japanese players for the sevens program to improve the country’s chances of winning a medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “I thought we’d be lucky to make the quarters, let alone the semis”, he said.
