Hurting: Tom Powell
The second leg of the 2012/13 HSBC IRB World Sevens Series comes from Dubai, with England and South Africa crashing out of the Cup competition after thrilling defeats against rising stars Portugal on Day One.
Quarter-Finals:
Fiji v France
Samoa v Wales
Canada v Kenya
New Zealand v Portugal
Pool A (FIJ, KEN, ESP, SCO)
Kenya and Fiji both booked their places in the Cup quarter finals in Dubai with victories against Scotland and Spain.
The champions from the Gold Coast, Fiji, were made to work hard against Spain before running out 14-0 winners thanks to tries to Setefano Cakau and Maleli Belolevu Bula. Against Scotland, they won 22-14.
Two tries to flyer Collins Injera saw Kenya run out winners in their opening match over a determined Scotland 12-5, after the Scots led early through a try to Michael Fedo, before they beat Spain 10-7.
Spain then beat Scotland 12-7 thanks to a late try on the siren through Matias Tudela.
Pool B (NZL, ARG, WAL, RUS)
Wales claimed their spot in the Cup quarter finals with a commanding 22-5 win over Russia in their final match with captain Rhys Shellard crossing for a hat trick. This followed their 14-7 defeat over Argentina.
Argentina will now have to beat New Zealand if they are to have any chance of reaching the Cup Quarter Finals.
Earlier on in dreadful conditions, with the rain pouring down, New Zealand showed their class to overcome an early Ifan Evans try for Wales to score a 14-7 victory thanks to second half tries to Tomasi Cama and Kurt Baker.
A late try to Francisco Merello saw Argentina win 17-10 in their opening game over a committed and skilful Russian team who scored tries through Vladislav Lazarenko and Denis Simplikevich..
In the other match Russia threatened briefly to pull off a major upset before late tries to Cama and Milford Keresoma saw New Zealand defeat them 31-14.
Pool C (RSA, SAM, ENG, POR)
The Pool of Death more than lived up to its name with all four teams poised on four points going in to the last round of matches.
In one of the most dramatic matches in recent memory Portugal then defeated England 22-21, thanks to a Pedro Leal penalty goal seconds before the siren, to send them through to the Cup quarter finals. A stunning performance from the least favoured team in the pool.
Earlier, after losing to South Africa in their first match, 19-10, a gutsy England team, led through the brilliance of Dan Norton, hit back to defeat Samoa 19-17 and keep their Cup quarter final dreams alive.
Samoan speedster Lio Lolo notched up a hat trick as Samoa needed a late try to see off the impressive Portugal 24-19. But Portugal turned the pool on its head when they scored a try through their giant number one Aderito Esteves after the siren to upset South Africa 12-10.
Portugal then pulled off another upset by beating England 22-21 in a thrilling finish to advance to the quarter-finals, with Samoa joining them after overcoming South Africa 10-5.
Pool D (FRA, AUS, CAN, USA)
Canada confirmed their place in the Cup Quarter Finals with a strong 26-7 win over the USA in difficult conditions in their final pool match.
Earlier they had tied 28-28 with Australia in an enthralling encounter. Justin Douglas leveled for Geraint John's side as the buzzer sounded, completing a superb comeback from 28-14 down with less than two minutes remaining.
In their opening match Canada beat France 20-0 in the day's first match while Peter Lee crossed late on as Michael O'Connor's young Australian side defeated USA 19-12.
France bounced back from their loss to Canada with a hard fought 17-14 victory over the USA Eagles thanks to Renaud Delmas' decisive try.
In the final match in the pool France battled hard to defeat Australia 7-0 to join Canada in the Cup quarter finals.
Results/Fixtures:
France 0-20 Canada
Australia 19-12 United States
Fiji 14-0 Spain
Kenya 12-5 Scotland
New Zealand 14-7 Wales
Argentina 17-10 Russia
South Africa 19-10 England
Samoa 24-19 Portugal
France 17-14 United States
Australia 28-28 Canada
Fiji 22-14 Scotland
Kenya 10-7 Spain
New Zealand 31-14 Russia
Argentina 7-14 Wales
South Africa 10-12 Portugal
Samoa 17-19 England
Canada 26-7 United States
Spain 12-7 Scotland
Wales 22-5 Russia
England 21-22 Portugal
France 7-0 Australia
Fiji 14-10 Kenya
New Zealand 17-7 Argentina
South Africa 5-10 Samoa
With thanks to the IRB
Comments
PTplayer says...
Well done Portugal! Way to go!
Posted 10:21 01st December 2012
astrospange says...
A serious lack of talent from Eng. This is what you get when the government sells off playing fields and liberal head teachers at schools. Where has competitiveness gone?
Posted 07:50 01st December 2012
hayj05 says...
Great to see results like these in 7's.
Pool C was named the pool of death because it had Samoa, England, & South Africa in it, two former series winners & they've all won multiple tournaments, but someone forget to mention Portugal. Astonishing that they got out of a group like that.
And then you've got a QF matchup between Canada & Kenya, neither are Rugby powerhouses but they are rising teams in 7's.
And to think Canada, Portugal, & Spain are only making their debuts as core sides & two tournaments in, two of them have already made the cup qf's.
Spain also won the Bowl in the first tournament by beating England & they've added another nice scalp against Scotland in Dubai as well.
Congrats all round.
Posted 00:09 01st December 2012
NHsaints says...
England have gone really downhill since I started following 7's 4 or 5 years ago...what's going on?
Posted 18:49 30th November 2012