• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

On another day of shocks and high drama in the IRB Sevens, hosts Australia continued their strong form at the Adelaide International Sevens stunning Samoa for the first time in four years to top their group and qualify unbeaten for the Cup quarter finals.

New Zealand and Fiji also went unbeaten in pool play, whilst a grafting England drew with Samoa to clinch qualification, while Kenya pulled off a stunning victory against World Series leaders South Africa, in the last match of the day to once again set up some potentially thrilling quarter final ties.

Australia and England qualified from an extremely competitive Pool A. They both put away Portugal with relative ease with Shaun Foley’s two tries giving the hosts a 31-5 win, whereas Tom Varndell’s brace helped secure England’s first win of the tournament, with the Portuguese downed 29-0.

Earlier, the young Australians acheived a famous win against Samoa for the first time in four years, fighting back after falling 12-0 down to win 26-19 to book their passage through. Afa Aiono's quickfire brace put the islanders 12-0 to the good but Richard Kingi jinxed through to make it 12-7 at the break. Simaika Mikaele then looked to have clinched victory for Samoa but the young Aussies' never-say-die attitude shone through, captain Damon Murphy scoring twice and Richard Kingi first landing a crucial conversion for the lead and then crossing himself for the final score.

England needed a draw against Samoa to go through on points difference, and achieved exactly that from a thrilling game that see-sawed throughout. Alatasi Tupou and Afa Aiono twice put the Samoans ahead but the outstanding Tom Varndell hit back on both occasions in the first half to trail 12-10. Ollie Phillips then put them ahead but Uale Mai hit back for the islanders and amazingly Ben Gollings reclaimed the lead by five points, before Alafoti Fa'osiliva's try gave Lolo Lui a conversion to wide from out wide. He missed and the 24-all result was enough for England. The result was all the more impressive for the English whose squad has been diminished to just nine men –giving an international run-out to Mika Taufaao from the reserve player pool. They will get a chance to exact revenge on their Hong Kong conquerors Fiji.

The increasingly confident Fijians saw off the brave challenge of France and Argentina to win 21-10 and 26-21 to top the group. Nasoni Rokoo was a constant menace against France and opened the scoring and Vereniki Goneva and Niumaia Rokobuli added tries for a 21-0 half time lead, before Joffrey Michel and Yohann Durquet clawed two back for the French. The Fijians then came back from 21-7 down, Niumaia Rokobuli scoring two tries as they defied the odds to beat the Pumas with a reassuring second half performance.

Argentina earlier won their second pool victory against Scotland 12-7 to ensure their safe passage into the Cup quarter finals as second in the Pool. France finished on a high in the group, beating Scotland 24-12 with Les Bleus scoring four typically adventurous tries.
Julian Savea was the Kiwis star man on Day 2, scoring a brace as New Zealand beat Tonga 33-0 before going onto to impress against Al Caravelli’s USA with the Kiwis enjoying a comprehensive 27-5 win. The result also denied the Eagles a place in the Cup quarters and sent Wales through on points difference.

Wales recovered from their opening day loss against the Kiwis to beat USA 24-17, but then lost to the powerful Tongans in what proved a highly entertaining and competitive pool. The Eagles defence was particularly poor allowing Wales to score four tries through Will Harries, James Merriman, Ifan Evans and Rhys Webb. However, Tonga claimed a dramatic 26-19 victory against the World Cup winners, coming back from 19-0 down to score 26 unanswered points in response. Wales led at the break but the islanders, winners of the Plate in Hong Kong, hit back through captain Viliami Ma'afu, Sosaia Palei, Alaska Taufa and Nili Latu.

Kenya’s superb one-point victory against South Africa meant they topped Pool D and earnt the easier quarter final tie against Wales on day three. The Boks face New Zealand in a mouth-watering clash that could still go some way to deciding the Series title. Kenya led 10-7 at half time after Sidney Ashioya and Gibson Weru responded to Frankie Horne's early try. The Boks were down to five men at one point but played clever possession rugby to retain the ball and Ryno Benjamin put them back ahead, only for Victor Oduor to clinch victory with a fine try late on.

Both African nations earlier sealed their quarter final places, Lionel Mapoe scoring a hat trick in their 43-0 win against Japan and the Kenyans building on a 10-0 half time lead to beat Cook Islands 27-0.

Cup Quarter Finals
Australia v Argentina
Kenya v Wales
New Zealand v South Africa
Fiji v England

Round 1:
Pool A: Samoa 26 Portugal 5, Australia 21 England 17
Pool B: Argentina 14 France 7, Fiji 33 Scotland 7
Pool C: New Zealand 24 Wales 10, USA 17 Tonga 14
Pool D: South Africa 28 Cook Islands 7,Kenya 12 Japan 5.
Round 2:
Pool A:Australia 26 Samoa 19, England 29 Portugal 0
Pool B: Argentina 12Scotland 7, Fiji 21 France 10
Pool C: Wales 24 United States 17, New Zealand 33 Tonga 0
Pool D: South Africa 43 Japan 0, Kenya 27 CookIslands 0
Round 3:
Pool A: Australia 31 Portugal5, England 24 Samoa 24
Pool B: Fiji 24 Argentina 19, France 24 Scotland 12
Pool C: New Zealand 27 United States 5, Tonga 26 Wales 19
Pool D:Japan 20 Cook Islands 12, Kenya 15 South Africa 14