Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Fiji blow away Kiwis to stake Olympic claim

-

Reigning world series champions Fiji fired a clear Olympic warning as they blitzed rivals New Zealand 21-7 to win the Hong Kong Sevens in convincing fashion on Sunday.

Fiji, the form team at the Olympics' unofficial dress rehearsal, outscored New Zealand three tries to one to stretch their championship lead to five points over the Kiwis.

The clinical victory will further raise hopes of Fiji's first-ever Olympic gold medals in August in Rio, where rugby will feature at the Summer Games for the first time in 92 years.

"We made no bones about it, we said this was a mini-peak (before the Olympics)," said Fiji's coach Ben Ryan. "We wanted to do well, we wanted to put the pressure on.

"It's another three-day tournament, Rio's a three-day tournament. The last four three-day tournaments, Fiji have won every single one of them."

In a tense start to the final, New Zealand's Pita Akhi opened the scoring with a searing run down the right, in which he outstripped one Fijian defender and sidestepped another.

Fiji fans cheer as the reigning champions take another Sevens crown  beating New Zealand in the fina...
Fiji fans cheer as the reigning champions take another Sevens crown, beating New Zealand in the final on April 10, 2016
Anthony Wallace, AFP

Fiji hit back and made it 7-7 at half-time when Jerry Tuwai took a quick penalty near the line and dived over before the New Zealanders could react.

Substitute Kitione Taliga put Fiji 14-7 ahead in the second half when he sold a dummy and accelerated through the slimmest of gaps in the Kiwi defence.

And Semi Kunatani scored beneath the posts after Fiji out-muscled New Zealand in a ruck and passed their way through a scattered defensive line.

- Prize money surprise -

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens was encouraged by a much-improved display by All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams, who finally looked on the pace and produced a string of trademark offloads.

But the Kiwis were always second favourites after being taken to double extra-time by South Africa in their thrilling 12-7 semi-final win.

"Our goal like all the other teams is the Olympics at the end. So you learn from these losses and we were beaten by a very good Fijian team today that played better than us," Tietjens said.

New Zealand's Pita Ahki (C) and Fiji's Semi Kunatani (R) battle it out in the final of the...
New Zealand's Pita Ahki (C) and Fiji's Semi Kunatani (R) battle it out in the final of the Hong Kong Sevens, which Fiji went on to win 21-7 on April 10, 2016
Isaac Lawrence, AFP

Earlier South Africa claimed third place with a narrow 14-12 play-off win over Australia, who missed a do-or-die, post-hooter penalty kick.

England, still sentimental favourites in the ex-British colony, lifted the plate trophy with a 19-0 win over the United States, after they lost 14-5 to Australia in the Cup quarter-finals.

And Japan booked a place at next year's event when they beat hosts Hong Kong 24-14 in the final of the concurrent qualifying tournament.

Fiji's players, who mostly come from the Pacific country's impoverished villages, have an unpleasant surprise in store after organisers scrapped prize money this year -- a fact that Ryan said they were not yet aware of.

"The boys don't play for prize money, but they also don't come from very wealthy backgrounds so it would have made a big difference," said the coach.

"But I'm sure (the tournament organisers have) got good reasons for doing it."

Hong Kong is the biggest and most high-profile event on the 10-stop sevens world series, making it a vital part of teams' preparations for the Rio Olympics.

Reigning world series champions Fiji fired a clear Olympic warning as they blitzed rivals New Zealand 21-7 to win the Hong Kong Sevens in convincing fashion on Sunday.

Fiji, the form team at the Olympics’ unofficial dress rehearsal, outscored New Zealand three tries to one to stretch their championship lead to five points over the Kiwis.

The clinical victory will further raise hopes of Fiji’s first-ever Olympic gold medals in August in Rio, where rugby will feature at the Summer Games for the first time in 92 years.

“We made no bones about it, we said this was a mini-peak (before the Olympics),” said Fiji’s coach Ben Ryan. “We wanted to do well, we wanted to put the pressure on.

“It’s another three-day tournament, Rio’s a three-day tournament. The last four three-day tournaments, Fiji have won every single one of them.”

In a tense start to the final, New Zealand’s Pita Akhi opened the scoring with a searing run down the right, in which he outstripped one Fijian defender and sidestepped another.

Fiji fans cheer as the reigning champions take another Sevens crown  beating New Zealand in the fina...

Fiji fans cheer as the reigning champions take another Sevens crown, beating New Zealand in the final on April 10, 2016
Anthony Wallace, AFP

Fiji hit back and made it 7-7 at half-time when Jerry Tuwai took a quick penalty near the line and dived over before the New Zealanders could react.

Substitute Kitione Taliga put Fiji 14-7 ahead in the second half when he sold a dummy and accelerated through the slimmest of gaps in the Kiwi defence.

And Semi Kunatani scored beneath the posts after Fiji out-muscled New Zealand in a ruck and passed their way through a scattered defensive line.

– Prize money surprise –

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens was encouraged by a much-improved display by All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams, who finally looked on the pace and produced a string of trademark offloads.

But the Kiwis were always second favourites after being taken to double extra-time by South Africa in their thrilling 12-7 semi-final win.

“Our goal like all the other teams is the Olympics at the end. So you learn from these losses and we were beaten by a very good Fijian team today that played better than us,” Tietjens said.

New Zealand's Pita Ahki (C) and Fiji's Semi Kunatani (R) battle it out in the final of the...

New Zealand's Pita Ahki (C) and Fiji's Semi Kunatani (R) battle it out in the final of the Hong Kong Sevens, which Fiji went on to win 21-7 on April 10, 2016
Isaac Lawrence, AFP

Earlier South Africa claimed third place with a narrow 14-12 play-off win over Australia, who missed a do-or-die, post-hooter penalty kick.

England, still sentimental favourites in the ex-British colony, lifted the plate trophy with a 19-0 win over the United States, after they lost 14-5 to Australia in the Cup quarter-finals.

And Japan booked a place at next year’s event when they beat hosts Hong Kong 24-14 in the final of the concurrent qualifying tournament.

Fiji’s players, who mostly come from the Pacific country’s impoverished villages, have an unpleasant surprise in store after organisers scrapped prize money this year — a fact that Ryan said they were not yet aware of.

“The boys don’t play for prize money, but they also don’t come from very wealthy backgrounds so it would have made a big difference,” said the coach.

“But I’m sure (the tournament organisers have) got good reasons for doing it.”

Hong Kong is the biggest and most high-profile event on the 10-stop sevens world series, making it a vital part of teams’ preparations for the Rio Olympics.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.