New Zealand victorious at spectacular Vancouver 7s

A spectacular Vancouver 7s came to a close on Saturday with New Zealand victorious on the second North American stop on the HSBC Sevens Series. With 60,418 in attendance over two days – a new Canadian rugby record – the event can only be described as an overwhelming success, with all concerned hugely impressed with an atmosphere that rivaled any on the circuit.

The first day went largely to script with the favorites all proving their mettle in the pool stages, apart from one marvelous performance from the home side. After losing a heartbreaker to Wales on the final play, Canada redeemed themselves with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Australia when Adam Zaruba crossed in the dying moments. A big win over Russia ended their day on a high but it wasn’t enough to go through, with points differential knocking them out of the Cup draw.

Argentina had a rough day, coming out big winners against South American compatriots Brazil, but dropped a disappointing match against Scotland and were shut out by South Africa. The Brazilians did about as well as could be expected given their infrequency of competition, suffering three one-sided losses but performing admirably against South Africa with Lucas Duque’s try in the second minute drawing huge applause from the crowd.

The Eagles came through in good shape, but perhaps not quite as sharp as coach Mike Friday would have liked. They thrashed France and bested England by one score before falling to a confident New Zealand side in their third match. The men in black passed all three tests successfully though England proved most difficult with Lewis Ormond scoring the only try in a tight match.

Both Argentina and Canada prevailed in their opening matches on day two. The Pumas nilled Russia 19-0 without difficulty and the Canucks felled Brazil by the same score. France knocked Kenya into the Shield draw in an entertaining game, and England throttled Portugal.

The Cup draw featured an enthralling contest between Fiji and the USA. Scores from Martin Iosefo, Ben Pinkelman, and Garrett Bender put the Eagles up 19-5 at the break, but the Fijians came right back with two scores to level it. Perry Baker put the Americans ahead but almost instantaneously Fiji replied through Jasa Veremalua to force extra time. Unfortunately for Eagles fans Fiji made quick work of overtime, and Sevanaca Rawaca crossed for the win.

Unquestionably the moment of the weekend came in the Bowl final. Canada got through England in the semi, setting up a spectacular meeting with France. With the visitors two scores up and only two minutes to play, an offload from Conor Trainor and quick hands from Zaruba put Harry Jones over to set up a grandstand finish.

France looked to have it won but with no time on the clock youngster Theo Millet inexplicably ran out of his own endzone and turned the ball over in the tackle. Canada pressed on the goal line and at last the score came from captain John Moonlight, who bashed through to score an iconic try. The stadium erupted when Nathan Hirayama’s conversion sailed over and handed Canada a famous victory and the right to lift the Bowl and regain some confidence ahead of Hong Kong, which kicks off on April 8.

It was France who ended Argentina’s day in the Bowl semi final in a narrow 19-17 result, while Brazil fell to Portugal in the Shield semi. The Eagles outclassed Wales before losing heavily to a resurgent Samoa in the Plate final, somewhat of a letdown for the American camp but a huge boost to the Samoans as they look ahead to the Olympic qualifiers.

A cracking final gave the slightly partisan crowd what they wanted as New Zealand came away winners over South Africa by a score of 19-14. Rosko Specman got a fortunate call from the officials with a try that appeared to be at best inconclusive, but tries from Sam Dickson and Kurt Baker gave the men in black the lead. A scrappy second half saw Lewis Ormond dive over with two minutes to play to put the game to rest despite a late consolation score by Seabelo Senatla. New Zealand come away with their third Cup victory of the season and inch closer to Series leaders Fiji.

DAY ONE RESULTS

POOL A
Fiji 38 – 5 Samoa
Kenya 43 – 5 Portugal
Fiji 62 – 0 Portugal
Kenya 19 – 26 Samoa
Samoa 43 – 7 Portugal
Fiji 24 – 19 Kenya

POOL B
Australia 43 – 5 Russia
Wales 26 – 19 Canada
Wales 52 – 0 Russia
Australia 12 – 14 Canada
Australia 49 – 14 Wales
Russia 12 – 29 Canada

POOL C
South Africa 43 – 0 Scotland
Argentina 35 – 5 Brazil
South Africa 26 – 7 Brazil
Argentina 7 – 19 Scotland
Scotland 33 – 0 Brazil
South Africa 27 – 0 Argentina

POOL D
USA 42 – 14 France
New Zealand 7 – 0 England
USA 17 – 12 England
New Zealand 24 – 10 France
France 12 – 14 England
USA 5 – 17 New Zealand

DAY TWO RESULTS

BOWL QUARTER FINALS
Kenya 21 – 24 France
Argentina 19 – 0 Russia
England 31 – 0 Portugal
Canada 19 – 0 Brazil

CUP QUARTER FINALS
Fiji 31 – 26 USA
South Africa 31 – 0 Wales
New Zealand 17 – 12 Samoa
Australia 24 – 17 Scotland

SHIELD SEMI FINALS
Kenya 7 – 24 Russia
Portugal 17 – 7 Brazil

BOWL SEMI FINALS
France 19 – 17 Argentina
England 7 – 17 Canada

PLATE SEMI FINALS
USA 38 – 12 Wales
Samoa 24 – 17 Scotland

CUP SEMI FINALS
Fiji 19 – 31 South Africa
New Zealand 28 – 19 Australia

SHIELD FINAL
Russia 17 – 10 Portugal

BOWL FINAL
France 17 – 19 Canada

PLATE FINAL
USA 19 – 31 Samoa

BRONZE FINAL
Fiji 12 – 19 Australia

CUP FINAL
South Africa 14 – 19 New Zealand