Fiji powered past reigning champions New Zealand in the opening round of the IRB World Series Sevens. Previously held in Adelaide, the Australian Sevens has now moved to the Gold Coast.
Fiji came away with a 26-12 win after having blitzed South Africa in the Semi Finals, but actually been beaten quite convincingly by New Zealand in their opening game. They shrugged off the 28-5 defeat to come back and get revenge when it mattered most.
“It is a big thing for the boys. We need a platform to start it off and this is a stepping stone to something,” said Fiji coach Etuate Waqa.
“It is very important to us, we have spoken about it, we want to go back to being number one in the world and if we can start it off like this it sets a platform that we can build on. We knew it would be physical, we just asked the boys to be composed.”
New Zealand themselves had looked typically good throughout the tournament, going into the final with a strong 26-7 win over hosts Australia. Coach Gordon Tietjens said they had plenty of positives to take from the performance however.
“We might have played well against Fiji in the pool but the team can turn around and do exactly the same to you. Lots to play for going to Dubai, we know we are good enough. The boys will be kicking themselves and we had set some good standards,” he said.
Wales won the Plate Final, Argentina claimed the Bowl, while Papua New Guinea took the Shield.
Below are highlights of both days of play, with the final being featured in the second video. It’s posted as a playlist so hit Play to watch both, or select only the second video if you prefer. Enjoy.
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