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All Blacks Sevens crash back to earth on day one in Cape Town
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks Sevens have crashed back down to earth on day one in Cape Town after winning the opening Dubai event of the 2025/26 SVNS series.
After securing their first gold event win since Singapore in 2024, the All Blacks Sevens started strong with a 29-12 win over Great Britain in their opening pool game.
A double from power wing Frank Vaenuku was the highlight as New Zealand ran in five tries.
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A close tussle with hosts South Africa followed with captain Tone Ng Shu opening the scoring and securing a 7-0 lead early. The All Blacks preserved that lead til half-time, however a three unanswered tries from the Blitzboks in the second half buried New Zealand.
A late try to one of New Zealand’s rookies Riley Williams in injury time added some respectability to the final 19-7 score.
The All Blacks still had hopes of making the semi-finals heading into their final pool game against Fiji, however a dominant showing from the Fijians put a stop to that.
Fiji’s playmakers all enjoyed themselves on the way to a 35-5 victory to avenge for their last-second defeat in Dubai’s semi-final a week ago.
Viwa Naduvalo, who scored a hat-trick against New Zealand last week, bagged two tries along with Terio Veilawa. Playmaker Pilipo Bukayaro also added one.
Fiji’s win propelled them into the Cup semi-finals where they will play Argentina, who looked much better after missing out of the Cup semi-finals last week.
The All Blacks Sevens will play Australia for a place in the 5th place final, a repeat of Dubai’s gold final.
Debutants Bradley Tocker and Sam Clarke made their first caps coming off the bench against Great Britain and South Africa respectively.
On the women’s draw, the Black Ferns produced three dominant wins over Great Britain, USA and Fiji to secure a Cup semi-final against France.
After losing to USA in pool play last week, the Black Ferns recovered to win gold over Australia in the final, their first Dubai event win in years.
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