All Blacks Sevens hold on in classic as SVNS semi-finalists confirmed

New Zealand have beaten rivals Australia 21-19 in an all-time classic rugby sevens battle, with a desperate defensive stand the difference as the All Blacks Sevens booked their spot in the semi-finals at the HSBC SVNS Series World Championship in Los Angeles.

Australia had beaten Spain and Fiji earlier on the opening day at Dignity Health Sports Park, but that dramatic loss to the New Zealanders was the difference, as they missed the cut. Spain qualified for the final four with a 24-12 triumph over fan favourites Fiji.

In the semi-finals, New Zealand will face South Africa, while Spain have been tasked with overcoming SVNS Series heavyweights Argentina for a spot in the big dance. Argentina and South Africa played out an enthralling pool match to round out play on day one, where South Africa came out on top, 29-21.

The All Blacks Sevens started their quest for SVNS Series glory with a thrilling five-point win over old foe Fiji, before falling to Spain yet again this season. That saw the New Zealanders sit third in Pool B, meaning the equation going into their final group match was simple.

Win, and they’re through.

Lose, and they’re out.

New Zealand couldn’t have started much better with Regan Ware and Frank Vaenuku scoring a try each in a two-minute span. Ngarohi McGarvey-Black was reliable when kicking for goal, helping the Kiwis race out to an early 14-nil lead.

Henry Paterson struck back for the Aussies, and the match took another turn early in the second term after McGarvey-Black was shown a yellow card. With referee AJ Jacobs also awarding a penalty try, New Zealand were down a player with the scores suddenly level.

Australia took the lead through Ben Dalton, who scored out wide, but the conversion missed the mark. The All Blacks Sevens gave it everything, which led to Brady Rush’s try in the 12^th minute, before McGarvey-Black gave them the lead with another successful shot at goal.

The match was ultimately won in defence, though. New Zealand gave away a series of penalties, which gifted their rivals possession with time up on the clock. Henry Hutchison dove over the try line three minutes into final play territory, and this added to the drama.

An entire season had led to that moment. Referee Jacobs went upstairs to the TMO, and it was ruled that there was no clear grounding, meaning the All Blacks Sevens had done enough to secure their spot in the final four.

Australia were made to wait, needing a result to go their way in the other Pool B fixture. Spain started strong with Alejandro Laforga and Juan Ramos both scoring, before Kavekini Tanivanuakula hit back for Fiji.

It was a 12-5 game but other tries to Eduardo Lopez and Jeremy Trevithick swung the match in Spain’s favour. Trevithick’s try was the difference in the race for semi-final qualification, as the Europeans progressed on points difference.

In Pool A, it was also confirmed going into the final round that South Africa and Argentina had done enough to move on. South Africa’s Blitzboks had beaten defending Series champions France 19-10 and Great Britain 12-7.

As for Argentina, who were crowned League Winners in Singapore last month, they beat GB 33-26 and snuck by France 17-12. SVNS Series Player of the Year nominees Luciano Gonzalez and Marcos Moneta played starring roles in these victories.

In their final pool game against South Africa, the two teams battled it out for top spot in Championship Pool A.

The two teams were all square at half time after an end-to-end back and forth first half, where both teams scored two converted tries apiece. Ronald Brown and Ryan Oosthuizen scored in the first half for the Blitzboks, as well as Matteo Graziano and German Schulz for Argentina.

The scecond half was all the Blitzboks, scoring three unanswered tries early in the second half to overcome the League winners, Argentina, 29-21.