Fiji thump USA to win Hamilton Sevens
Fiji has won the HSBC New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton beating USA in the Final.
In front of a full house at FMG Stadium, Fiji was unstoppable and retained its HSBC New Zealand Seevens crown to move joint top of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Fiji has now also won two of the first three tournaments of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. Fiji playmaker Jerry Tui was named HSBC Player of the Final after directing his side’s comprehensive 38-0 victory.
The USA was a gallant loser and finished runner-up for the third consecutive tournament to hold on to a share of top spot in the series standings. Losing semi-finalists New Zealand and South Africa remain third and fourth respectively.
Fiji Head coach Gareth Baber said: “It was obviously very special [to go back-to-back] and I want to say a big thank you to all the Fijian fans. They certainly lifted the team today and we appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
The side were also awarded the UL Mark of Excellence Award for the act of sportsmanship ahead of the match as they lifted the ball girl high into the air while they said their final prayer.
New Zealand made sure that it finished its home campaign on a winning note with a 29-7 victory over South Africa in the bronze final.
A battle of wills played out between the two before New Zealand, much to the delight of their home fans, created a 19-7 cushion via tries either side of half-time. Werner Kok’s sin-bin for a late tackle on Andrew Knewstubb was then punished by the All Blacks Sevens. The home side’s determination shone through as they sent Joe Ravouvou over in the corner before Sam Dickson finished their scoring.
Scotland finished fifth beating Tonga 24-19 while England won the Challenge Trophy after beating Kenya 36-7. In the process England’s James Rodwell eclipsed Kiwi DJ Forbes’ record for the most appearances ever on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. It was Rodwell’s 90th tournament and he capped the landmark with a try.
Organisers put the sold out sign up early on day two of the world series sevens tournament and the capacity crowd partied and cheered through to the final whistle.
HSBC NZ Sevens General Manager Steve Dunbar said the second edition of the tournament in Hamilton had ticked every box.
“To have more than 23,500 fans head to the ground on Saturday and then 25,111 on Sunday was great. Fans have really embraced the festival we have built around the venue and that balance between the carnival and rugby created a winning vibe.
“The costumes were fantastic, the Fijian fans were incredible, and the behaviour of the vast majority of people was exemplary.”
Dunbar made special mention of the Black Ferns Sevens and the Fast Four tournament.
“To see our Black Ferns Sevens line up for the national anthem in front of a sold out stadium and go on to win the title was special. We all saw the emotion and how much it meant to the players and the crowd’s reaction to the team’s haka after full time spoke volumes.”
With just six arrests over the weekend police praised the behaviour of a crowd that moved freely between the Mill Street R18 zone, Willoughby Park Carnival and their allocated seats.
“We’ve proven this event works in Hamilton and we’re confident we’ve made the strongest possible case for World Rugby to award New Zealand the licence to keep the tournament here in 2020 and beyond,” Dunbar said.
World Rugby plan to announce the format of the World Sevens Series for the next four years in March or April of this year.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series moves onto Sydney next weekend (February 1-3) where full men’s and women’s tournaments will take place.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments