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Heartbreaking loss to Fiji sees All Blacks Sevens miss Cup quarters in Perth
By Finn Morton
How the mighty have fallen.
Reining World SVNS Series champions New Zealand will battle it out for ninth place at Perth’s HBF Park after falling to France and Fiji in pool play. There will be no quarter-final for the Kiwis.
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The All Blacks Sevens, who also snuck into the Cape Town SVNS knockout rounds after a poor run in pool play last month, were beaten comprehensively by France 17-33 on Friday.
Veteran Regan Ware was the hero that New Zealand so desperately needed that night, though, as last season’s world champions snuck by Samoa in a golden point thriller.
But it all led to two decisive games on Saturday. Viwa Naduvalo scored a 15th-minute try as Fiji edged their traditional sevens rivals by the barest of margins on a scorching afternoon.
New Zealand needed trans-Tasman rivals Australia to beat Ireland a few games later, but much to the disliking of the home crowd, the hosts were beaten 19-10.
The All Blacks Sevens will not play in the Cup quarters for the first time this season.
“We started really well, we talked about starting well, we didn’t start that well yesterday,” legend Tim Mikkelson said after the heartbreaking loss to Fiji.
“Going up 14-nil and then I suppose we made a few errors that let them back into the game and once you do that it’s going to be a long day.”
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New Zealand raced out to a 12-nil lead against Samoa on Friday night, but that epic clash ended up going to golden point. That created a sense of déjà vu on day two.
Leroy Carter and Regan Ware helped the All Blacks Sevens take a commanding 14-nil lead inside five minutes, but the second half was all Fiji.
Tries to Ponepati Loganimasi, Terio Tamani and Viwa Naduvalo competed a 21-point blitz that New Zealand had no answer for.
The scores were locked with time up on the clock, and while the match appeared set for golden point, Fiji had enough in the tank to record a famous win.
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“It’s all about holding onto the ball. We had a lot of the ball but made some errors and they managed to scoop them up,” Mikkelson added.
“It’s so close now. One little error and they go 80 metres. Once we get the ball we need to hold onto it.”
New Zealand joins Canada, Samoa and Great Britain in the bottom four.
In a single season - and after a change in coach - NZ have gone from being the best 7s team in the world to also-rans. The decision to appoint Tamasi Cama as coach has been a disaster.
Why the hell are we persisting with Mikkelson aged 37 Curry aged 35 & Dickson aged 34. They are passengers after a few minutes.