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Spain beat All Blacks Sevens again, Blitzboks win dramatic quarter-final
By Finn Morton
Spain remains unbeaten in three matches against New Zealand this season after triumphing in a quarter-final thriller 12-7 at Vancouver’s BC Place. The Spaniards will take on three-time defending champions Argentina in the semis, with the final four teams now locked in.
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When Spain beat New Zealand at December’s Dubai Sevens, that result was met with surprise and shock from fans all around the world on social media. But Spain are among the top teams on the HSBC SVNS Series this season, and that proved with another win over the Kiwis.
Spain beat the All Blacks for a second time en route to the Dubai Men’s Cup final, and they’ve made the semi-finals in both Cape Town and Perth since. They’ve maintained their status as a regular top-four side after stunning the New Zealanders at SVNS Vancouver on Saturday.
Tone Ng Shiu struck first for the All Blacks Sevens in the fourth minute, and the team’s strong defence kept them in front for almost the entire match. But Spain’s Francisco Cosculluela scored inside the final minute, with the conversion sending the match to golden point.
Having controlled possession from the opening exchange in golden point, it didn’t take too long for Spain to score the match-winner, with Anton Legorburu Anso racing away for those precious points in the 15th minute.
The Spanish will take on three-time defending champions Argentina in a blockbuster semi-final on day three at the Vancouver venue, with Los Pumas 7s beating Olympic champions France by five points in another dramatic eliminator.
With the scores locked at 7-all, Argentina marched into France’s 22 with about 30 seconds left on the clock. Luciano Gonzalez came close to breaking through France’s defence with the try line practically within reach, but it wasn’t to be for the powerful ball carrier.
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But Argentina wouldn’t be denied for long.
Matias Osadczuk, who spoke with RugbyPass before SVNS Vancouver, crossed out wide for the try in the final play of the match. With injured coach Santiago Gomez Cora back home in Argentina, the reigning champs are a couple of wins away from more history in Canada.
Boom! Spain take it on golden point 🇪🇸💥#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSVAN pic.twitter.com/G6xx4qpv46
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 23, 2025
On the other side of the men’s draw, SVNS Series leaders Fiji became the third men’s side to qualify for the semi-finals after a clinical win over Great Britain. Sevuloni Mocenacagi and Joseva Talacolo scored in the first half, with the Fijians taking a 12-nil lead into the break.
Joji Nasova was first to strike in the second term as the Fijians extended their lead to a more comfortable margin of 17 points with less than five minutes left to play. After another five-pointer to Waisea Nacuqu, Fiji marched into the final four with a commanding 24-nil win.
The last team to qualify in the next stage was South Africa, who claimed some revenge for the SVNS Perth semi-finals and a pool match between the two teams earlier on day two in Vancouver – with Australia moving on as one of the top-two third-placed teams.
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Australia had beaten South Africa by just five points in their pool match, and everything pointed towards this being another closely-contested clash. Ronald Brown scored in the opening minute and the Boks seemed to thrive on the back of that for quite some time.
Team veteran Ryan Oosthuizen crossed for his first try of the event, with the South African sliding past Australian Matt Gonzalez. While the conversion missed the mark, the Blitzboks still held an incredibly valuable 10-point buffer at that stage of the match.
After a try to Shilton van Wyk, the Boks took a 17-nil lead into the break.
But it was a game of two halves.
Australia scored through Ben Dowling and Josh Turner to make it a three-point game with just 10 seconds left. But with the South Africans securing the ball off the kick-off, they did just enough to overcome a valiant Australian outfit 17-14.
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Men’s sevens are destined to be a second tier side until such time as they have the ability to penetrate opposition defences and retain possession