Fiji blow the Boks away

Kiwis stay on track

Fiji, once the masters of Sevens rugby, produced a performance of shear class and quality to blow away the defending Dubai champions, South Africa, with a comprehensive 26-5 win on the opening day of the first leg of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens series on Thursday.

Day One in Dubai saw the top four seeds, including current and five-time IRB Sevens series champions New Zealand, advanced through the pool stages and into the quarter-finals.

On a day that was notable for the number of close matches which often brought the 20,000-strong crowd to the edge of its seat, Scotland's young squad confound the form book to take their place in the last eight.

That brilliant Fijian performance will see them meet fellow Pacific Islanders Samoa in the quarter-final of the Cup competition on Day Two. Other Cup quarter-final matches will see New Zealand take on Scotland, Argentina facing South Africa and England up against Australia.

The Fijians, who have not won a tournament on the IRB Sevens circuit for two years, produced one of the stand-out performances of the day. They scored three first half tries against the Boks and another soon after the break to take an unassailable 26-0 lead.

While the South Africans then came back and started producing some strong plays, they managed no more than a consolation try - with the Fijians topping Pool D after this 26-5 win.

In that first half the Fijians produced some classic Pacific Islanders rugby to out-muscle the normally physical South Africans, who had no answer to the pace and power of their opponents.

Ironically the villain of the piece for the South Africans was speedster Mzwandile Stick, who had earlier scored a hat-trick in the Boks' 36-0 victory over Portugal. Stick faltered under the pressure piled on him by the Fijians and offered up a lot of turn-over ball, and the Fijians made full use of the gifts.

In their earlier matches, the Fijians battled to a 38-17 victory over Ireland in their first match on the opening day and then won through against Portugal by 19-10.

But they kept their best for last and simply blew the South Africans away.

It appeared in the early rounds as if the Boks were on their way to topping the pool. They controlled possession from the start in the game against the Portuguese, when Stick was the most impressive of the defending champions, running in three tries, while also adding two conversions.

Then South Africa overcame a slow start against Ireland, with the Irish scoring twice before the break. However, strong running by centre Jaco Pretorius resulted in some fine South African tries in the second half - which saw them race away to a 35-12 win.

Uganda produced the biggest shock of the early rounds. The African nation got their season off to a flyer with a 22-17 win over France.

But that was the only major upset in the early rounds, with all the big guns staying on track to move into the Cup section - the main competition - on Friday.

The defending IRB Sevens champions New Zealand led from the front from the very start in Pool A, starting with a clinical 36-0 win over Canada. The Kiwis then took it up several notches to dispatch of the Arabian Gulf by 56-0.

In the same pool Australia's young side, steered well by captain Tim Clarke, proved too strong for home side Arabian Gulf to run out convincing 52-0 winners. The men from Down Under followed that up with a 26-12 victory over Canada.

The Kiwis and Aussies then went head-to-head in the pool decider. But the experience of the Kiwis proved too much for the young Aussie side, who twice came from behind. The Kiwis eventually ran out 24-12 winners in a bruising battle.

In fact the Australians had a great chance, at 19-12, to steal a win when the Kiwis were a man down - after one of their stars, Amasio Valence, were yellow carded for a high tackle.

But the fast tiring Aussies could not breach the Kiwi defence and it was the men in black who finished the game stronger and scored the final try.

In Pool B England survived a scare against Scotland, trailing for most of the match until Peter Richards crossed for a last-gasp try to take the spoils by 24-19. And then followed Uganda's surprise win.

Simon Amor's England team then followed that initial victory up with a far more impressive display against Uganda, winning 34-7.

But England, like Fiji, left their best for last when a strong first half performance saw them beat the hapless French 26-14 - after England had taken a 21-0 lead. Rob Thirlby was the team's star and played a major role in all the tries.

Argentina saw their new IRB Sevens season off to an ideal start with a 40-7 victory over Kenya in the first match in Pool C. The Kenyans led 7-5 early on, only for the Pumas to power on in the tie and prove too polished for the Africans.

Argentina followed that with victory over Tunisia by 40-7, while Samoa also started well against Tunisia, recovering from an early Tunisian try to Issa to win 19-5, and then overcame Kenya 17-0.

They then went up against Samoa in the pool decider, with a late try and conversion sealing first place for the Pumas with a 14-12 win over the Pacific Islanders.

Results on Day One:
Argentina 40-7 Kenya
Samoa 19-5 Tunisia
South Africa 36-0 Portugal
Fiji 38-17 Ireland
England 24-19 Scotland
France 17-22 Uganda
New Zealand 36-0 Canada
Australia 52-0 Arabian Gulf
Argentina 40-7 Tunisia
Samoa 17-0 Kenya
South Africa 35-12 Ireland
Fiji 19-10 Portugal
England 34-7 Uganda
France 7-17 Scotland
New Zealand 56-0 Arabian Gulf
Australia 26-12 Canada
Kenya 7-24 Tunisia
Portugal 12-12 Ireland
Scotland 34-0 Uganda
Canada 29-7 Arabian Gulf
Argentina 14-12 Samoa
South Africa 5-26 Fiji
England 26-14 France
New Zealand 24-12 Australia

Day Two fixtures:

Bowl quarter-finals:
09.40 (05.40 GMT) Canada v France
10.02 (06.02 GMT) Ireland v Kenya
10.24 (06.24 GMT) Portugal v Tunisia
10.46 (06.46 GMT) Uganda v Arabian Gulf

Cup quarter-finals:
11.08 (07.08 GMT) New Zealand v Scotland
11.30 (07.30 GMT) Fiji v Samoa
11.52 (07.52 GMT) Argentia v South Africa
12.14 (08.14 GMT) England v Australia

Shield semi-finals:
12.36 (08.36 GMT)
12.58 (08.58 GMT)

Bowl semi-finals:
13.20 (09.20 GMT)
13.42 (09.42 GMT)

Plate semi-finals:
14.04 (10.04 GMT)
14.26 (10.26 GMT)

Cup semi-finals:
18.40 (14.40 GMT)
19.02 (15.02 GMT)

Shield Final:
19.24 (15.24 GMT)

Bowl Final:
19.54 (15.54 GMT)

Plate Final:
20.24 (16.24 GMT)

Cup Final:
20.54 (16.54 GMT)