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Hamilton Sevens: Second-half magic help BlitzBoks

New Zealand conceded their first points in the tournament during their win over Scotland.

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Meanwhile, the BlitzBoks and Australia's second-half display produced victories for them.

England, Fiji and Kenya bagged their second victories, while Samoa and France claimed first success at the tournament.

Pool A

(Australia, Fiji, Wales, Spain)

It was an intriguing encounter between Wales and Australia as the sides were forced to settle for a 0-0 at the break.

The deadlock was eventually broken by Australia's Ben O'Donnell, who latched onto a great pass by Lachlan Anderson for the five-pointer.

Wales pulled one back, however,  more tries from Maurice Longbottom, Charles Taylor and O'Donnell's second made a Welsh win impossible.  

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In the other match of pool A, tries by Eroni Sau and Jerry Tuwai helped Fiji to an early 12-0 lead against Spain.

It looked the Fijians were going to ran away with the match. But two yellow cards for Fiji halted all their attacking prowess. Instead, it handed Spain an opportunity to capitalise as Pol Pla reduced the deficit to seven points.

Spain levelled matters and look like a real threat.

But,  like the first half it was Fiji who took control of proceedings as they took a lead thanks to tries by Alosio Sovita Naduva and  Amenoni Nasilasila.

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Results:

Fiji 28-0 Wales

Australia 21-5 Spain

Fiji 22-12 Spain

Wales 7-26  Australia

Pool B

(England, Russia, South Africa, Papua New Guinea)

The BlitzBoks first-half performance was clouded with handling errors which made it impossible for them to build momentum against Russia.

However, on the stroke of half-time, the reliable Rosko Specman finally opened the BlitzBoks' tally, 7-0.

Specman continued to sprinkle his magic over the park as he scored another try early in the second half.

Soon 14-0 turned into 38-0 as the BlitzBoks snapped back into shape and turned on the style with four unanswered tries before the clock.

England had a bright start against Papua New Guinea as they took a 5-0 lead through Tom Bowen.

The first half was owned by Bowen as he scored two more classy tries to hand England a 15-0 lead at the break.

Phil Burgess and Dan Norton scored tries in the second half to help England ease to the win.

Results:

England 47-0 Russia

South Africa 36-5 Papua New Guinea

England 27-0 Papua New Guinea

South Africa 38-0  Russia

Pool C

(New Zealand, Argentina, France, Scotland)

Scotland put up a brave fight in their match against New Zealand, however, the Kiwis proved too classy in the end.

New Zealand swarmed Scotland's defence in the opening exchanges which made it easy for Hamilton's beloved son Tim Mikkelson to score a converted try.  

At some point, New Zealand led 24-0 thanks to tries by Sam Dickson, Vilimoni Koroi and Scott Curry.

Scotland managed to score a converted try, but the Kiwis produced yet another formidable defensive display for their second victory. 

Argentina, who produced a scintillating comeback win over Scotland, found themselves 14-0 behind to France courtesy of tries by from Jean Pascal Barraque and Pierre Gilles Lakafia.

Just before the break, Argentina managed to narrow the deficit as in-form Franco Sabato crossed the chalk.

The last minutes went down to the wire. Luciano Gonzalez scored Argentina's second try, while Paulin Riva extended France's lead, 21-14.

Despite, Argentina's relentless attack it was France who ended the match in style as Jean Pascal Barraque crossed over the try line for his brace and a comprehensive win for France.

Results:

New Zealand 52-7 France

Argentina 19-14 Scotland

New Zealand 24-5   Scotland

Argentina 14-28 France

 

 

 

Pool D

(Kenya, Samoa, USA, Canada)

Canada enjoyed majority of the possession, however, it was Kenya who were first to visit the try-line after a break by Willy Ambaka, 7-0.

The Kenyans soon took a 12-0 lead at the break thanks to Oscar Ouma.   

The Canadians finally got on the board early in the second half with a converted try by Isaac Kaay.

Minutes later Kaay visited the try-line again which handed Canada the 14-12 lead.

However, in the end, Kenya's Jeffrey Olouch scored a crucial try for the win.  

It was a tight opening half between Samoa and USA. It looked like the side would've headed to the break without a score, however, Murphy Paulo's try made sure Samoa took a 7-0 lead.

USA immediately strike back and took the lead in the second half. First Ben Pinkleman broke the deadlock before Perry Baker crossed the try-line.

The intensity of the match never subsided and in the last seconds, Laaloi Leilaul snatched the win for Samoa. He rounded defenders and slipped over the chalk for the amazing win.

Results:

Kenya 19-14 Samoa

USA 28-14 Canada

Kenya 19-14 Canada

USA 10-14 Samoa

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