South Africa are in dangerous form during the pool stages of the Gold Coast Sevens
Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

by Brendan Bradford –

Kenya and Kiwis top Pool A while Canada cause an upset and Australia notches a first win.

Despite dominating territory and possession stats, New Zealand only had a 12-0 halftime lead against Tonga in the second round of pool matches but knuckled down in the second half to take a convincing 26-0 win. It was the second time the Kiwis held a team to nil in two games.

“It looks easier than it is, it was a very physical game,” said New Zealand captain DJ Forbes.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but to come away with two pretty convincing wins is definitely pleasing.”

Despite New Zealand’s convincing two wins, Kenya stayed top of Pool A with a 31-5 win over USA with doubles to Collin Injera and Billy Odhiambo. Only a disputed Carlin Isles try after the fulltime siren kept Kenya from emulating New Zealand in keeping two sides scoreless.

“I think you can see that our systems are working well and I think we shared the workload around our teammates and it went well for us,” said veteran Kenyan campaigner and try-scoring machine Collins Injera

We were aiming not to concede a try, but that’s rugby and going into the next game it’s all or nothing.”

South Africa maintained their rampant form with a Cecil Afrika-inspired 38-7 over Spain to take their total for and against to 67-12.

Fiji are in shape to top Pool C after wins over Canada and Portugal – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

It was a tight one between old foes England and France in the other Pool B game. After quickly scoring two early tries, England allowed France to tie the scores at 12-all by halftime. Only a determined second half defensive effort and a second try to Dan Norton secured a 26-12 win to set up a top of the table showdown with South Africa.

Fiji were trapped deep in their own half for the first two minutes against Portugal but the flood gates opened in the third minute as the defending Gold Coast champions ran in the first of six unanswered tries on the way to a 38-0 win.

Canada created the biggest upset of the tournament so far in the other Pool C match by defeating Wales 19-14. Rhys Shellard was sin-binned for Wales after just 30-seconds before Canada ran in two tries before halftime and another after the break to lead 19-0 with six minutes to play. James Davies and Chris Knight crossed for the Welsh, but it was too little too late as Canada held on for the win. After pushing Fiji to a 20-10 result earlier in the day, Canada look to be a side on the up.

Samoa are the quiet achievers after two rounds, recording a 19-12 win over an impressive Scottish side to cement their spot at the top of Pool D. Leading 12-0 after just four minutes Samoa conceded two tries to Michael Fedo which levelled the scores. Scotland were unable to get out of jail as they had done against Australia earlier in the day as Faalemiga Selesele scored a match winner for Samoa.

“Scotland are a tough team and we put pressure on them to make a mistake and talked about lifting and going hard for seven minutes,” said 23-year old playmaker Patrick Faapale.

“It was a good win and we’re looking forward to our match against Australia.”

Australia fought back from 7-0 down against Argentina to earn their first win of the tournament in the last game of the second round of pool matches. Nick Malouf added to his try-scoring tally with a double while speedster Shannon Walker and Tom Lucas – the younger brother of Reds back Ben and Waratahs halfback Matt – also made the scoresheet.

The third and final round of pool matches begin at 5pm to decide which teams go through to contest the Cup play-offs tomorrow.

Round Two Results:

Pool A – New Zealand 26 – 0 Tonga

Pool A – Kenya 31 – 5 USA

Pool B – South Africa 38 – 7 Spain

Pool B – England 26 – 12 France

Pool C – Fiji 38 – 0 Portugal

Pool C – Wales 14 – 19 Canada

Pool D – Samoa 19 – 12 Scotland

Pool D – Australia 22 – 7 Argentina