‘Backs against the wall’: All Blacks Sevens move on with win over Fiji

After battling to a hard-fought 21-19 victory over archrivals Fiji on Saturday night, the All Blacks Sevens advanced to the SVNS Vancouver semi-finals.Following a defeat to South Africa in their first match of the three-day competition, the New Zealanders have secured their place in the final four with a string of impressive victories.

In the third minute of play at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, Akuila Rokolisoa of New Zealand just avoided falling beyond the field of play, giving her country the lead over Fiji.

Pilipo Bukayaro and Rere Ropate of Fiji scored two swift tries to respond, but the All Blacks Sevens weren’t finished. In the second half, Joe Webber and Sam Dickson both scored goals.

With a late penalty try against the Kiwis and a corresponding yellow card, Fiji cut the score to two points, but the Kiwis held firm in the last 30 seconds to stay in the Cup final hunt.

Tim Mikkelson of the All Blacks Sevens told RugbyPass, “We talked about starting the tournament well and we didn’t, we lost to a really good South African team.”

After that, we had a lot of conversations about how important it was to start games well. Almost all of those games saw us go out to strong starts and score first.

“It’s all about building momentum, and the pools these days are pretty tough, so we’re really happy to escape with that victory.”

During the first several rounds of the 2023–24 season, New Zealand has only made one other semi-final, which was the Series’ first leg in Dubai.

The All Blacks Sevens were eliminated by Ireland in the quarterfinals of the SVNS Cape Town, and they were not able to go past the group round of the Perth tournament held last month.

Leroy Carter’s injury forced him out of the competition ahead of time, dealing them a serious blow as they looked to salvage some pride at the Canadian venue this coming weekend.

Roderick Solo will miss three games after receiving a citation for head-on-head contact. The All Blacks Sevens, though, have never given up.

After losing against South Africa, Mikkelson remarked, “it was kind of backs against the wall; we had to win the next two games to go through.”

Many young males are taking the initiative. Although there is a man out for a citation and some minor issues, the boys have performed beautifully.

“We’re getting off to a great start in the games, gaining momentum, and then holding on at the end—that was a great victory with six against a fantastic Fijian team.”

On Sunday, the All Blacks Sevens and Antoine Dupont’s France will square off for a position in the SVNS Vancouver final.

FOR MORE NEWS CLICK HERE