9.39 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

New Zealand win IRB Sevens Series

Ben Gollings of England slips the Argentinian backs during the IRB London Sevens at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday in England. (GETTY)

Published
By AFP

England’s failure to qualify out of their group in front of a record crowd at Twickenham on Saturday saw New Zealand win the IRB Sevens World Series title with a day remaining of the London event.

A crowd of 54,357 at ‘headquarters’, a record in the series’ 12-year history, saw England win just one out of their three Pool matches.

The hosts, fortunate to see off the United States 31-21 after Ben Gollings appeared to drop the ball in the act of scoring a try, lost 21-14 to France after conceding a late try to Mathieu Acebes.

England had to beat Argentina to secure a quarter-final spot but were instead held to a 12-12 draw.

Meanwhile New Zealand, who will face the Pumas in the last eight, recorded convincing wins over Spain (40-7), Kenya (28-12) and Wales (31-12).

Sunday’s other quarter-finals see France playing Wales, Fiji up against fellow Pacific Islanders Samoa and Australia facing South Africa.

Rugby Football Union (RFU) business director Paul Vaughan is hoping for another bumper crowd following Saturday’s huge attendance.

“The first-day record is a testimony to the booming global popularity of sevens,” he said.
“We hope a good second day will take a sevens weekend past the 100,000 mark for the first time, which would be a magnificent achievement.”

Results

Pool A
Kenya 7 Spain 17
New Zealand 40 Spain 7
New Zealand 28 Kenya 12
New Zealand 31 Wales 12
Wales 33 Spain 10
Wales 29 Kenya 12

Pool B
Argentina 21 USA 22
Argentina 28 France 15
England 12 Argentina 12
England 14 France 21
England 31 USA 21
USA 17 France 24

Pool C
Australia 19 Canada 14
Australia 24 Scotland 21
Samoa 19 Scotland 15
Samoa 20 Australia 21
Samoa 38 Canada 24
Scotland 12 Canada 25

Pool D
Fiji 24 Portugal 21
Fiji 41 Russia 0
Russia 12 Portugal 12
South Africa 17 Russia 7
South Africa 7 Fiji 12
South Africa 22 Portugal 7

Sunday
Quarter-finals
New Zealand v Argentina
France v Wales
Fiji v Samoa
Australia v South Africa