Aussies finish sixth as Fiji double up

Mon, Mar 12, 2018, 1:53 AM
AAP
by AAP
It was a disappointing sixth finish for the Aussies in Vancouver. The side showing plenty of fight after losing three players on finals day. Hear from one of those, skipper Lewis Holland after the day's play.

The Australian Men's Sevens side finished sixth and Fiji became the first team to "double up" as the Canada 7s finished with a flurry on Monday.

The Aussies were defeated 31-14 by England in the playoff for fifth place outgunned in some aspects of play as fatigue began to show through in their efforts on the artificial turf at BC Place in Vancouver.

England jumped out to a 14-0 lead early thanks to tries to skipper Tom Mitchell and Dan Bibby but each time the Australians tried to exert some pressure they were able to repel those attacks and score at the other end.

Two minutes from time England led 31-7 but John Porch added to his impressive tallies of tries to give the final scoreline.

In the cup final Fiji surged in the second half to defeat Kenya 31-12 while the bronze medal match South Africa were too good for the USA winning 29-7.

Fifth place playoff semi-final - Australia 28 Argentina 24

The Australians made their way  through to the playoff for fifth place but they almost let a 28-0 lead slip against Argentina.

The Aussies eventually won 28-24 on Monday at BC Place but the team's inertia in the second half of these game must be worrying coach Andy Friend.

They got out to a brisk start in the first half notching up four tries but after the break a yellow card to Tim Anstee saw the Argentines get their hands on the ball and the tries came.The halftime score of 28-0 was soon converted to 28-19 but a missed conversion from the Argentinians gave the Aussies the breathing space they needed.

Cup quarter final - South Africa 24 Australia 19

Australia was knocked out of the cup competition after surrendering a 19-0 lead in their quarter-final against South Africa.

The Aussies looked on track for an appearance in the semi-finals at BC Place when they scored three nicely-constructed tries in the first half but the South Africans were able to get their hands on the ball and worked their way back into the game.

Two tries from Blitzbokke flyer Siviwe Soyizwap got them within reach of the Australian total but with the clock ticking down an error from the usually-reliable James Stannard saw Cecil Afrika cross to tie the game up at 19-all.


From a scrum on the Aussies line Stannard tried to clear the ball with a kick b ut he was charged down and the Blitzbokke swooped.

The South Africans were then able to regain possession from the kick-off and worked the ball to within reach of the tryline and after a couple of breakdowns they moved the ball to the right edge and Branco du Preez was able to crash over in the corner to give the 24-19 scoreline.

It is the second time in as many tournaments that the Australians have been knocked out at the quarter-final stage and head coach Andy Friend must have been rueing a number of opportunities that his side weren't able to convert.

Australia came through Day One in Canada undefeated after accounting for Uruguay and the USA. The also drew with Canada in their first match of the day.

Turnovers though told the story of this match and the South Africans were the kings at that aspect of the sevens game, pushing their total to 72 well ahead of any other team on the World Series.

England are the closest with 49 snaffles.

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