Fiji’s heartbreaking semi-final exit, Australia lose to rivals New Zealand

Spain and Fiji have fallen painfully short of the Men’s Cup decider at SVNS Vancouver after going down swinging in thrilling semi-final matchups on day three. Argentina beat Spain 7-nil to make their fourth-straight final at BC Place, while South Africa left it late against the Fijians.

Fiji will have a team playing for silverware at the Canadian venue though with the women’s side overcoming Japan 28-7. Japan will take on competition heavyweights Australia in the third-place playoff after they were beaten by arch-rivals New Zealand 10-29.

In the first Cup eliminator of the day, Spain looked to avenge their heavy loss to Argentina from the SVNS Perth semi-finals last month. This time, it was a slightly different story as nothing separated the two teams throughout the opening term.

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Defence was king in this tense contest, with Spain having the best-attacking opportunity of the half, about 30 seconds after the siren had sounded. But, desperate defence from Los Pumas 7s’ Marcos Moneta prevented what otherwise would’ve been a certain score.

Moneta was front-and-centre again shortly after as the former World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year crossed for what ended up being the only try of the semi-final. The Argentinian scored under the sticks, with the successful conversion giving the defending champions a 7-nil lead.

Spain’s Roberto Ponce was red carded with 1:41 left to play, and while Spain were still able to match it with Argentina despite going down to six-men, there was no fairytale finish for the underdogs who will instead play Fiji in the battle for bronze.

Fiji were all but home in their semi-final against South Africa, but the Blitzboks kept fighting right until the very end and it paid off for them with less than 30 seconds to play. After going down to six men themselves, the Boks continued to hold their own against the SVNS Series leaders.

South Africa’s Sebastiaan Jobb was sent off three minutes into the match, with Fiji scoring at the same time through Joji Nasova who raced away up the field for a long-range score. While the conversion missed the mark, these moments were key for the Fijians.

Fiji also went down to six men, but only temporarily, as referee Nick Hogan showed Nasova a yellow card. They were still good enough on the defensive side of the ball to hold the South African’s out, as they went into the break up 5-nil.

The Blitzboks levelled the scores early in the half through Shilton van Wyk, and they almost took the lead soon after as Tristan Leyds came within inches of scoring in the scorer before being bundled into touch by a sublime try-saving tackle.

With time running out, Fiji seemed to take a big step towards winning the match after going coast-to-coast, the full length of the field, to score a try that started inside the team’s own in-goal. Jeremia Matana wouldn’t be denied as the Fijians took a 10-5 lead.

But, out of nowhere really, Donavan Don reaped the rewards of an ambitious kick up the field, with the replacement scoring under the posts with 30 seconds left to play. Co-captain Selvyn Davids converted the try to send the Blitzboks into the final 12-10.

In the women’s knockout matches, Fijiana were first to book their spot in the big dance with a commanding win over Japan. Japan were playing in their first-ever SVNS Series semi-final, but going one step further to the Cup final proved to be just out of reach.

Adita Milinia, Ilisapeci Delaiwau and Sesenieli Donu all scored tries as the Fijians ran away with a strong lead in no time at all. Japan had their moment as Yukino Tsujisaki crossed in the ninth minute, but the result was never really in doubt.

Incredibly, after going into the event ranked 11^th on the women’s Series, Fiji will take on one of the competition favourites for the title.  “Two of the giants,” that’s how commentator Rikki Swannell described the clash between New Zealand and Australia.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist and Brisbane Broncos flyer Stacey Waaka scored the opening try of this blockbuster semi-final in the first minute. But the Aussies hit back almost immediately as Khali Henwood and Teagan Levi helped set up Charlotte Caslick.

7-5 is how the scores read, in favour of New Zealand, with just over three and a half minutes left to play in the first-half. To make it that much tougher for the Aussies, Levi was injured after the restart which is a tough blow for Tim Walsh’s team moving forward.

Michaela Brake and Jorja Miller added another five points each to round out the half.

In the second-half, Levi returned to send speedster Faith Nathan flying down the wing. But, with the missed shot at goal, the women in black still held a nine-point lead.

The match-sealer for the Kiwis was Waaka’s second try with less than 90 seconds to play. Miller threw a one-handed offload off to the SVNS Series veteran who strolled in untouched. To cap off a memorable win for New Zealand against their arch-rivals, Keksey Teneti added one last try.