Fiji Airways Fijian 7s Team Upset New Zealand To Progress

The Fiji Airways Fijian 7s team bounced back to upset favourites New Zealand 19-5 in the Cup quarterfinal of the Singapore 7s yesterday.
Coach Gareth Baber made positional changes with Livai Ikanikoda being moved back to halfback, Vilimoni Botitu manning the playmaker’s berth while Sevuloni Mocenacagi played at rover with Josua Vakurunabili joining the forwards.
Baber during halftime told the players the importance of accuracy and the need to connect their passes all the time.
The Kiwis started strongly with a try to Tim Mikkelson which was not converted for a 5-0 lead.
The Fijians struck back when Aminiasi Tuimaba pulled in two defenders before offloading it to Vakurunabili for a try in the corner as the scores were tied at 5-5.
The Kiwis were unfortunate when Meli Derenalagi was denied a try by the referee and resulted in Botitu copping a yellow card for tapping the ball away.
However, sensing an upset win, the Fijians kept applying the pressure as the Kiwis were reluctant to commit themselves and a long pass to Regan Ware being ruled forward.
From the scrum Ikanikoda powered his way past Kurt Baker and Akuila Rokolisoa to score the second try before adding the conversion.
New Zealand had a chance to score their second try but Rokolisoa lost the ball forward while on the try-line.
In the second half Botitu ran away from a Sam Dickson tackle to score the third try with Ikanikoda landing the conversion from far out.
There were a number of errors committed by both teams as they failed to register any points.
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
Challenge Trophy- Scotland 38-10 Spain, Wales 19-17 Hong Kong, Japan 14-33 Canada, France 24-14 Kenya, Cup- South Africa 21-12 Samoa, USA 12-0 Argentina, New Zealand 5-19 Fiji, Australia 12-31 England
Edited by Sheldon Chanel
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