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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