The Fiji Airways Fiji Men’s 7s side has topped their pool at the HSBC Dubai 7s after defeating New Zealand 21-12 in their final pool match this morning.
The win has seen Fiji making a clean sweep in the pool stages as they head into the quarter finals that will be played this afternoon.
Fiji drew first blood in the match with a converted try to Terio Tamani in the 3rd minute to take a 7-0 lead before NZ replied in the 5th minute with an unconverted try to Cody Vai to trail 7-5 at halftime.
Pilipo Bukayaro extended Fiji’s lead to 14-5 with a converted try in the 10th minute before Brady Rush replied for NZ with a converted try to close the gap to 14-12.
NZ had a chance to steal the game at the death but a missed pass that led to a loose ball was pounced on by Filipe Sauturaga who went over to score Fiji’s final and winning converted try at the stroke of fulltime.
Fiji has now booked a spot in the 4th quarter final that will be played at 7.32 tonight with their opponent to be confirmed once all pool matches are completed this morning.
Meanwhile, the Fiji Airways Fijiana 7s side suffered their third loss of the tournament after losing 14-15 to China in their final pool match this morning.
Stay with us for updates.
Match Report
UPDATES Dubai 7s: Fiji 0 - 0 NZL
0' Fiji kicks off the first half. FIJ 0-0 NZ.
3' Terio Tamani scores Fiji's first converted try to take the lead. FIJ 7-0 NZ
5' Codeweru Vai scores NZ's first try with conversion unsuccessful. Fiji still leads. FIJ 75 NZ
Halftime: FIJ 7-5 NZ
7' NZ kicks off the second spell. FIJ 7-5 NZ
10' Pilipo Bukayaro extends Fiji's lead with a converted try under the crossbar. FIJ 14-5 NZ
12' Brady Rush scores a converted try for NZ to close the gap. FIJ 14-12 NZ
14' Filipe Sauturaga pounces on a loose ball from NZ to score the winning converted try. FIJ 21-12 NZ
