The Fiji Airways Men’s National 7s side will play Ireland in the 5th place playoff at 10.48am today after losing 19-21 to New Zealand in their cup quarterfinal at the HSBC Vancouver SVNS.
The loss against NZ makes it 18 tournament losses under Ben Gollings leadership, with 152 days to go till the Paris Olympics 2024.
Concerns are being raised regarding the performance of the team and the coach in particular with so many losses under their belt.
New Zealand scored first through Akuila Rokolisoa with Fiji replying through Pilipo Bukayaro shortly after. Ropate Rere picked up a loose ball to put Fiji into the lead 12-7, before New Zealand took the lead again after Joe Webber’s try was successfully converted to take them up 14-12.
Sam Dickson was the recipient of a recycle from the base of the scrum and snuck through to extend their lead to 21-12 before Viliame Naikausa scored the last try for Fiji making it a 2 point game at 21-19 to New Zealand.
2 yellow cards were flashed by the referee, one to New Zealand and one for Pilipo Bukayaro.
Rokolisoa had the last say as New Zealand were awarded a penalty which he quickly tapped before booting it into the stands to end the game.
In other quarterfinal games, USA thrashed Great Britain 27-0, Argentina edged Samoa 14-12, with France beating Ireland 12-5.
The cup semifinals kick off at 8.45am between USA and Argentina before New Zealand plays France at 9.07am.
The cup final is at 1.23pm today.
The Los Angeles HSBC SVNS will be held from next Saturday to Monday.
