Cape Town – New Zealand rebounded from a shock opening defeat to reach the semi-finals of the Cape Town leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series on Saturday.
Moses Leo scored a hat-trick of tries in the first half to set up a 50-5 quarter-final win over Uruguay.
New Zealand had suffered a shock 14-10 loss to Spain in their first match on Friday.
“We put ourselves in a situation where it’s do or die,” said Leo.
New Zealand won their two remaining pool matches on Saturday, although they had to recover from a 7-15 half-time deficit before beating Argentina 21-15.
“We’re just growing in confidence day by day,” said Leo.
New Zealand ran in eight tries with a superb display against Uruguay despite a swirling wind which made conditions difficult in the Cape Town Stadium.
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New Zealand will play the United States in the semi-finals on Sunday.
The Americans overcame an early injury to star Lucas Lacamp and scored three unanswered tries in the second half to gain an upset 17-7 win against Fiji.
“The injury didn’t look good,” said American coach Mike Friday, “but credit to the squad, they’re a hungry group.”
The second semi-final will be between hosts South Africa, who beat Great Britain 21-14, and Samoa, who beat Argentina 22-10.
Ricardo Duarttee, playing in his first season with South Africa’s Blitzboks, scored a crucial solo try and said he was thrilled by the support of the home crowd.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he said, “we’re just going to get better.”
Australia continued to dominate the women’s section. After romping through the pool stage, they beat Great Britain 38-0 in the quarter-finals.
The Australians took their tally to 157 points in four matches in Cape Town and have yet to concede a point.
Madison Levi scored two of their six tries against Great Britain to lead the series try-scorers with 15 in two tournaments.
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Australia will meet the United States in the semi-finals on Sunday. The Americans beat Fiji 10-7 in their quarter-final.
New Zealand outplayed Canada 50-5 and will face Ireland, who edged France 12-10, in the semi-finals.
Australia won the opening tournament in the 2023 women’s series in Dubai last week after completing a clean sweep of titles in 2022 – the Sevens Series, the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The Australian men, however, failed to reach the championship knock-out stage.
Australia arrived in Cape Town as joint leaders of the 2023 series after winning the first event in Dubai. But they lost their opening match in Cape Town against Great Britain on Friday.
Australia beat Uganda 31-0 in their opening match on Saturday but were eliminated when they were held to a 19-19 draw by the United States, who topped the pool.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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