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VANCOUVER 7s 2016
THE All Blacks Sevens won the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens, beating South Africa 19-14 in the final at BC Place.
Tries from the HSBC player of the final Sam Dickson, Kurt Baker and Lewis Ormond were enough to see off the Blitzboks and claim a third Cup title for New Zealand in the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The win sees New Zealand move to 104 points and close the gap on series leaders Fiji (106) who finished fourth after losing to Australia in the third place play-off to just two points. Runners-up South Africa remain in second on 105 points.
"We struggled last week in Vegas with the new team, getting our combinations together but this week we really wanted to go better and I am just so pleased we won the final because it has been a hard week," said captain Tim Mikkelson.
"We let ourselves down last week and dropped down the table and we really wanted to finish strong in this tournament. It's amazing to win this in this amazing venue in Canada, it's just been awesome."
Samoa won the Plate, Canada won the Bowl and Russia took home the Shield at the inaugural event in Vancouver, with a record 60,418 fans turning up across the two days with the tournament set to go down in history, also the first sevens event to be played under a closed roof.
SAMOA MAGIC MAN HELPS SAMOA TO PLATE
Another bit of magic from Samoa's man of the moment Phoenix Hunapo-Tofoa played a pivotal role as Samoa won the Plate. Alex Samoa scored twice in the win as move to ninth in the series standings with the win, with Hunapo-Tofoa setting up his second which secured the win despite consolation tries from Madison Hughes and Ben Leatigaga for the USA.
HIRAYAMA SINKS FRANCE IN THRILLING BOWL FINAL
In what was arguably the match of the weekend, Canada walked away with the Bowl after beating France 19-17 in a last second thriller. Canada were continually chasing the match in the first half after France's Julien Candelon bagged a runaway try, but after the break Nate Hirayama went over and converted his own try to make it 7-7. A try from France's Stephen Parez and a second from Candelon took the game to 17-7 and looked to put it out of reach, but Canada had plenty left in the tank. Harry Jones dotted down before the full time hooter sounded, putting Canada within a try. After France's Theo Millet decided to run the ball instead of kicking it out, it gave Canada another opportunity which John Moonlight finished from close range. A huge pressure kick from Hirayama gave Canada the Bowl to the delight of the home crowd.
RUSSIA PROVE STRONG FOR PORTUGAL
Having beaten Kenya convincingly in the Shield semi-final Russia continued their winning form in the final with a 17-10 victory to take home the silverware at the HSBC Canada Sevens. Russia's Dimitriy Perov went over early in the first half to take the lead but his score was cancelled out quickly by Portuguese youngster Vasco Ribeiro. Vladislav Sozonov ensured Russia went into half-time ahead with an additional try before the interval and Vladimir Ostroushko powered through a gap early in the second half to give them a 17-5 advantage. A yellow card for Vladislav Sozonov gave Portugal a man advantage but they could only claw one try back through Fabio Conceicao before the final whistle.
SCOTLAND, Samoa and Wales booked their place in the Cup quarter-finals at the sixth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Vancouver, joining the top five sides in the series standings after an enthralling day of action at BC Place, while Canada narrowly missed out on home soil.
POOL A
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3 
4 
Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand looked impressive on day one in Vancouver and maintained 100 per cent records to book their place in the Cup quarter-finals where they will be joined by Scotland and Wales for the first time this season, and Samoa for the first time since the series opener in Dubai, as well as Australia and the USA.
A last-minute winner from Kitione Taliga ensured Fiji won all three of their matches at the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens, the 24-19 victory knocking Kenya into the Bowl and confirming Samoa's place as Pool A runners-up.
There was also a special moment for Collins Injera on day one, as he scored his 221st career try in Kenya's match with Fiji, moving him into second place in the all-time leading try scorer list, nine behind Santiago Gomez Cora.
POOL B
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3 
4 
Australia booked their place in the last eight as Pool B winners with a 49-14 win over Wales, a result which meant the hosts needed a 30-point win against Russia in the last match of the day to book their place in the Cup quarters but the 29-12 win saw Canada miss out on points difference.
Earlier on day one Canada provided the loudest cheer of the day in front of a record rugby crowd in Canada of more than 30,000 as they beat Australia 14-12 with the last play of the match. After Adam Zaruba had levelled the scores, Nathan Hirayama slotted the winning conversion to send the stands into pandemonium, but they came up short in the final match of the day.
POOL C
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3 
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Andy Friend's Australia side, who have finished second in the last two tournaments, will play Scotland, while the Blitzboks, who scored 16 tries on day one and conceded just one, will play Wales in the last eight - both repeats of quarter-finals from Rugby World Cup 2015.
POOL D
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3 
4 
Ben Ryan's series leaders will play the USA in the first quarter-final after Mike Friday's side finished second to New Zealand in Pool D following a 17-5 defeat with Sione Molia scoring twice for the All Blacks Sevens with Gordon Tietjens' side set to face Samoa on day two.
SATURDAY 12th MARCH 2016 |
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1 |
09:30 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
43-0 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL C |
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2 |
09:52 |
ARGENTINA |
35-5 |
BRAZIL |
POOL C |
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3 |
10:14 |
FIJI |
38-5 |
SAMOA |
POOL A |
||
4 |
10:36 |
KENYA |
43-5 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
5 |
10:58 |
USA |
42-14 |
FRANCE |
POOL D |
||
6 |
11:20 |
NEW ZEALAND |
7-0 |
ENGLAND |
POOL D |
||
7 |
11:42 |
AUSTRALIA |
43-5 |
RUSSIA |
POOL B |
||
8 |
12:04 |
WALES |
26-19 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
||
9 |
13:06 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
26-7 |
BRAZIL |
POOL C |
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10 |
13:28 |
ARGENTINA |
7-19 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL C |
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11 |
13:50 |
FIJI |
62-0 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
||
12 |
14:12 |
KENYA |
19-26 |
SAMOA |
POOL A |
||
13 |
14:34 |
USA |
17-12 |
ENGLAND |
POOL D |
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14 |
14:56 |
NEW ZEALAND |
24-10 |
FRANCE |
POOL D |
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15 |
15:18 |
WALES |
52-0 |
RUSSIA |
POOL B |
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16 |
15:40 |
AUSTRALIA |
12-14 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
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17 |
16:54 |
SCOTLAND |
33-0 |
BRAZIL |
POOL C |
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18 |
17:16 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
27-0 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL C |
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19 |
17:38 |
SAMOA |
43-7 |
PORTUGAL |
POOL A |
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20 |
18:00 |
FIJI |
24-19 |
KENYA |
POOL A |
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21 |
18:22 |
FRANCE |
12-14 |
ENGLAND |
POOL D |
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22 |
18:44 |
USA |
5-17 |
NEW ZEALAND |
POOL D |
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23 |
19:06 |
AUSTRALIA |
49-14 |
WALES |
POOL B |
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24 |
19:28 |
RUSSIA |
12-29 |
CANADA |
POOL B |
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SUNDAY 13th MARCH 2016 |
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25 |
09:40 |
KENYA |
21-24 |
FRANCE |
BOWL QF |
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26 |
10:02 |
ARGENTINA |
19-0 |
RUSSIA |
BOWL QF |
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27 |
10:24 |
ENGLAND |
31-0 |
PORTUGAL |
BOWL QF |
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28 |
10:46 |
CANADA |
19-0 |
BRAZIL |
BOWL QF |
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29 |
11:08 |
FIJI |
31-26 |
USA |
CUP QF |
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30 |
11:30 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
31-0 |
WALES |
CUP QF |
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31 |
11:52 |
NEW ZEALAND |
17-12 |
SAMOA |
CUP QF |
||
32 |
12:14 |
AUSTRALIA |
24-17 |
SCOTLAND |
CUP QF |
||
Shield Semi Final (33)
Kenya 7-24 Russia
Shield Semi Final (34)
Portugal 17-7 Brazil
Bowl Semi Final (35)
France 19-17 Argentina
Bowl Semi Final (36)
England 7-17 Canada
Plate Semi Final (37)
USA 38-12 Wales
Plate Semi Final (38)
Samoa 24-17 Scotland
Cup Semi Final (39)
Fiji 19-31 South Africa
Cup Semi Final (40)
New Zealand 28-19 Australia
SHIELD FINAL
Russia 17-10 Portugal
BOWL FINAL
France 17-19 CANADA
PLATE FINAL
USA 19-31 SAMOA
THIRD PLACE
Fiji 12-19 AUSTRALIA
CUP FINAL
South Africa 14-19 NEW ZEALAND
POOL A |
POOL B |
POOL C |
POOL D |
WORLD RUGBY has announced the pools for the sixth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Vancouver, Canada, to be played on 12-13 March, 2016.
The pools for the HSBC Canada Sevens were drawn ahead of the Cup final at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, with Fiji heading Pool A in Vancouver thanks to a 21-15 win over Australia.
Ben Ryan's series leading Fiji will face Kenya, Samoa and Portugal in Pool A, while Australia, runners-up for a second successive tournament, meet Wales, Russia and hosts Canada in Pool B.
"It's a great city, a great stadium," said Canada coach Liam Middleton. "There's really passionate supporters, they really get behind the game, yes Canada but rugby as well and I think it will be a really special tournament.
"We want to embrace the moment as hosts, but it's what we do on the field that is most important. We feel privileged as a team, as a rugby community, and I believe we will deliver an outstanding tournament."
South Africa, Argentina, Scotland and the invited team Brazil will compete in Pool C, while this week's hosts USA await New Zealand, France and England in what looks to be the toughest of the four pools.
