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PARIS 7s 2016
AT the end of a thrilling weekend of upsets at an electric Stade Jean Bouin, Samoa came back from 26-7 down against Fiji to win an incredible final 29-26 and claim the HSBC Paris Sevens.
AT the end of a thrilling weekend of upsets at an electric Stade Jean Bouin, Samoa came back from 26-7 down against Fiji to win an incredible final 29-26 and claim the HSBC Paris Sevens.
It was Samoa's first Cup win since Dubai in 2012 and gives them some serious momentum heading into the Olympic repechage qualifier in Monaco on 18-19 June.
Fiji dominated the opening 10 minutes at a jam-packed Stade Jean Bouin, with tries from Isake Katonibau, Leone Nakarawa and Jerry Tuwai putting Ben Ryan's side 21-0 up with half-time looming close. Belgium Tuatagaloa clawed one back for Samoa, before Tuwai added another, making it 26-7 at half-time.
However after a rousing team talk from head coach Damian McGrath, Samoa began to fight back in the second half, with two tries from Mealoi closing the gap to 26-17 with just over four minutes remaining. Siaosi Asofolau kept the momentum going for Samoa and in the dying seconds captain Faalemiga Selesele finished off the match to give Samoa am historic win.
"It's a huge surprise, especially after Fiji were so strong against us yesterday. We wanted to get some pride back and we did that," said McGrath. "At half-time I said if we get the first score we can get back into this. Self belief is a huge thing, and they believed in themselves."
Despite the loss, Fiji have taken a huge step closer to securing the 2015-16 series title, leading the standings by 14 points ahead of South Africa with just one round left in London next weekend.
Hosts France gave the crowds plenty to cheer about across the three days, winning the third place play-off against Argentina, 26-17. Two tries from Virimi Vakatawa, who was named in the Dream Team for Paris, combined with scores from Julien Candelon and Jean Baptiste Mazoue was too much for a spirited Argentina side who looked dangerous all weekend.
SOUTH AFRICA BEAT AUSTRALIA TO WIN PLATE IN PARIS
Despite a disappointing Cup quarter-final loss to Samoa earlier in the day, Neil Powell's side produced a solid showing against Australia to win 17-7 in the Plate final in Paris. Dylan Sage put the Blitzbokke ahead early on after some nice link up play with Seabelo Senatla led to an opening try. Boyd Killingworth replied immediately for Australia after latching onto a James Stannard clearance, but South Africa maintained the pressure when Kyle Brown blasted through an attempted tackle from Stannard to put his side up 12-7 at half time. The only try of the second half came from speedster Rosko Specman who broke from his own half to race down the right hand touchline and score under the posts, securing his side the win.
SCOTLAND SECURE SECOND BOWL ON THE BOUNCE
Scotland produced a strong team performance against England to win 28-10 and walk away from Paris with their third Bowl of the series. James Johnstone, Scott Wight and Damien Hoyland scored in quick succession to leave a shell shocked England side 21-0 down with half-time approaching. Richard de Carpentier scored England's only try of the first half and it wasn't long into the second half until Jamie Farndale increased Scotland's lead to 28-5. After some heated encounters between a few of the players, Charlie Hayter managed to get into this stride down the right wing and score England's second try of the match before the final whistle.
PORTUGAL WIN FIRST SILVERWARE OF SERIES
Portugal won their first Shield of the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with a 24-19 win over Wales. It was a second consecutive loss for Wales in a Shield final after being overpowered by Russia in Singapore. Despite Portugal's strong start in Paris with tries from Nuno Guedes and Pedro Leal, Wales' Lloyd Lewis was able to claw one score back before half-time. Ethan Davies touched down early on in the second half to make it 14-14, but the try was cancelled out by Duarte Moreira who hit back quickly for Portugal. Luke Morgan went over the whitewash for Wales, making it 19-19 with one minute to go, but Moreira had the final word as he scooted over to make it 24-19.
FRANCE booked their place in the Cup quarter-finals on home soil after 24-12 and 26-14 victories over the USA and Argentina respectively on day two of the HSBC Paris Sevens.
Captain Terry Bouhraoua and Stephen Parez scored in both matches as the hosts picked up where they left off on day one to the delight of the home crowd, and set up a quarter-final with Singapore champions Kenya at Stade Jean Bouin on day three.
POOL A
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL B
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL C
1 
2 
3 
4 
POOL D
1 
2 
3 
4 
Les Bleus' match with the USA was a rematch of the rugby final at the Olympic Games in Paris, a match won by the USA the last time rugby was in the Games, with rugby returning to the Games after a 92-year absence later this year in Rio.
"Apart of the last three minutes of the match against Argentina, the overall content of the first two days is good for us," said France head coach Frederic Pomarel. "We are satisfied, except for those three minutes, but that's not too bad because it gives a little hit on everyone's bottom for tomorrow."
"There was a lot of concentration and application from the players, and we now must stay focused on our goal which is playing six matches in the tournament. I knew the team was able to do what they did, I also know that for the first time in the season I've got the full team on the field.
"We want to keep the continuity now and whether we win or not, I want them to put the same commitment and the same seriousness until the end."
Kenya finished runners-up to New Zealand in Pool A, with Sir Gordon Tietjens' side beating the Africans 19-17 despite trailing 17-7. Tries from Rieko Ioane and Gillies Kaka, with the latter scoring the match-winning try from a quickly taken tap penalty with the clock in the red, helped the All Blacks Sevens to victory and they will face Argentina in the first quarter-final.
Two tries from Waisea Nayacalevu helped Fiji to a 42-5 win over Samoa in the Pool D decider after Josua Tuisova scored his fifth try of the tournament, the Toulon star bumping off Ed Fidow, no mean feat in itself, before running through another tackle to get the series leaders off to a flyer. Earlier they beat Wales 33-14 with Tuisova scoring two tries and they will face Australia in the last eight.
Having scored four tries in South Africa's win over England on day one, Seabelo Senatla scored two, including his 150th career try, in their win over Brazil before adding his seventh and eighth of the tournament in the Blitzboks' 31-0 defeat of Australia. Rosko Specman also scored twice in the win, a result that means they missed the possibility of meeting Fiji in the quarter-finals and instead play Samoa.
FRANCE got off to a winning start on home soil as they beat Canada on the opening day of the HSBC Paris Sevens, round nine of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Two tries from the returning captain Terry Bouhraoua and an inspired Virimi Vakatawa performance helped them to a 42-5 win over Liam Middleton's side to the delight of the home crowd at Stade Jean Bouin.
"I was a little anxious to start with but in the first seconds of the game I could feel it was going well," said France coach Frederic Pomarel. "Now it's important for us to regenerate before tomorrow.
"It's never easy to play at home, but the audience is fantastic and the players can feel it. It was a great atmosphere for the tournament and it boosts all the teams."
The series reigning champions Fiji also got off to a winning start in Paris, beating Scotland 38-12, as they chase a second successive series title and top seeding heading into the Olympic Games.
Ben Ryan named several French based players in his squad for Paris and Josua Tuisova and Samisoni Viriviri both scored twice in the victory, the former scoring his first two career tries and the latter returning to score his 99th and 100th.
"I was nervous on the bench beforehand, Scotland are a great side, but I am happy we got this out the way and can concentrated on tomorrow now," said Ryan.
"We have a great side, a few players in the wider squad and some up our sleeve too, but our new boys made an instant impact which was great. The benefit with these guys is they have played sevens before so that helps and it's just honing some of their skills and fitness over the next couple of months now."
Second-placed South Africa kept the pressure on Fiji with a 24-5 win over England, Seabelo Senatla scoring four tries in the match taking his season tally to 58, leaving him one short of 150 career tries, in the penultimate match of the day before Australia beat Brazil 38-0.
Elsewhere Singapore champions Kenya came from 14-0 behind to beat Portugal 29-14, with Collins Injera scoring his 226th and 227th career tries leaving him just three short of Santiago Gomez Cora's all-time record.
Lewis Ormond scored twice for New Zealand, who also came from behind to beat Russia 35-10, Samoa Toloa scored a hat-trick in Samoa's 52-10 win over Wales and Matias Moroni was one of five try scorers as Argentina beat the USA 36-0 - their best performance against the Americans since 2002 in Santiago.
Returning to Paris for the first time since 2006, the first eight matches set a high standard for the remaining two days of action at Stade Jean Bouin.
Philippe Bourdarias, General Manager Competitions at World Rugby, said: "We are delighted for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series to come back to France.
"We are very excited about it after some high level sevens action on day one and we are confident it will be a success. This is the penultimate event of what has been an incredible series and we can feel the excitement growing for the climax in London, and of course the Olympics."
Shield Semi Final (33)
Canada 12-17 Wales
Shield Semi Final (34)
Portugal 24-5 Brazil
Bowl Semi Final (35)
Russia 7-19 England
Bowl Semi Final (36)
USA 12-14 Scotland
Plate Semi Final (37)
New Zealand 19-29 South Africa
Plate Semi Final (38)
Kenya 7-26 Australia
Cup Semi Final (39)
Argentina 12-14 Samoa
Cup Semi Final (40)
France 5-22 Fiji
SHIELD FINAL
Wales 19 - 24 PORTUGAL
BOWL FINAL
England 10 - 28 SCOTLAND
PLATE FINAL
SOUTH AFRICA 17 - 7 Australia
THIRD PLACE
Argentina 17 - 26 FRANCE
CUP FINAL
SAMOA 29 - 26 Fiji
POOL A |
POOL B |
POOL C |
POOL D |
WORLD RUGBY has announced the pools for the ninth and penultimate round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Paris, to be played on 13-15 May, 2016.
The pools for the HSBC Paris Sevens were drawn ahead of the Cup final at the National Stadium in Singapore, with Kenya heading Pool A tanks to an impressive 30-7 win over Fiji.
Kenya will face New Zealand, Portugal and Russia in Pool A, while Ben Ryan's series leading Fiji, runners-up in Singapore, meet Samoa, Scotland and Wales in Pool B.
South Africa, Australia, England and the invited team Brazil will compete in Pool C, while Argentina await hosts France, USA and Canada.
THE series finale of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is upon us, with the first instalment of the European double-header taking place in Paris this weekend.
With less than two days until Stade Jean Bouin hosts round nine of the series, the 16 captains joined together to launch the tournament, returning to Paris for the first time since 2006, in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower.
Fiji lead the series by eight points as they look to defend the series title they won in London last year. South Africa are their closest challengers, with Neil Powell's side aiming to win a first series title since 2009.
"It is a great place to be (Paris), and looking ahead to the weekend we just need to make sure we stick to the basics and our processes," said Blitzboks captain Philip Snyman.
"We know Fiji are in front, but we will try our best. We have some short-term and long-term goals but for now we are focused on England, and if we do well who knows maybe we can catch them.
"We have worked on a few things after Singapore, but we want to focus on the positives and if we do that the results will look after themselves. We know Rio is coming but we are only concentrating on Paris right now. If we do well against England hopefully we can take that momentum through the tournament and on to the Olympics."
The HSBC Paris Sevens takes place on 13-15 May at Stade Jean Bouin, with rugby sevens less than 100 days away from making its debut in the Olympics. The last time rugby was in the Games was 1924, 92 years ago in Paris, and many of the players are feeling the excitement of Rio.
"We are very excited to be in Paris," said Argentina captain Gaston Revol. "But we know Rio is coming so these last two tournaments are part of our preparation and we will use these to help us on our jounrey to the Olympics.
"Santiago Cordero and Tute Moroni are back with us, they are very important for us. They were with the team some years ago and we know they are really good players. They are going to help us have a great weekend in Paris, and in London, and hopefully Rio so we are happy to have them with us."
THE squads for round nine of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series have been announced on the eve of the HSBC Paris Sevens.
With many eyes on the Olympic Games in August, there are several changes among the core sides and some familiar names returning to the sevens fold.
Series leaders Fiji have made four changes from their Singapore team, with Samisoni Viriviri, Waisea Nayacalevu, Josua Tuisova and Leone Nakarawa all returning to rugby sevens for the three-day event at Stade Jean Bouin.
Coach Ben Ryan will be hoping Viriviri, a former sevens player of the year, Rugby World Cup 2015 stars Nayacalevu and Nakarawa, and Tuisova, who has scored eight tries for Toulon in this season's Top 14, will boost his side's chances of retaining the series title as well as provide further options for Fiji's road to Rio.
Elsewhere Santiago Cordero and Matias Moroni have been selected by Santiago Gomez Cora, with both players having played four and 11 previous tournaments respectively before being called up to the Los Pumas side to compete at last year's Rugby World Cup.
For South Africa, Rosko Specman and Francois Hougaard return to Neil Powell's squad, while there was a late injury replacement this week with Stephen Dippenaar coming in for Justin Geduld.
Having missed the Singapore Sevens Nick Cummins, Ed Jenkins and Cameron Clark come back into the Australia squad in three of five changes alongside 19-year-old Henry Hutchinson, who missed both the Asian rounds, and Jesse Parahi, who makes his first appearance this season having returned from a brief stint in NRL.
Singapore champions Kenya make just two changes, while hosts France have Terry Bouhraoua and Steeve Barry back in their 12-man squad and Kurt Baker will captain the All Blacks Sevens in the absence of Tim Mikkelson, DJ Forbes and Liam Messam. Rieko and Akira Ioane also return to the series after last appearing in the HSBC Sydney Sevens where they helped the All Blacks Sevens win back to back tournaments.
