Olympic Men’s Sevens – finals

All the results from the Games in Tokyo

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Olympic Men’s Sevens – finals

There we have it. Fiji win a gold medal at the Olympic Men’s Sevens for the second time in their history, powering away from New Zealand in the second half of the showcase final.

Explosive work from Jiuta Wainiqolo and Aminiasi Tuimamba broke open the Kiwis, who just would not go away until the closing exchanges. Captain Scott Curry put in a bruising effort for the silver medal-winners, with Sione Molia full of running. However loose balls from him, and Andrew Knewstubb in the first half, meant that Fiji could stretch ahead at a time when they may have been vulnerable. That’s sevens – things can spin on their head, and no one spins like the Fijians.

Earlier, Argentina won the bronze medal after edging out Team GB men 17-12.

As match commentator Rob Vickerman said: “Argentina have captured the hearts of rugby fans and sports fans all over and a bronze medal is just reward for that.

“The anguish on the GB players is palpable. Sport in its beauty and its devastation in equal measure.”

So we know who have the medals in the men’s competition. It’s time to look forward to the women’s competition which starts on Thursday.

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Semi-finals

Sevens fans, your gold medal match in the men’s sevens at the Olympics will be contested between New Zealand and Fiji.

Team GB will compete for the bronze medal against Argentina, around 9.30am (UK time), and then it’s the big one, as Fiji and NZ go for gold around 10am. It will be enthralling – what’s that saying about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object? Well, both these teams are flying around but they are also both in the zone.

New Zealand got off to a great start against GB in their semi, scoring through Scott Curry after minutes of possession. And while the try-machine Dan Norton did what he does best in flying from his own half to score and square things up, the slick-looking Kiwis put on a tactical masterclass. The absence of wounded captain Tom Mitchell showed and that score was all GB could muster, losing 29-7.

Captain Curry got a double, as did Regan Ware, and Dylan Collier helped himself to a try too – him, Tone Ng Shu and Dylan Collier pounded and probed all match and GB’s defence ended up tied up all over.

In the other semi, the Argentinian emotion locomotive was derailed by an unsympathetic Fiji. Four tries for the Flying Fijians was enough to see off the South Americans, but the Pumas were swinging for the fences in the first half. Fiji a 12-0 lead through  Sireli Maqala and Meli Derenalagi tries, but as the half drew to a close Marcos Moneta and Ignacio Mendy scored to make it 14-12 at the half.

But in the second, Jiuta Wainiqolo scored a lung-bursting try and then Semi Radradra got in on the act. They now have the chance to win a second gold medal.

Argentina will contest for a bronze medal against GB.

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Quarter-finals

Well, that was an emotional roller-coaster.

It all began with New Zealand putting on a clinical display in the first ten minutes of their match with Canada, to book a place in the semis, 21-10. They got sloppier as the game dragged on, but they are travelling firmly in the right direction.

And then things went off the rails (in a good way).

First up was GB versus USA. And the Americans ran riot in the first half, leading 21-7 at the break. They commanded the restarts and created space at will at times. Danny Barrett scores by tearing through the middle untouched, and Perry Baker was at the double out wide. And GB skipper Tom Mitchell limping off didn’t bode well…

But in the second half the GB team came roaring back. Ben Harris and Alex Davies scored vital tries while Dan Bibby pulled the strings, and the belief grew. When they powered back to 21-all it was all to play for.

The performance of Kiwi referee James Doleman will come under intense scrutiny after decision went against the Americans with regularity and two big decisions – a ‘deliberate knock-on’ call and one of a penalty to GB when it looked like Harry Glover had gone off his feet – may dictate chat of the game. But the comeback was sensational – GB won 26-21, with the blistering Dan Norton scoring the eventual winner. It was breathless stuff.

And then the punch came, right in the feels. All thanks to Argentina.

Selvyn Davids opened the scoring, but it wasn’t until talismanic veteran Gaston Revol was red-carded for blocking the run and taking that same man out high, that the Pumas reacted. They were super-charge. Marcos Moneta scored two brilliant individual tries, one showcasing blistering pace, the other demonstrating a fine chip ahead that wrong-footed the defence.

They gave away a penalty try late on which meant they were down to five defenders, but a supreme kick-off take ensured that they clung on for a chest-thumping 19-14 win. Wow.

By the time the final match, Fiji-Australia rolled around, it was hard to maintain that electricity. In a cagey open, Fiji eked out a lead, but there were errors aplenty and only a Jerry Tuwai try and Napolioni Bolaca conversion to set the teams apart. It was more about Fijian defence than flair.

With just a few minutes to go, that little wizard Tuwai had his second, spinning out of contact and going round under the posts. With another score coming from Aminiasi Tuimaba, it was all over 19-0. Ominously comfortable for Fiji…

So we know what the semis will be:

New Zealand – GB

Argentina – Fiji

Bring on tomorrow. This was a hell of a session!

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session Three

We now know who the quarter-finalists are and there were some heartbreakingly small margins. But let’s begin with the form sides. Three teams are unbeaten now, heading into the quarters – and they’ve all had slightly different ways of setting up their next matches.

Firstly, reigning Olympic champions Fiji men were made to scrap for their two wins all of yesterday, but in their final pool match with GB (who also hadn’t lost – or conceded a try yet!) they rediscovered their irresistible best. And GB had played some superb evasive, offloading, fast-paced sevens, but here they met the masters. It finished 33-7 to the Fijians, who scored five tries on the way to the win, with a double for Asaeli Tuivuaka.

Those Kiwis are also rolling. Three wins from three for them, but they were made to really work for it against their Tasman rivals, Australia. The Aussies were leading 12-0 at the break, but New Zealand came back with vital scores from Dylan Collier and Andrew Knewstubb – the latter’s two on-the-money conversions the difference. Both go through to the quarters.

The Blitzboks too, are through unbeaten.

The South Africans put on a clinic of hold-your-nerve sevens. It was all square at HT against the USA, 5-5, but in drizzling conditions, the Boks pressed for errors and smothered the US. They won, 17-12.

It was heartbreak for Ireland, who needed to win by more than seven points to progress. Their opponents, Kenya, needed to win. Canada, who defeated Japan 36-12 in their last pool game, watched on hoping they could squeeze through – they needed Ireland to win by seven points or fewer.

The match ended Ireland 12-7 Kenya, after a late Vincent Onyala consolation score. Both sides are out of medal contention and thankful Canada are into the quarters by the narrowest of margins.

And there was one final blowout, as Argentina hammered South Korea 56-0 to book their spot.

So we know know who are into the hunt for medals. The quarter-finals are:

New Zealand – Canada
GB – USA
South Africa – Argentina
Fiji – Australia

Who have you got going through to the semis? Let us know on social media!

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session Two

It’s two wins from two for Team GB men, but not only have they scored 58 points in their opening two games against Canada and hosts Japan, but they haven’t conceded a single point yet either.

Harry Glover was to the fore in GB’s 34-0 win in round two, putting on a super offloading display. Next up for them is Fiji tomorrow – the team who beat them to gold in Rio back in 2016.

The Flying Fijians also have two wins from two, though they haven’t had everything their own way. They beat Canada 28-14 in their second match, laying on four tries.

New Zealand won their second match too, beating Argentina 35-14 – and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black is currently the top points scorer in these games, with 18 (two tries, four conversions). Next up for the Kiwis is Australia tomorrow. The Aussies bounced back to beat South Korea 42-5. 

Meanwhile, USA have a second win after seeing off Ireland 19-17 – managing to cling on after racing to a 12-0 lead.

Finally, the Blitzboks managed to stave off Kenya, after taking a 14-0 lead in the first half, doing enough in the second to hold onto a 14-5 win.

The ties to look out form tomorrow between the undefeated sides are:
GB v Fiji
South Africa v USA

New Zealand are also undefeated, and they face Australia who have one win to their names.

The third sessions begins at 1am UK and Ireland time.

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session One

We are only one session into the Olympic Men’s Sevens and we have our first big statement of intent of the Games. And no, we’re not talking about the incredible remote control car that delivered the match ball by propelling it over some tiny rugby posts!

The performance of the first session goes to Argentina, who defeated Australia 29-19. The South Americans showed they are up for improving on their fine displays at Rio 2016, putting in a five-try display against the Aussies (and holding on after being 24-0 up). That man we highlighted before the Games kicked off, Matías Osadczuk, was amongst the scorers – as was Samu Kerevi for the Australians. 

Related: Olympics Rugby Men’s Team Guide

In the opening tie of the sessions, defending Olympic champions Fiji were made to fight right to the end by Japan. The tournament hosts led 14-12 at half-time and even pushed out to 19-12, with two scores from Waisea Nacuqu needed to see the bookies’ favourites through.

There was also strong strong start from Team GB men, who defeated Canada 24-0 in their Pool B lash. And the try-machine that is Dan Norton was at it again, dotting down twice. They will face Japan later on in the day, in session two.

New Zealand also routed South Korea 50-5, the Blitzboks of South Africa defeated Ireland 33-14 and the United States of America overcame Kenya, 19-14. They needed some timely errors from the Kenyans and their captain Madison Hughes to score a late winner. Speedster Carlin Isles was also in on the scoring act.

Keep your eyes on rugbyworld.com as we will keep you updated on all the results as the Olympic Games progress through the sessions and into the medal matches.

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