All Blacks Sevens end Blitzboks' incredible reign as Dubai champions
South Africa’s incredible reign as the Dubai Sevens men’s champions has come to an end following a 17-24 loss to New Zealand in a dramatic quarter-final. The All Blacks bounced back from two pool stage defeats to knock their fierce rivals out of the race for title glory on Sunday.
When it comes to the Dubai Sevens, no men’s team has tasted more success at the traditional season-opening event than South Africa. The Blitzboks have been crowned champions in seven of the last eight tournaments, including a run of five on the bounce dating back to 2019.
South Africa have finished in the top four 17 times and have gone on to qualify for the Cup Final on 12 of those occasions. But the Blitzboks’ record in Dubai’s big sevens dance speaks for itself with the South Africans winning it 11 times, while New Zealand have the next-best record.
With Spain awaiting the victor in the Dubai semi-finals, South Africa looked to progress through to the final four when they came up against traditional foe New Zealand. This was the first meeting between the sides since their tense quarter-final at the Paris Olympic Games.
South Africa won two of their three pool matches on the opening day of the new HSBC SVNS Series season, while New Zealand suffered two defeats which included a shock loss to Spain. But they both did enough to move on to the next stage of the event in the Dubai desert.
It was a nervy start to the quarter-final as both teams traded blows in the first four minutes without knocking their opponent down by way of points. But Quewin Nortje, who last season was nominated for the SVNS Rookie of the Year award, broke the deadlock.
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black hit back for the All Blacks Sevens a couple of minutes later, with the scores locked at seven-all at the break. Nortje and McGarvey-Black both completed doubles before Donavan Don gave the Blitzboks the lead with two minutes left.
South Africa were in the box seat, but only for a moment, with New Zealand’s Sofai Maka racing away for the go-ahead try with one minute left to play. That was Maka’s first try on the SVNS Series, and the New Zealander would have a second before the match was done.
Maka somersaulted over the try line with time up on the clock as the All Blacks Sevens booked their spot in the next stage, and sent the Blitzboks packing from title contention. McGarey-Black was visibly tired after full-time but still stopped to talk about that thrilling contest.
“We had a tough conversation yesterday, last night, after going down to Spain and then going down to Fiji,” McGarvey-Black said on the RugbyPass TV broadcast.
“Mentally we’ve just been talking about tough men and to be down two games and then come back to beat the reigning champs, can’t get a better feeling.
“We had to get one over them as well because they pipped us at the Olympics… it feels good.”
Spain were the first men’s side to book their spot in the semi-finals after leaving it late in an all-time classic clash with Great Britain. Captain Pol Pla was the hero on both sides of the ball for Espana during a tense first-half which was also locked at seven-all at the break.
With GB ahead 14-12, they had a chance to all but wrap up the quarter-final after being awarded a lineout with about 30 seconds, but a mistake gifted Spain the ball with the try line within sight. As they’ve shown time and time again this weekend, they’re good enough to strike.
Anton Legorburu Anso ended up crashing over in the corner in the 15th minute, with Spanish swarming the try-scorer as they began to celebrate that historic achievement. They had qualified for their second-ever men’s semi-final, with their first coming in LA last season.
On the other side of the draw, Viwa Naduvalo was the hero for Fiji as they knocked defending SVNS Series champions France out of the title race 19-17. With time up on the clock, Naduvalo flew down the left wing to score the match-winning try.
France had taken the lead in the 14th minute through Victor Hannoun, but the conversion that followed was slightly too quick which allowed time for the restart. That’s all the opportunity Fiji needed after fielding the kick-off to steal the win.
Fiji will take on last season’s League Winners, Argentina, in the second semi-final following their nail-biting 22-20 win over Australia. Henry Paterson scored a hat-trick for the Aussies but Los Pumas Sevens did enough to take the win.
Australia missed a conversion with less than 30 seconds left to play. If that attempt had been successful, this quarter-final could’ve gone to golden point, but it wasn’t to be in the end as Argentina march on.
Tobias Wade, Marcons Moneta, German Schultz, Luciano Gonzalez and former captain Santiago Alvarez all got on the scoreboard as the Argentinians moved one step closer to the Cup Final – looking to go one better this time after finishing second last season.
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