A late surge saw New Zealand triumph over South Africa 19-7 in the headline match on the opening day of the IRB Sevens World Series yesterday, but it was Fiji who loomed as the tournament threat.
New Zealand, the series leaders, and South Africa, the defending champions, were locked at 7-7 with less than two minutes to play and with both aware the loser would face Fiji in the quarter-finals.
South Africa had made all the play in the second half and spent most of the time inside the New Zealand 22, before cracking as the pressure mounted.
PHOTO: REUTERS
New Zealand’s first foray into South African territory in the second spell ended with Zar Lawrence touching down and Kurt Baker followed immediately after play resumed to seal the outcome.
Earlier in Pool A, New Zealand had beaten Wales 29-5 and Niue 49-5 and will now play Australia in the quarter-finals.
South Africa registered wins of 38-10 over Niue and 38-5 against Wales before falling to New Zealand, leaving them destined to face Fiji in the play-off rounds.
The Fijians were rampant in Pool B, rounding off their day by whipping Australia 38-7.
Fiji chalked up an impressive 115 points on the day, adding to their victory over Australia with a 36-5 win over Scotland and beating Papua New Guinea 41-0.
On the other side of the draw, England beat Kenya 24-10 for the two teams to finish one-two in Pool C, while Canada provided the day’s biggest upset when they beat Argentina 26-7 to finish second behind Samoa in Pool D.
Samoa will play Kenya in the quarter-finals today, while England meet Canada.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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