The New Zealand men’s sevens team have scraped through to the quarter-finals of the South Africa World Series in Cape Town despite losing two pool matches including a shock defeat to Canada.
The All Blacks Sevens lost 19-7 to Canada first up on Saturday night (NZT) – their first loss to Canada since 2017 - before a stunning turnaround in beating Australia 35-5. That victory was followed by a 21-14 loss to Samoa.
A new series rule which allows for the second-best third-placed side in the three-pool format to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals saved New Zealand, who scored a bonus point in their defeat to Samoa thanks to Scott Curry’s late try and Tepaea Cook-Savage’s conversion.
That put New Zealand on four competition points, with Great Britain, who finished on three, missing out.
New Zealand will play Ireland in their quarter-final tonight at 9.56pm NZT. Ireland beat South Africa 14-12 in their pool match.
The Kiwis are third in the series after last weekend’s opener in Dubai. South Africa are first and Australia second.
The Black Ferns Sevens had a more straightforward route to the knockout phase – beating Great Britain 37-5, Brazil 22-12 and Ireland 33-7.
They will play Canada in their quarter-final at 9.06pm tonight.
The New Zealand women are second overall in the series after losing to Australia in last weekend’s Cup final.
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