The perfect storm: Boks, England and Kiwis remain unbeaten on Day 1
New Zealand, South Africa and England blast past their rivals to seal 100% record in group stages
Dubai: England, South Africa and New Zealand reached the quarterfinals of the Emirates Airlines Dubai Rugby Sevens as the only sides with an all-win record as the group stages of the two-day tournament drew to a close at The Sevens last night.
IRB World Sevens Series defending champions South Africa remained unbeaten in Group A with crushing victories over Wales, hosts Arabian Gulf and Australia, while England thrashed Group C rivals Russia, Kenya and the United States. The Kiwis were all-conquering in Group D, where they had Argentina, France and Portugal for company.
The match for Group B supremacy between islanders Fiji and Samoa ended as a draw after the scores were locked at 12-12. Samoa, though, finished top in the group, courtesy a superior points difference from the Fijians.
South Africa, who are also the defending champions in Dubai, seem to be carrying the most momentum after their superb 29-0 demolition of Australia.
Ryno Benjamin scored two tries in the space of three minutes and skipper Paul Delport added a third as South Africa led Australia 19-0 going into the break. The story remained much the same after the breather as the Boks deprived the Aussies of possession. Mzwandile Stick bundled home two tries in the second half to round off the scoring for the Series champions, who will now face Fiji in the quarterfinals.
"It was absolutely fantastic," said Delport.
"The game is progressing and developing well and that has led to such high quality matches in the tournament." Meanwhile, Ben Gollings, Mat Turner and Jake Abbott scored one try each and Nick Royle touched down twice as England came from behind twice to beat Kenya 27-10. Try-scoring machine Collins Injera scored two tries for the Kenyans, who looked sharp but lost their shape as the match progressed.
The Kiwis were superb in their final match against Argentina and though the Pumas looked threatening, DJ Forbes held his team together for a well-deserved 38-10 success.
Forbes praised his men for recovering after Argentina scored twice in two minutes to take a 10-5 lead. Sherwin Stowers scored four tries for the Kiwis and Kurt Baker and Ben Souness touched down once in the spectacular win. New Zealand take on Kenya in the quarters while England face Argentina and Samoa meet Australia.
