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Crowd favourites England stage Great Escape
(IRB.COM) Friday 3 December 2010
England will now play Australia in the Cup quarter finals after a dramatic victory over Fiji on day one of the Dubai Sevens
England staged a great escape on day one at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, recovering from a loss against Portugal to beat Fiji and join the top seeds in the Cup quarter finals of the first event in this season's HSBC Sevens World Series.
Fiji still top the pool with the English going through in second place, and the United States booked a first ever place in the Dubai quarter finals.
"The amount of people who found it very good news that England were about to go into the Bowl was a real motivation. So out we come in our bright orange shirts and we proved a point that we weren't dead and buried, and that hopefully this side will prove that there is a bit more to them and we have got more in us," said England coach, Ben Ryan.
New Zealand and Australia were the day's only two unbeaten sides to top their respective pools each blooding six new players.
"I played all the young boys in that game [against Argentina] because we had won our pool and I had to see where they were at. I had to try them out and I think Declan O'Donnell is going pretty well, and Bryce Heen. The big boys out there, they will come good I am pretty sure they will," said New Zealand coach, Gordon Tietjens.
Australia head coach Michael O'Connor added: "He [John Grant] is new on the scene and obviously a big boy, he carries the ball well and he has good wheels. He is still learning the game though and I think he is a really good prospect."
Reigning World Series champions Samoa survived an early scare to come from behind and draw with Wales, and then beat Kenya to proceed to the last eight with the impressive Welsh.
Cup quarter finals:
Samoa v USA
Fiji v South Africa
Australia v England
New Zealand v Wales
Earlier the first major upset was caused by Zimbabwe, as they beat core side Argentina 24-14. Portugal then beat England but were cruelly denied a place in the Cup quarter finals when England denied Fiji.
Bowl quarter finals:
Kenya v Argentina
Portugal v Russia
Scotland v France
Zimbabwe v Arabian Gulf
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Pool A - SAM, WAL, KEN, AGU
Reigning World Series champions Samoa began the defence of their title with a 21-21 draw with Wales and victories over hosts Arabian Gulf and Kenya. The current Rugby World Cup Sevens champions, Wales, followed their impressive performance against Samoa with a 17-12 victory over Kenya thanks to Ifan Evans' second and third tries of the tournament. They secured their place in tomorrow's Cup quarter final and remained unbeaten after beating Arabian Gulf 47-5.
Samoa's Alafoti Fa'osiliva and Kenya captain Humphrey Kayange earlier scored hat-tricks against the hosts, as the Arabian Gulf also suffered a 31-19 defeat at the hands of Kenya.
Pool B - NZL, ARG, USA, ZIM
The defending Dubai champions New Zealand won all three of their pool matches on day one, with Toby Arnole scoring five tries in their 31-7 and 59-0 victories over USA and Zimbabwe.
Having recently scooped a fourth successive Commonwealth Games gold medal they started as favourites for this tournament and Gordon Tietjens' newloook squad went on to beat Argentina 24-19 with newcomer Bryce Heem scoring twice.
Earlier, Zimbabwe caused the first major upset of day one, beating Argentina 24-14 with tries from Njabula Ndlovu, Tangai Nemadire and two from Mbanje giving head coach Liam Middleton a perfect start before their match with New Zealand before their 28-12 loss to USA.
Al Caravelli's side booked their first ever Dubai Sevens Cup quarter final with that victory after they had earier beaten their South American neighbours 24-19 with the impressive Zach Test scoring two.
NEW! Dubai Sevens Play of the Day
Pool C- AUS, RSA, SCO, RUS
Australia ended day one with a 100% record, after beating South Africa 19-14 in the final match of day one at 7he Sevens.
The third-placed team in last year's World Series standings got off to a flying start against Scotland, scoring seven tries in their 41-14 win. Big John Grant scored twice, whilst Andrew Skeen scored both of Scotland's two late tries. Michael O'Connor's side scored a further four tries in their second pool match, a 28-19 victory over Russia, including Grant's third of the tournament and two from Hamish Angus.
South Africa, whom Australia beat in the recent Commonwealth Games semi finals in Delhi, needed all their wits about them to grind out a 19-10 win over rugged Russia but could only draw 19-19 with Scotland.
Kyle Brown scored two tries in the first half, but Peter Horne scored at the death to level the scores. Andrew Skeen then missed the opportunity to beat Paul Treu's side as he hit the post with his conversion with the scores locked. Graham Shiel recorded his first Sevens victory as his side went on to beat Russia 26-10.
Pool D - FIJ, ENG, POR, FRA
Simon Hunt came off the bench to score a try after the hooter had gone to send the partisan crowd at 7he Sevens into raptures.
Locked at 21-21, England were heading to the Bowl competition for the first ever time in Dubai having lost to Portugal 14-12 earlier in the day, but Hunt crossed in the corner to spark wild celebrations.
Portugal had shocked the crowd in their second match of day one against England, the first time they have ever beaten their European opponents, thanks to two Frederico Oliveira tries and nerves of steel from Pedro Leal, who stepped up to kick the decisive conversion.
Fiji won their opening two matches of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series, beating Portugal 31-7 in the opening match of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, and France 35-5. Josefa Bole crossed for the first try of the tournament against Portugal, before Emosi Vucago scored his second of the tournament against France.
Earlier England trailed twice against France in the second match of the day but two tries either side of half-time from Dan Caprice and one each for Isoa Damu and Simon Hunt secured a 24-12 victory.
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