Australia missed the chance to take the big scalp they were after and put an exclamation mark on a successful first day of the inaugural Sydney 7s by drawing 17-all with arch-rivals New Zealand.
Ahead 17-10 in the dying minutes and holding possession, the Thunderbolts appeared to have an upset in their keeping.
But a breakdown penalty and then a missed tackle out wide by Henry Speight saw Ardie Savea score under the posts in the last play of the match to deflate the Allianz Stadium home crowd.
There was a boilover in the making when playmaker James Stannard dived over just before halftime for a shock 17-5 lead.
But New Zealand, who came back from the dead to win their home tournament last week, are never out of the game and once again showed their mettle.
The Australians – beaten at the quarter-final stage at the three previous tournaments – play England on Sunday morning after the injury-hit English topped pool D thanks to a first-half howler by USA speedster Perry Baker.
Baker burnt the defence but embarrassingly stood on the dead-ball line before dotting down in the first half, changing the momentum of a game which the Americans eventually lost 17-14.
Defending world series champions Fiji established early tournament favouritism with the most impressive day one displays, thrashing Samoa 31-0 before smashing France 49-5.
They will play Kenya in the quarters after overcoming Argentina 19-14 in their final pool game, while the Kenyans fought bravely against South Africa, going down 26-19.
Shortnening the odds on the Flying Fijians is the fact that South Africa, to meet Argentina in the quarters, and England both suffered key injuries to be left with just three reserves on Sunday.
The pace-setting Blitzboks lost captain Philip Snyman (wrist) and Kwagga Smith (shoulder), while the English will be stretched without Dan Bibby (shoulder) and Warwick Lahmert (neck).
It took until the penultimate game, but there was one upset for the fans to enjoy with Portugal skinning Canada 26-17.
CUW
Guest
what do u mean? SBW is a prop in 7s. he is the replacement (sort of)for Scott Curry. that is one problem for him. in 7s its the props who jump at lineout and at kickoffs. he is still learning those things and hopefully getting better at it. SBW has a fight on his hands to go to RIO , IF (and a big if0 all the NZ 7s boys are fit. other props with more experience than sonny are Sam Dickson Dylan Collier Akira Ioane and Tim Mickleson (who played as hooker). when DJ Forbes returns from injury he will be the hooker and Tim the other prop.
CUW
Guest
20.5 Throwing the ball into the scrum No Delay. As soon as the front rows have come together, the scrum half must throw in the ball without delay. The scrum half must throw in the ball when told to do so by the referee. The scrum half must throw in the ball from the side of the scrum first chosen. whatever that means :D as for throwing into lineouts, the regular hooker for NZ legendary DJ FORBES is out injured. once he is back normal service will resume
Kane
Guest
There's nothing in the rule book that states you have to feed the ball from the left.
puff
Guest
What a difference a week makes, responsive home crowd, familiar surroundings and the input of the new coach in waiting. We deprived and denied the kiwi’s field location and the ball for most of the first half and struggled to find the same level of stamina in the second stanza. We experienced a big boast in self belief and although we may not win the chocolates today but if this momentum continues the possibilities are endless. The SA look all style and exhume confidence.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
With the Kiwis as well, notice that Sonny Bill is often propping the scrum. That being the case, it doesn't really matter which side it is fed on.
observer
Guest
Ben, re the wrong side to feed, there could be a possible advantage by allowing the halfback to run around the scrum and pass the ball in one motion in the same direction to his waiting players on whatever side of the field his players are lined out on. Like having the motion in the right direction which would allow a dive pass action, rather than having to turn around and pass if you follow my drift as there appears to be no protection for the halfback. Scrums are a mess anyway with how the ball comes out but perhaps that may be a reason for the wrong feed ...seems hard to believe Pulu would make such an error out of ignorance. Hmmmm.
ben
Guest
Remember the pre season nrl coca cola 7s? Even back then it was nothing like union 7s...they still died with the ball and played like 13 aside with 3_4 hit ups etc. I dont think they have mastered the concept yet. I guess union is a thinking mans game after all.
Taylorman
Guest
Yeah agree the Nines has enough in the field to get away with being a 13 like match. I don't think they use the space as well as Sevens even though there's obviously less, and they're all understandably still in 13's mode. Sevens play all year round and have been at if for 30 years as a sport. The games evolved into something much more specialist and has experimented over a long time how to best use the space. Nines? Once a year? Nah...the games not even been remotely explored yet in terms of its differences with 13 man.
ben
Guest
Observer..yes i noticed the scrum put ins on the wrong side too. Cant understand that but it doesnt seem to make any difference. ...and agreed the difference between the 7s and 9s. The ball is kept alive in 7s as opposed to 9s where they tend to die with it a lot. Would go so far as to say if the codes met then the 7s players would take it because of this. Suppose 7s is more specialist too and their aerobic fitness would be better as a result.
Observer
Guest
I don't fully understand the sevens game but I notice a few strange facets of play with the All Blacks sevens team. Did anyone else notice the halfback Pulu feeding the ball into the "scrum" in Wellington from the wrong side, the right hand tight head side instead of the left loosehead side?. Unless that is some rule I am not aware of. Also the reluctance of players to run around to be nearer the goal posts for the drop goal attempts at conversions. I reckon dropped goal conversions will be crucially important in the tight games at the Rio Olympics and the skill levels are woeful at this stage. Do I detect a slight arrogance here? Or a lack of awareness to go nearer the posts? Also the lineout throwing is rather poor but that had been a weakness of the All Blacks for a long time especially in the time of Anton Oliver and a few of his mates. They reckoned Anton cried when John Eales retired as he had no one to throw the ball to! Cruel joke. Whilst I prefer the 15 man a side game, I am impressed with the high speed and high work rates of the players. Tuned into the rugby league nines for a while and the differences in the games are stark, the league seemed to be slow, patterned and unimaginative in comparison. The Springbokkes and Fijians look promising and wouldn't it be wonderful to see Fiji win the gold medal in Rio!
Ash
Guest
Last week was a reffing debarkle.
Taylorman
Guest
Dunno Moaman but with that and the perceived reffing debacle last week the NZ team is going to get some flak here. Let the party begin! They should just take the points away, change the knockout draw and get on with it. Kiwis will be in for some extra crowd treatment today, especially from Clarkeys army. But they need to sort the subbing out. They can't do it through the same gate as often a player has to run 60 or so meters after scoring in the corner before going off and that's too much time. But either you replace someone who's off - the focus being 'off' or not. Happened all the time in touch when I was playing though.
moaman
Roar Guru
Hey Taylorman--a minor point but the "arch-rival" tag caught my eye----you wouldn't really think we would be 'arch-rivals' in 7s,would you? 8 players?!? What happened there?
Taylorman
Guest
Well it could be that NZ won due to having eight players on at the death. The result might and should be changed though I'm not sure playing USA or England makes a lot of difference. They'd better sort that out. You wouldn't want to win the Gold medal then have a 'hold on...'!
DaniE
Roar Guru
NZ power runners made a difference in that pool match today - a couple of the oz players put the burners on a few times but they're nowhere near as devastating as the kiwis. In fact they just lack players of the ilk of A. Ioane, Pulu and of the other teams, dudes like Isles and Baker and the Portuguese players Fernandes and Esteves - what runners! Holland was probably our standout today. Can't wait for tomorrow with the finals matches.
Taylorman
Guest
Good effort from Oz and it really does show the advantage of a home series. NZs insistence on superior fitness continues to get them out of trouble spots winning many matches in the red zone time wise. SA are still the best team for me as they score much more freely than any other side- my pick for this leg. I do see Oz in the semi with the crowd lifting them again fresh up tomorrow against England. Similar teams but this time I think oz just might have the edge.