Fijian 7s finishes second in Los Angeles
Fiji Airways Fijian 7s finished in second place at the Los Angeles tournament after going down 29-24 in a mouth-watering final at the Dignity Health Stadium this morning.
The Fijian 7s displayed one of their best performances on the second day beating England 26-5 in the quarterfinal. They then went on to thump Australia 43-7 in the Cup semi-final.
In an exciting final against the South African’s, Fiji looked to have secured another title as the led 19-7 at half time.
Our national team extended the lead in the second spell with a try to Jerry Tuwai. South Africa bounced back in the final quarter of the game scoring two quick tries and levelling it 24-all. The game went into extra time and the Blitzbooke managed to hammer the winning try to seal the match.
After the Los Angeles tournament, the Fiji Airways Fijian 7s side now sits on third place on the 2019/2020 World Rugby Sevens World Series with 72 points, South Africa is in second position with 89 while New Zealand leads the pack with 93 points.
Napolioni Ratu has claimed the DHL Impact Player in Los Angeles finishing on top with 7 tackles, 6 breaks, 6 offloads and 17 carries.
Ratu together with Asaeli Tuivuaka and Sevuloni Mocenacagi have also been named in the HSBC Dream Team.
The Fiji Airways Fijian 7s have a week to reset and refocus before the Vancouver tournament on the 8th and 9th of March.
Fiji has been drawn in Pool B at Vancouver 7s with France, Canada and Wales.
South Africa leads Pool A together with England, Argentina and Japan. Series leaders New Zealand tops Pool C and will face Ireland, Spain and Kenya while Australia takes in-charge of Pool D with USA, Samoa and Scotland.
Fiji Airways Fijian 7s plays Wales at 7.37am (FJT) on Sunday, then meets Canada at 10.49am (FJT) and battles it out against France at 2.33pm (FJT).