Photo: DON MACKINNON/AFP
Fiji has stormed their way into the men’s semifinals at the Vancouver Sevens, beating Australia 35-14 in their final pool B clash to secure their spot in the final four on Monday.
They will meet Spain at 9.55am New Zealand time on Monday, in semifinal two, while South Africa takes on Australia in the first one at 9.33am.
New Zealand missed the semifinal after they were beaten 17-12 by South Africa in the deciding pool game.
They will compete in the fifth-place play-off instead.
A win could have pushed the All Blacks Sevens into the top four along with South Africa, but that did not eventuate and they handed that spot to Spain instead.
Having lost 12-10 to Spain in their opening pool A clash, New Zealand sprung back to beat Great Britain 29-5 and needed to beat the Blitzboks to secure their semifinal spot.
Sunday’s pool match results meant Fiji will feature in their fifth semifinal of the 2026 series.
Having beaten France 26-21 in their opening pool game, the Fijians lost 17-14 to Argentina in their second pool match.
That threatened their consistent run in the 2026 series so far, where they have finished in the top four in Dubai, Cape Town, Singapore and Perth.
Their semifinal hopes hung on their performance against Australia, who had earlier defeated both Argentina 17-15 and France 19-7 in their first two pool games.
But the Fijians struck Australia hard and won 35-14 to win top spot in the pool.
Star player Viwa Naduvalo celebrated a milestone against France when he scored his 100th try.
Veteran Sevuloni Mocenacagi became Fiji’s most experienced sevens player, beating former captain Jerry Tuwai as having played the most tournaments for his country in the abbreviated code, with 65.
Naduvalo extended his lead at the top of the men’s try-scoring list on the opening day of the HSBC SVNS in Vancouver, taking his tally to 31 for the season, and sailing past 100 in total, in his 29th tournament.
The Pacific Islanders laid on the style as they made sure of their place in the semi-finals for the fifth tournament in a row with two wins from three in pool B.
Australia had earlier snapped defending champions Argentina’s 23-match winning run at the Vancouver tournament with a thrilling, hard-fought win in the opening match of the day.
Fiji’s head coach Osea Kolinisau said their aim for the tournament was just to take a game at a time and stick to their game plan.
“We focused on France first,” he said.
“We knew all the three pool opponents were going to be tough.
“The competition is tough and every team [is] scrapping for points.”
Speedster Naduvalo said after their first win that they just worked on their game plan and keeping the pressure on.
Against France in their opening game, George Bose started the scoring with a try in the opening minute before Naduvalo registered his for Fiji to lead 14-12 at the break, with France claiming tries through Antoine Zegdhar and Yerim Fall.
Tall timber Joseva Talacolo opened the scoring when the second spell started but the French came back to score through Nelson Epee.
However, Naduvalo sprinted to the try line to score his 101st try at the final hooter and sealed a thrilling win.
The Fijians kept the momentum going into their game against Argentina.
Naduvalo crossed for the opening try in the third minute, and converted his own try for the side to lead 7-0, before Argentina responded through Pedro De Haro.
Playmaker Terio Veilawa claimed a converted try but the Los Pumas, who have dominated the world series in the last three seasons, got the game home with tries to Santino Zangara and Luciano Gonzalez.
In their final pool match against Australia, the Fijians started well and kept the pressure on from the opening whistle.
Naduvalo crossed for the opening try just a minute into the match, and Veilawa was also on the scoreboard before Naduvalo claimed his second for the match.
Australia managed to stay in touch through Aden Ekanayake in the fifth minute and later through Henry Hutchison in the ninth minute, but Fiji’s attacking rhythm proved too strong.
New recruit Douglas Daveta, who debuted in Singapore last month, scored twice, with Veilawa converting all five of Fiji’s tries to cap off a standout performance.
Fiji has the chance to further extend their lead at the top of the points standing in the men’s competition, sitting at 70 points heading into Canada, with South Africa at second spot with 66 points and New Zealand third with 62 points.
Australia are at fourth position with 54 points, tied with France, while Argentina is at sixth position with 44 points.
Australia can overtake New Zealand if they win the semifinal clash against South Africa, while South Africa has the chance to claim top spot if they can beat the Australians and win the title.
Fijiana miss out again
In the women’s competition, the Fijiana side lost two tough matches against Australia and the United States of America and with that their hope of making their first semifinal this season.
They defeated Canada 14-12 in their final pool game, coming from behind to claim that victory.
Not afraid to take on the Aussies, Fijiana lost 38-24 in what was a tougher clash than expected, the final moments coming down to a mistake that gifted the Australians a try.
Australia had led 12-0 early but Fiji struck through Atelaite Ralivanawa in the sixth minute after she broke through the Australian defence, with Ana Maria Naimasi converting to reduce the deficit to 12-7.
Australia continued their attacking momentum with Tia Hinds scoring in the fifth minute before Levi grabbed her second try, but Fijiana playermaker Reapi Ulunisau replied almost instantly for Fiji with a try in the eighth minute to keep the Fijiana within striking distance.
Verenaisi Ditavutu added another try for the Fijians but the Australians kept the momentum up and won in the end.
It was a closer game for the Fijians against USA, the islanders coming from behind to draw level at 19-all in the dying minutes of the game.
But the Americans scored the winning try to claim victory 26-19.
In the Fijiana’s third pool game, Canada led 5-0 at halftime.
Sesenieli Donu strode through to score between the posts for Fijiana and the side led 7-5 at the resumption of the second spell.
However, Charity Williams ran around the Fijian defense to score for the Canadians, having knocked on inside the try zone just before halftime.
Adi Vani Buleki than found her way through the Canadians’ cover defense to touch down, with the conversion giving Fiji a 14-12 lead into the last 30 seconds of the game.
They finally managed to win the game, after the Canadians knocked on, with Donu off the field with a yellow card.
Australia, New Zealand, USA and France were the consistent teams from the women’s competition.
Australia claimed wins over Fiji, Canada 26-12, and proved too strong for USA 22-7 in their third game.
New Zealand dominated Great Britain to win 35-5, thrashed Japan 43-5 and then held off a spirited France to win 38-17, completing their pool matches undefeated.
USA defeated Canada 40-7 and Fiji 26-19.
New Zealand and France qualified for the final four from pool A, while Australia and USA have made it from pool B.
World number one New Zealand will face USA in one semifinal, with Australia taking on France in the other.
Monday’s matches will kick off with the fifth-place play-off in the men’s competition, with New Zealand taking on Argentina while France will meet Great Britain.