Tokyo Olympics: Fiji looks primed for Games repeat, blazing past rivals to set up semi-final against Argentina
- The 2016 Olympic champions are on track to defend their title, cruising past Australia in the quarter-finals to take their place in the last four in Tokyo
- The Fijians destroyed Great Britain 43-7 at Rio 2016 to win gold, and are also Hong Kong Sevens champions – their last title coming in April 2019
Both matches will take place on Thursday, with the gold medal clash set for 5pm at Tokyo Stadium. Fiji were up 7-0 at half-time on a try by Jerry Tuwai, and then capped off the win with more scores from Tuwai and Aminiasi Tuimaba. They got by on their usual stingy defence, stopping the Aussies on multiple occasions close to the goal line.
In the first quarter-final, New Zealand defeated Canada 21-10 on two tries by Scott Curry, while Andrew Knewstubb went two for two on conversions. The Kiwis were knocked out by Fiji in the quarter-finals of Rio 2016, while Canada failed to qualify.
The second quarter-final featured a rousing comeback from Great Britain. Down 21-7 at half-time against the Americans, they stormed back to win 26-21, led by tries from three different players (Ben Harris, Alex Davis and Dan Norton), while Perry Baker had two in the loss. Great Britain actually made the final of Rio 2016, losing to Fiji 43-7.
Argentina won a gruelling match over South Africa 19-14, still pulling out a victory after Gaston Revol got a red card halfway through the second minute mark of the first half. Argentina were down a try to start the game, but came back and got scores from Santiago Alvarez and two from Marcos Moneta.