Hong Kong Sevens 2019 results: Fiji survive Argentina scare as France shock New Zealand
- Defending champions come from behind to beat Argentina and will next play the USA
- France pull off huge upset against All Blacks Sevens while Samoa stun England to reach semi-finals at Hong Kong Stadium
Fiji survived a huge scare to beat Argentina 29-24 in the Hong Kong Sevens quarter-finals, while New Zealand were dumped out by France.
Defending champions Fiji are on track for a fifth title in a row here, but will have to play pre-tournament favourites and series leaders the Eagles in the semi-finals later on at 3.41pm (Hong Kong time). The US ensured South Africa’s Hong Kong hoodoo continued by beating them 21-12.
Samoa shocked England 14-12, and will play France in the last four after Les Bleus held on for a 14-12 victory against the All Blacks Sevens. “We played like a team, played very well together,” said Manoel Dall’igna of France, who have never reached the final here. “We have to be ready to fight against Samoa. If we play like that, we can beat them.”
Argentina took a shock lead against Fiji, Santiago Mare going over. A hushed silence then spread over Hong Kong Stadium as Matias Osadczuk crossed, and the kick was good for 12-0. It looked like normal service had resumed though as Paula Dranisinukula took an offload to find the gap and score soon after. But Luciano Gonzalez then powered his way through some last-ditch tackling to score Argentina’s third try and make it 17-7.