On a day that promised much, only Fiji and Samoa progressed to the last eight of the Rugby Sevens Competition.
Fiji were unbeaten with comfortable wins over Canada, Scotland and Uganda but they will need to lift their tempo to be competitive today.
In the first day's competition, Rugby 7 teams New Zealand and Fiji are positioning themselves as favourites winning both their matches today. Tonga and Canada have had surprise wins.
Following the Kiwi's triumphant match against Namibia, Soseni Anesi from New Zealand said, "It was an awesome game. We wanted to work on the combination more."
New Zealand beat Namibia, 41-7 where the Kiwi's ball-handling skills excelled and Soseni Anesi top scoring with two tries.
Other matches held today included:
Australia v Sri Lanka - Australia walloped a lacklustre Sri Lanka: 73-0. Australian Chris Latham top scored with three tries, with two tries each to Matt Giteau and Scott Fava.
Canada v Scotland - Canada upset Scotland with a win 10-7. It was a hard fought battle with Scotland's David Grey scoring the best try of the tournament so far.
Canada hit back with an equally impressive team try to Adam Kleeberger. Scotland had a chance to take the game, winning a penalty at the death and scrambling for the line, only to knock the ball on, thanks to stout Canadian defence.
Canadian Captain, Moonlight said "We've been hoping for a victory like this for a long time. It's a huge victory for us."
Fiji v Canada - Fiji won against Canada 31-14. Fiji are top seeds with Fijian Neumi Nanuku being the top scorer but left the field injured in the second half after scoring his second try.
Fiji v Niue - Fiji thrashed a hapless Niue Island 63-0. Fiji had seven try scorers, with Semisi Naevo and Filimone Bolavucu top scoring for the winners with two tries each.
Kenya v Namibia - Kenya were victors over Namibia 31-5. Kenyan Captain, Victor Sudi Simiyu spoke about his goals for the tournament saying, "Hopefully we will be there in the medal rounds.
New Zealand v Wales - New Zealand were too good winning 35-10. The Welsh captain, Richard Pugh said about his team's performance: "We came close but NZ showed their class with tries and good off-loads at the end. They really put it to us and finished it off."
Kenya v Wales - Wales were comfortable winners 33-0 with Welshman, James Hook speaking about the supporters, "It's nice to have all the supporters here. It gives us a boost."
The Welsh put their earlier loss to New Zealand behind them, shutting down the Kenyans and dominating possession throughout the match.
Daniel Evans, captain Richard Pugh, James Merriman, Taliesin Selley and Jonathan Edwards ran in the unanswered tries for the Welsh.
South Africa v Uganda - South Africa defeated Uganda 63-7 in the opening match of the Rugby 7s evening program, setting the tone for the match with three early tries, including a double to Stefan Basson.
Coach Paul Treu's men scored nine tries to one in a solid display after a disappointing first-up loss to Tonga.
Uganda showed patches of form but were outclassed by a committed South Africa. Treu will be concerned after playmaker Basson suffered a leg injury and was replaced in the first half.
Samoa stumbled against South Africa in a game that should have been theirs. Otherwise they could well threaten in the Quarter Finals against England who look in ominous form today.
The greatest disappointment came from Tonga who ended up last in their Pool after defeating eventual pool winner South Africa in the first Game of the day. They played very well against South Africa but they could not repeat the effort later in the day.
For Niue it has been a great experience but they just were not up to this level of Sevens Rugby.....
So all eyes on Fiji and Samoa in the Quarter Finals....
Last Modified on 22/04/2006 14:54