NZ to face Scotland in Sevens quarterfinal

DUBAI - New Zealand has subdued a spirited Australian side to go through pool play unbeaten at the Dubai Sevens rugby tournament.

The reigning International Rugby Board (IRB) world series champions were made to struggle against a committed Australian side, before winning the final match of the day 24-12 after earlier wins over the Arabian Gulf and Canada.

New Zealand will face Scotland in the quarterfinals tonight.

Australia were fired up for the trans-Tasman clash and pushed Gordon Tietjens' men to the limit.

"It was hard work and Australia looked pretty good today. They have some good young players and they are improving. We put ourselves under pressure with a few silly errors and missed tackles." Tietjens said.

New Zealand opened the scoring in the third minute through a fine try by captain Liam Messam, who used his strength and speed to go in under the posts.

Australia hit back immediately when the referee awarded a penalty try, against Tafai Ioasa for killing the ball on his own goal line.

Flying winger Sosene Anesi scored the first of his two tries before Australia replied through James Morgan on the stroke of halftime.

Anesi then scored a stunning solo try after the restart, first standing up two defenders before showing incredible speed to race over the line and put New Zealand ahead for the third time in the match.

New Zealand were reduced to six players with Amasio Valence sin binned for a dangerous tackle, but showed their class by retaining possession for the entire two minutes Valence was off the field.

Nathaniel Walker darted over from a scrum a minute before fulltime to seal the win.

Earlier New Zealand thrashed the Arabian Gulf 56-0 and Canada 36-0.

Aucklander Sherwin Stowers, 18, made an impressive debut for New Zealand against the Arabian Gulf, showing his extreme pace in scoring three of the side's nine tries.

Scotland came close to beating England in pool play, conceding a last minute try to lose 19-24, but bounced back to knock France out of the Cup competition with a 17-7 win.

The remaining quarterfinals pit England against Australia, South Africa against Argentina and Fiji against Samoa.

If New Zealand overcome Scotland they will play Fiji or Samoa in the semis.

The defending champion South Africans struggled through pool play and were thumped 26-5 by a fired up Fijian side that showed they were back after struggling for much of last season's series.

New Zealand looked the most composed side on the opening day and in Anesi and Stowers, Tietjens has finally found the express pace that has been lacking in the past couple of seasons.

"Yes Sosene Anesi is going from strength to strength and you certainly need that pace and someone who can finish like that is outstanding.

"We have a closely knit side here and if they can play with confidence and put it all together we can go very close to winning the title." Tietjens said.

New Zealand results:-

New Zealand 36 (Tafai Ioasa 2, Sosene Anesi 2, Lifeimi Mafi, Liam Messam tries; Orene Ai'i 3 con) Canada 0.

New Zealand 56 (Sherwin Stowers 3, Nathaniel Walker 2, Orene Ai'i, Lifeimi Mafi, Roy Kinikinilau tries; Ai'i 6 con, Nathaniel Walker 2 con) Arabian Gulf 0.

New Zealand 24 (Soseni Anesi 2, Liam Messam, Nathaniel Walker tries; Orene Ai'i 2 con) Australia 12.

RESULTS

Results of the first day at the Dubai Sevens:

Pool A:

New Zealand 36 Canada 0

Australia 52 Arabian Gulf 0

New Zealand 56 Arabian Gulf 0

Australia 26 Canada 12

Canada 29 Arabian Gulf 7

New Zealand 24 Australia 12

(New Zealand and Australia go through to the quarter-finals)

Pool B:

England 24 Scotland 19

Uganda 22 France 17

England 34 Uganda 7

Scotland 17 France 7

Scotland 34 Uganda 0

England 26 France 14

(England and Scotland go through to the quarter-finals)

Pool C:

Argentina 40 Kenya 7

Samoa 19 Tunisia 5

Argentina 34 Tunisia 0

Samoa 17 Kenya 0

Tunisia 19 Kenya 7

Argentina 14 Samoa 12

(Argentina and Samoa go through to the quarter-finals)

Pool D:

South Africa 36 Portugal 0

Fiji 38 Ireland 17

South Africa 35 Ireland 12

Fiji 19 Portugal 10

Ireland 12 Portugal 12

Fiji 26 South Africa 5

(Fiji and South Africa go through to the quarter-finals)

Quarter-finals (Friday):

New Zealand v Scotland

Fiji v Samoa

Argentina v South Africa

England v Australia

- NZPA