Defending champions Fiji were given a fright by Georgia in their bid to defend the Rugby World Cup Sevens title on Thursday, before eventually running out 26-10 winners.
Main title contenders New Zealand, South Africa and England also notched up wins.
When Fijians Neumi Nanuku and Napolioni Nalaga both scored after just two minutes of play, it looked as if the floodgates might open at Dubai’s Sevens Stadium.
PHOTO: AFP
But it was not to be as Georgia fought back and gave the South Sea Islanders a taste of their own medicine, the outstanding Merab Kvirikashvili bagging a double, the second a wonderful dinking run rounded off by touching down his own chip over the defense.
Fiji, boasting five players from the squad that claimed the title four years ago in Hong Kong, eventually wrapped up the match with two second-half tries from 31-year-old Montauban flyer Vilimoni Delasau and Peni Rokodiva.
New Zealand, reigning champions of the IRB’s World Series Sevens circuit, which is separate from this World Cup, demolished a flatfooted Italy 42-0, with captain D.J. Forbes to the fore and Viliame Waqaseduadua scoring a double.
Tonga beat the tournament hosts, the Arabian Gulf, 19-0 in Pool A’s other game.
England overcame a sluggish start against Hong Kong to run away 42-5 winners, Ben Gollings, the leading points scorer in IRB Sevens history, contributing 22 points, while full international Tom Varndell also bagged a brace of tries.
Kenya beat Tunisia 29-7 in Pool E’s other, all-African match.
South Africa, joint leaders of the IRB World Series along with England, survived a sin-binning to beat a hard-working Japan 26-5. Canada notched up a 33-14 win over Scotland in Pool C’s other game.
Three second-half tries, including one from France international winger Julien Malzieu, were enough for the French team to overcome a 10-7 halftime score to register a 26-17 win over a strong US team and keep the pressure up on Fiji in Pool B.
Malzieu, who started for France’s full national team against Ireland and Wales in this season’s Six Nations, set up a try for Rida Jahouer in the second minute with his first touch.
But the US team hit back with tries from Kevin Swiryn and Chris Wyles. France then scored two quick-fire tries though Laurent Ferreres and Malzieu.
Todd Clever, currently playing for the South African Lions Super 14 franchise, was then sin-binned and France wrapped up the game with a further try from Vincent Deniau.
“I’d forgotten how hard sevens is,” Malzieu said. “We were lucky, but we also have no pressure and no expectations on us.”
Wales overcame a jumpy start to beat Zimbabwe 31-5, but coach Paul John was left less than impressed when Japanese referee Taizo Hirabayashi blew up before the hooter had sounded and with the Welsh side in the ascendency.
In a Pool that also includes Argentina and Uruguay, John said: “The points difference in a pool could be very important in this competition. But we’re still happy to have notched up a win.”
Argentina, winners of the last IRB World Series tournament in San Diego last month, won a hard-fought match against Uruguay 19-7.
In Pool D action, Australia overcame a spirited Portugal side 24-12, while Samoa looked impressive while racking up a comprehensive 35-5 win over Ireland, Rupena Levasa scoring a hat-trick.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB