Taliga Strikes Again (original) (raw)

It was another replay of the Las Vegas 7s final when the Vodafone Fijians scored a comeback win over Australia through Kitione Taliga tries. This time it was the Singapore

It was another replay of the Las Vegas 7s final when the Vodafone Fijians scored a comeback win over Australia through Kitione Taliga tries. This time it was the Singapore 7s Cup quarterfinal and the Vodafone Fijians did it in style with a 19-14 win after trailing 5-14. Within a minute and a half left, tireless forward Jasa Veremalua scored in the corner after a break made by halfback cum hooker Emosi Mulevoro. The try was converted by Osea Kolinisau from wide out as they narrowed the deficit 14-12.

With 40 seconds left in the match, the Vodafone Fijians won the kick-off and Taliga sped through a gap, fended off James Stannard’s tackle before carrying an Australian defender to the scoring line for Fiji’s winning try. Fiji had a good start with Taliga scoring just two minutes into the first half with a powerful run from inside their own half, Kolinisau failed to convert as they led 5-0.

Sloppy defence from the Fijians allowed Australia’s Sam Figg to score under the post with Stannard’s conversion going over as they led 7-5. Careless mistakes from the Fijians and two forward passes gave the Aussies a chance to capitalise on a loose ball which Stannard had no problems in scoring a try before adding the conversion as they lead 14-5 at half time. Fiji had a lot of work to do in the second spell with coach Ben Ryan bringing in Amenoni Nasilasila and Mulevoro to add speed to their line-up.

Results:

Bowl quarterfinals: England 26-17 Wales; Scotland 26-19 Canada; Japan 7-14 Portugal; USA 24-5 Russia

Cup quarterfinals: Fiji 19-14 Australia, South Africa 14-7 New Zealand, Samoa 7- 12 Argentina, France 7- 28 Kenya

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