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All Blacks Sevens lose thrilling Vancouver quarter-final after last-gasp try from Fiji

March 11, 2019
Tone Ng Shiu runs in to score for New Zealand against Fiji at the Sydney Sevens.

The All Blacks Sevens have been knocked out in the final seconds of a thrilling quarter-final with Fiji at the Vancouver Sevens this morning.

The New Zealand men's side traded blows throughout the entire match with the Pacific powerhouse but fell just short after Alesio Naduva touched down in the left corner on full time to score the game-winner.

The All Blacks Sevens got out to a positive start when Sam Dickson scored off a try set up by Tim Mikkelson and Tone Ng Shiu but Fiji fired back with two tries in the space of 30 seconds to take a 12-7 lead in the first half.

Joe Ravouvou and Mikkelson conjured up a try on the halftime whistle though to give the Kiwis a 14-12 lead at the break.

The All Blacks Sevens then put the pressure on early, holding possession for the first three minutes of the second half as they tested Fiji's defense close to the try line.

But Fiji refused to budge and ended up earning a penalty which they quickly converted to a try at the other end through Aminiasi Tuimana.

With the clock ticking down, Vilimoni Koroi came off the bench to spark his teammates and give New Zealand the lead again as he ran on to a brilliant offload from Ngarohi McGarvey-Black to score with just over a minute left in the match.

The All Blacks Sevens then restarted the game with a kick-off leading 21-17. They managed to recover the ball and were looking to keep it until the clock ran out.

However, the plan fell apart after a stray offload went to ground and was scooped up by Fiji who ran 75m to score and take the 22-21 win.

The loss means the best position the All Blacks Sevens can now finish is fifth but to get to the fifth place final they'll have to go through Argentina. 

Argentina were sent to the fifth place playoffs by the Blitzbokke earlier this morning, losing 33-12.

The All Black Sevens play Argentina at 10:24am NZT this morning.

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