By Mayu Sakoda
TOKYO (Reuters) – Wing Regan Ware and inspirational captain Scott Curry scored two tries each as New Zealand defeated Britain 29-7 in their semi-final at the Olympic Rugby Sevens to set up a gold medal meeting with old foes Fiji at the Tokyo Stadium on Wednesday.
Defending champions Fiji held off a strong first half showing from Argentina to win their semi-final 26-14, their physicality and experience too much for the South Americans.
New Zealand held onto possession for the opening three minutes of the first clash with Britain as they moved up field from their own 22, which resulted in a first try for Curry.
But Britain needed just 15 seconds on the ball to draw level as Dan Norton, the all-time record try-scorer in international Sevens history, showed his electric pace as he glided between two defenders and raced away to score.
Ware then showed a burst of pace on the right wing to score a second try for the All Blacks on the stroke of halftime that gave them a 14-7 lead.
Britain battled to get out of their own half at the start of the second period and Ware extended the advantage for New Zealand, before Dylan Collier collected direct from the kick-off and raced away to score, ending the contest with little over two minutes left.
It took Fiji three-and-a-half minutes to open the score against Argentina in the second semi-final as the hugely impressive Sireli Maqala, playing his first major tournament with the team, brushed off three defenders to dot down.
But the South Americans led 14-12 at the break as tries from Marcos Moneta and Ignacio Mendy handed them the advantage.
Fiji’s experience showed in the second half with Meli Derenalagi and Semi Radradra scoring twice to brush aside the challenge of the Argentines.
Britain, who were silver medallists in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, will meet Argentina for bronze.
South Africa and the United States play-off for fifth place after they defeated Australia and Canada respectively. Kenya beat Ireland to ninth, while hosts Japan avoided the wooden spoon with a 31-19 victory over South Korea.
(Reporting by Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Michael Perry)
