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Friday's results

Welsh rugby plumbed new depths on Friday as the Sevens side succumbed 22-12 to Russia on home soil at the Emirates Airline Cardiff Sevens.

A sunny afternoon at the Millennium Stadium saw Wales faces turn even redder than usual as they plunged to an embarrassing defeat in the first round of group games.

Just two days after the senior side lost a 25-0 half-time lead to the Barbarians, the hosts were rocked by early tries from Sergei Kuzmenko and Pavel Baranovski.

And it went from bad to worse as Alexei Ianpoloski claimed Russia's third try for a 15-0 interval lead.

Emyr Lewis opened Wales' account with a touchdown that Arwel Thomas converted, and then Gareth Baber grabbed an opportunist try.

England's Phil Greening
England started slowly despite having the likes of Greening
But the comeback was halted as Andrei Kouzin darted away for another converted try to see Russia record the tournament's biggest shock so far.

England had to overhaul an interval deficit against France before winning 10-7 and they added wins against Russia (28-10) and Wales (28-14) to set up a quarter-final tie with Scotland.

New Zealand, who had already captured the overall International Rugby Board series crown after winning six out of 10 tournaments, made a blistering start by crushing Scotland 48-0 in the tournament opener. They place France on Saturday after their 12-12 draw with Wales and defeat of Russia.

Scotland beat Argentina 26-14 to take second place.

Also in Pool A Ireland were pipped 14-12 by Argentina in their opening game before they were thumped 50-14 by New Zealand.

South African treble

In Pool C South Africa beat Georgia 33-12 before swamping Spain 42-5, while Samoa beat Georgia 34-0 after struggling past Spain 21-7.

South Africa were unbeaten in the pool after thumping Spain 42-5 while Samoa took the runners-up spot.

Fiji, joint third with England in the overall IRB rankings, beat Canada 33-12 in Pool D despite missing playmaker Waisale Serevi.

Australia, Fiji's main group threat, almost blew a comfortable lead before holding off minnows Portugal 22-19.

They went on to thump Fiji 42-0 to claim the pool.

IRB World Sevens Series results (Friday):

Pool A: New Zealand 48 Scotland 0, Argentina 14 Ireland 12, New Zealand 50 Ireland 14, Argentina 14 Scotland 26, Scotland 19 Ireland 17, New Zealand 19 Argentina 12
Pool B:England 10 France 7, Wales 12 Russia 22, France 14 Russia 12, England 28 Wales 14
Pool C: South Africa 33 Georgia 12, Samoa 21 Spain 7, South Africa 42 Spain 5, Samoa 34 Georgia 0, Georgia 19 Spain 12, South Africa 38 Samoa 14
Pool D: Fiji 33 Canada 12, Australia 22 Portugal 19, Canada 33 Portugal 12, Fiji 0 Australia 42

Quarter-final draw:
New Zealand v France
Australia v Samoa
South Africa v Fiji
England v Scotland Back to top


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