Wellington tops Pool on day one in Australia tournament

Sevens Rugby | 25 October 2014 | Steven White

UPDATED: The Wellington Men’s Sevens team has topped Pool A of the Central Coast 7s tournament in Australia after today’s opening day.?

Played in hot, blustery conditions north of Sydney, Wellington has had wins over Fijian side Redrock, Australian based team Te Whanau and the Stars from USA.

Wellington will play the runner-up of Pool D in their Cup quarterfinal, local club side Warringah, in the opening match on Sunday at 11.50 am NZT.?

Wellington 15 (Ambrose Curtis 2, Murphy Taramai tries)

Ambrose Curtis started and finished the scoring in the three tries to one first-up win over last year’s Central Coast 7s runners-up Redrock of Fiji.

Wellington made a fast start to the match and to the tournament, sweeping on to attack from the opening kick-off. A strong period of continuity led to Murphy Taramai popping the last pass of the movement to Curtis who broke through to the whitewash.

Wellington should have been in again moments later but Belgium Tuatagaloa made an unforced error in spilling the ball in the act of scoring under the posts.

This almost led to a try at the other end by Redrock, who dashed out of their 22 and chipped and chased into space. Superior control and speed to the breakdown saved the day for Wellington.

Just before halftime Curtis, Hayden Schrijvers and Tomasi Alosio combined well to set up Wellington’s second try to Taramai, making it 10-0. The try came at a cost though, Alosio leaving the field with a leg injury.

Wellington scrambled well on defence early in the second half before regaining possession via a clean turnover at the breakdown and a push inside Redrock’s 22. But Tamati Samuels threw an intercept pass, which ultimately led to the Fijian team’s first and only try, closing the gap to 10-7 with a couple of minutes remaining.

Redrock then made an error, their kick-off not going 10 metres, leading to possession in opposition territory and then a penalty at the breakdown and kick into the corner for a lineout. Wellington won the lineout and spun it out to Curtis on the right wing and he ran in to score the match winner.?

Wellington 17 (Hayden Schrijvers, Belgium Tuatagaloa, Ambrose Curtis tries; Sheridan Rangihuna con)

A tighthead scrum win and good work at the end by replacements Murphy Taramai and Ambrose Curtis were instrumental in Wellington winning with the last play of the game, against committed opposition.?

With scores locked up at 12-12, Wellington pushed Te Whanau off their own scrum ball and soared on to attack up in their opponents’ 22. Taramai went close to breaking through, but was pulled down just short allowing the ball to be spun back across the posts to Curtis who injected himself and sprinted for the corner to score on fulltime.?

Wellington had led 12-0 just before halftime, playing into the wind. Wellington had opened the match with a full minute in possession but Te Whanau scrambled well. It was from Wellington’s next period on attack that Belgium Tuatagaloa made a big run up the middle and offloaded to try scorer Hayden Schrijvers.

Issac O’Connor launched himself at the next kick-off and won the ball back for Wellington. Te Whanau regathered the ball in a defensive situation but Ryan Setefano ripped the ball free from a ruck and sent the barnstorming Tuatagaloa in for their second try.

Against the run of play, a hole opened up in midfield for Te Whanau and a draw and pass gave them, a converted try under the posts, to close the gap to 12-7 at halftime.

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Playing with the wind at the turn, Wellington continued to be thwarted by Te Whanau, who capitalised on a Wellington lineout error and ran in their second try. This try was scored under the posts but the conversion was missed and it was 12-12 with time running out.

Wellington rallied at the end and won the match in a grandstand finish.

Wellington 22 (Ambrose Curtis 2, Belgium Tuatagaloa, Murphy Taramai tries; Tamati Samuels conversion)

Wellington scored four unanswered tries in the first half and won easing up in the second spell, against Stars who had already suffered defeats to the Redrock and Te Whanau.?

Ambrose Curtis ran in their first try virtually from the opening kick-off, and this was followed by tries to Belgium Tuatagaloa, Curtis again and Murphy Taramai who powered through six defenders to score an eye-catching try.

Stars capitalised on two errors in a disjointed second half and scored tries on both occasion