New Zealand and Fiji will meet in the gold medal match of the men’s Olympic sevens tournament at Tokyo 2020 tonight.
The Fiji 7s men’s team shrugged off an unwavering Argentina side this afternoon.
Young Sireli Maqala carved through the middle to run in the first try of the game.
However the Los Pumas side from Argentina showed great character and resilience in the first half, and were not easily going to hand the victory over to the Fijians, and were eager to respond with a neat try of their own.
Meli Derenalagi scored Fiji’s second try after winning a contest in a breakdown.
The pace of the game kept on mounting and emotions were starting to flare. The pressure was on when as Argentina quickly pounced for five-pointer with a superb conversion from the sideline. Argentina led 14 – 12 into half-time.
However, the depth of talent in Fiji’s bench proved to be decisive, with some timely changes by coach Gareth Baber.
Asaeli Tuivuaka was tremendous in defence when he put in the big tackles and perhaps tamed the strong-willed Los Pumas.
New sensation Juita Wainiqolo, blitzed down the sideline to run in Fiji’s third try and give a little room to breathe for Fiji. Superstar Semi Radradra sidestepped through a tired Argentina defensive line to run in the game’s last try and seal the victory for Fiji.
Fiji will now play old rugby rival and pacific neighbours New Zealand in the Final to decide who will take home the gold medal. New Zealand convincingly beat Great Britain in their semi-finals 29 – 7 and will be expecting to repeat the top performance.
The gold medal match will be at 9pm tonight Fiji time. So tune in and support the teams as they battle in out in the final of the mens 7s in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.