Moneta Brace Fires Pumas Past Boks Into Fiji Sevens Semi-final

Speedster Marco Moneta fired five-man Argentina to a nail-biting 19-14 victory over South Africa Tuesday to set up a rugby sevens semi-final against defending Olympic champions Fiji

Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jul, 2021 ) :Speedster Marco Moneta fired five-man Argentina to a nail-biting 19-14 victory over South Africa Tuesday to set up a rugby sevens semi-final against defending Olympic champions Fiji.

Powerhouses New Zealand, long the dominant force in the abbreviated game, will take on Britain in the second last-four clash on Wednesday.

Selvyn Davids opened the scoring for Rio bronze medallists South Africa at the Tokyo Stadium, but on the next play was taken out high by Gaston Revol.

The veteran Argentine was left sobbing on the touchlines after he was rightly shown a red card.

Moneta, however, scored two magnificent solo tries against the run of play to put Los Pumas 14-7 up at half-time.

First, he span into space down the left wing and ran in from 60 metres before then gathering his own kick ahead for a memorable second. Santiago Alvarez added a third, but more drama was to ensue.

Lautaro Bazan Velez was shown yellow in a move that saw the Boks awarded a penalty try with 20 seconds to play -- enough time to change a game of high-octane sevens on its head.

But Argentina, now down to five, claimed the restart and the ball was booted into the stands in delight.

"It was a historic match! It was crazy," said Moneta.

Skipper Alvarez added: "We came looking for history. We got through that quarter-final that is so difficult for us. We are very excited and very happy for everything we did on the pitch." Los Pumas will face Fiji on Wednesday, the South Pacific islanders made to work hard for a 19-0 victory over Australia.

Once again it was playmaker Jerry Tuwai who was key for Fiji, scoring a vital double and marshalling an effective sweeper system that fired a hard-hitting defence that rarely allowed the Wallabies out of their own 22m area.

Aminiasi Tuiamba scored a late third for a dominant Fiji side at an empty stadium in temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius (81F) and 80% humidity after earlier rain showers.