GOLD COAST, Australia — Alipate Raitini scored three tries as Fiji overwhelmed defending champion New Zealand 32-14 Sunday to win the Gold Coast Sevens, the first leg of the International Rugby Board's Sevens World Series. Raitini touched down twice in the first half as Fiji dashed to a 17-7 halftime lead and completed his hat trick less than a minute into the second spell, sealing his team's win. Joji Baleviani Raqamate, Ilai Tinai and Levani Botia also scored for Fiji, who won by six tries to two. New Zealand, who won the World Series last year for the 10th time, scored a try in each half through Tim Mikkelson and Kylem O'Donnell. Both Fiji and New Zealand dropped a match in pool play Saturday but rallied to win their quarterfinals and semifinals, setting up Sunday's final showdown. Host Australia entered the second day of the tournament as favorite after beating Fiji to finish unbeaten in pool play. But in one of the largest upsets in recent seasons, Australia was beaten 21-14 in the quarterfinals by Kenya, who qualified in second place from Pool C. In another surprise result Sunday, unheralded Spain won the Bowl, beating England 19-14 in the final after earlier upsetting Tonga and Wales. — AP
