HONG KONG — Defending champion New Zealand beat Australia in the most anticipated second-day clash of the Hong Kong Sevens Saturday, as the arch-rivals prepare to take each other on in the cricket World Cup. All Blacks coach Gordon Tietjens said before the sevens that the Black Caps' thrilling semifinal victory over South Africa in the cricket Tuesday was a “huge motivation” for his rugby team. New Zealand takes on Australia in the cricket final Sunday, also finals day at the sevens. It was not a good start for the rugby side Saturday with a shock 24-24 draw with Portugal. But teen star Rieko Ioane, who turned 18 two days ago, twice broke through the Australian defense to seal a 14-5 victory. New Zealand topped its group with Australia second. Both go through to Sunday's quarters. “We were pretty disappointed with this morning's performance against Portugal ... we defended really badly,” said Tietjens, whose team will now faces Argentina. Australia lies fourth in the World Series standings and takes on series leader South Africa in the quarters. Rugby sevens will for the first time feature at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year, with the top four teams at the end of the Sevens World Series securing a berth in Brazil. South Africa is currently five points clear of New Zealand in the series standings. The Hong Kong Sevens — which is celebrating its 40th edition this year — is the sixth of the nine tournaments in the series. South Africa eased through to the quarters Saturday, beating Japan 27-0 and France 29-7. Third-ranked Fiji took Belgium 38-7 and Canada 40-5 for its place and will meet England, which was pushed to a 21-21 draw by a strong USA side. England is placed fifth in the series and beat Kenya 17-7 in their other group match. USA will meet Samoa in their quarterfinal. NZ sides 2 from 2 over SA The Highlanders made it an all-New Zealand sweep over South African opposition Saturday with a 39-21 win over the Cape Town-based Stormers in Super Rugby. At Dunedin, New Zealand, winger Waisake Naholo scored two tries to lead the Highlanders to their fourth win in six matches. Earlier, the Chiefs scored a bonus-point 37-27 win over the Cheetahs to move to within three points of the first-place Hurricanes in the New Zealand conference. — Agencies
