12 Feb 2012

NZ to face South Africa for a place in Las Vegas Cup final

4:16 pm on 12 February 2012

The New Zealand rugby sevens side has booked a Cup semi-final against South Africa at the Las Vegas IRB tournament by beating England 12-7 in the quarter-finals.

World Series tryscoring leader Frank Halai scored the end to end opener with his 27th try of the series but England hit back before half-time to lead 7-5.

However the veteran playmaker Tomasi Cama again dotted down for the matchwinner, then converted for the 12-7 win.

South Africa smashed Argentina 24-5 in their quarter-final, while Samoa edged Kenya 19-14 - the Pacific Islanders now face Fiji, who beat Wales 12-5 in the other semi.

The Las Vegas leg of the IRB World Series runs for three days, with semi-finals and the final on the last day.

New Zealand saw off Samoa 12-5 in their final pool game, their third straight pool win.

Both teams scored an unconverted try in the first half, Paul Perez of Samoa dotting down first while New Zealand captain DJ Forbes replied near half-time.

Cama scored the winner from a rare attacking kick, chasing down the toe-ahead to just ground the ball before the dead ball line.

On the first day New Zealand beat Australia 31-5 and Japan 42-5.