New Zealand, Fiji progress to semi-finals in Commonwealth Games, Australia Women's team in finals
Fiji captain Waisea Nacuqu celebrates a try against Zambia on day one of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Coventry Stadium on 29 July, 2022 in Coventry
The second day of the Commonwealth games saw Australia and Fiji keep their hope of a gold alive as they progressed to the semi-finals in the Men's rugby while they will be locking horns in the finals of the Women's game.
Men's Rugby
Pool A
England had a tough ask to upstage New Zealand following their defeat to Samoa on the opening day. Nevertheless, it was New Zealand, who continued their impressive run riding on a double from Che Clark to beat the red rose team 20-0 to finish at the top of the group. Samoa too maintained their good form as they blanked out Sri Lanka 44-0 to finish at the second eliminating England from the quarter-finals.
Pool B
Scotland and South Africa had already made it to the quarter-finals from day one results. The battle for the top place was won by South Africa though as Angelo Davids ran a hat-trick to complete a 34-0 win over Scotland, who had to settle for a second place. Tonga finished the competition on a high as they defeated Malaysia in their final game with a 31-7 margin.
Pool C:
Fiji defeated Wales 38-24 to finish top in the table and were joined by Canada at second as they defeated Zambia 24-12. Wales had to settle for the third place with five points.
Pool D:
Uganda's 40-0 win over Jamaica did not prove enough as they had to finish at third place with six points. Australia and Kenya had a close battle with Australia managing to edge out their opponent with a 7-5 margin but the competitive result meant both the teams went through to the top eight.
Quarter-Finals:
New Zealand showed no mercy as they went past Kenya with a 31-0 margin while South Africa blanked out Kenya with a 33-0 difference. Fiji also managed to get past Scotland with a 34-7 win while Australia had another tight game with try from Matthew Gonalez proving to be the difference as they sealed a 7-0 win to make it to the semis.
Semi-final Fixtures:
New Zealand v Fiji
Australia v South Africa
Women's Rugby:
Australia and Fiji will be competing in the final for the gold medal. Australia went past New Zealand with a 17-12 margin while Fiji outclassed Canada with a 24-7 win in their respective semi-finals.
New Zealand and Canada will compete for a bronze medal with England and Scotland set to lock horns for a fifth place finish on the final day of the competition.
