Fiji has beaten France 19-12 in their last group stage match and goes into the cup quarterfinal as Pool D leaders at the Sydney 7s today.
Veteran winger Jonathan Laugel scored the opening try for France in just 30 seconds finishing off a long pass from Jordan Sepho and William Iraguha converted for a 7-nil lead.
Fiji brought the huge crowd at Sydney Stadium on their feet through a Manueli Maisamoa setup that saw Viwa Naduvalo reach under the post and Skipper Waisea Nacuqu converted to tie the points at 7 apiece.
Just a few seconds before halftime, Nacuqu defeated two France defenders and ran to his breath to score their second converted try and lead by 14-7 at the break.
Early in the second stanza, TMO denied a try to Nacuqu as he dropped the ball at the succession bringing back a five-meter scrum to France.
This gave an advantage to France and Laugel scored the second try to merge the score but Josese Batirerega sliced through France’s defense to score the consolation try for Fiji and seal the win.
