MX23RW : Wednesday, July 28 02:33:25| >> :60:1350:1350:

Result: Japan stun New Zealand in rugby sevens clash at Rio Olympics

Japan stun New Zealand with a 14-12 victory in their opening rugby sevens match at the Olympics in Rio.

Japan earned a surprise win against favourites New Zealand in the men's rugby sevens clash at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro today.

The underdogs, who are ranked 15th in the HSBC Rugby Sevens Series, managed to claim a 14-12 victory over the third-best team in the world.

New Zealand were the first to concede as they went 7-0 down, but they managed to find their rhythm to put 12 points on the board.

Japan responded with a try to edge the scoreline, and it was a nervy finish as New Zealand tried to get back on top, but after the ball was pushed out of bounds, the full-time whistle blew.

To add salt to the wound for New Zealand, Sonny Bill Williams, who has won two World Cups with the All Blacks, limped off the pitch with an injury.

Meanwhile, Great Britain defeated Kenya 31-7 in their opening match of the tournament.

ID:278534: cacheID:278534:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:1723:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Did you know...?
Rio 2016
Read Next:
Military bullet fired at Rio press centre
>

rhs 2.0
Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
ChinaChina105823
JapanJapan104519
United StatesUnited States98825
Olympics flagOlympic Athletes from Russia77418
AustraliaAustralia61714
Great BritainGreat Britain46414
Today's Olympic highlights header

Wednesday's key events


ROWING
· Team GB have dominated the men's coxless fours in recent Olympics, winning on each of the last five occasions, but this year they face some stiff competition. They are one of four rowing medal contenders for Great Britain today (2.10am)

SWIMMING
· Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus face off again in the women's 200m freestyle final, with the latter having already come out on top in the 400m event (2.41am)
· Team GB's Abbie Wood is among the medal contenders in the women's 200m individual medley final, while teammate Alicia Wilson will also take part. USA's Kate Douglass was the fastest qualifier, while world and Olympic record holder Katinka Hosszu is also involved (3.45am)
· Katie Ledecky could make it two golds in one morning as she goes into the 1500m freestyle final as heavy favourite, having broken the Olympic record in qualifying (3.54am)
· Team GB were by far the fastest qualifiers for the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final and will therefore be favourites for another gold in the pool (4.26am)

RUGBY SEVENS
· Team GB take on New Zealand in the first men's semi-final, having been beaten by reigning champions Fiji but then come from behind to overcome USA on day two (3am)
· The sevens gold medal match takes place at Tokyo Stadium, with the winner of Great Britain vs. New Zealand taking on either Argentina or Fiji (10am)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
· Joe Fraser and James Hall compete for Team GB in the men's all-around final (11.15am-2.10pm)

CYCLING
· Anna Shackley will take part in the women's road time trial (from 3.30am)
· Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart have medal ambitions for Great Britain in the men's road time trial, although both will need to recover from the crash they suffered on Saturday (6am)

DIVING
· Jack Laugher bids to retain his men's 3m synchro diving title alongside new partner Daniel Goodfellow (7am)

EQUESTRIAN
· Charlotte Dujardin will look to add to her already legendary status with a third successive Olympic individual dressage title (9.30am-1.25pm)

> Today's schedule in full
Todays Game Header Right

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!