The Springbok Sevens will face their nemesis Fiji for the third time in a row in the quarter-finals of the Wellington Sevens on Saturday after losing their final match against New Zealand 19-7.

After impressive wins over Niue and Wales, the Blitsbokke started off well against the Kiwis, but a lack of finishing power in the second half, problems with dew on the pitch and vital turnovers at the wrong time cost them dearly as the Kiwis went on to win.

The loser of the match would have to face Fiji, who looked in awesome form on day one, conceding just two tries in three matches as they looked odds-on favourites for the title.

The Springboks have lost their last four games against Fiji, twice last season and in the quarter-finals of George and Dubai.

Unfortunately for the Boks, they will have to lift their game and beat the Fijians if they are to salvage any pride in the rest of the IRB Sevens series. Their poor performances in Dubai and George mean gave them nightmare draws in Wellington and next week in Las Vegas, where they have Fiji in their pool and New Zealand in the quarters if they finish second.

In a game which was physical throughout and evenly matched, the Boks were denied a try early on when referee JP Doyle ruled a forward pass from Kyle Brown to Steven Hunt with an open tryline in front of him.

The home side were the first on the board when their speedster Sherwin Stowers stepped Rayno Benjamin, who slipped on the wet dew, before stepping through a tackle by Mzwandile Stick.

The Boks hit back to level things at the break when Benjamin did a nice switch with Brown on attack, beating the New Zealand defence with speed.

The Boks attacked for most of the second half, but twice slipped after taking the gap, allowing the defence to close them down.

Then on attack, the All Blacks forced a turnover, allowing the ball to be spread to Zar Lawrence, who sprinted in for the try.

Desperate and with time running out, Mpho Mbiyozo attacked from within his own 22 metre area, but was caught by three defenders and turned the ball over, with Kurt Baker running in for the try to seal the game.

Earlier, Hunt scored a brace of tries as the Boks beat Niue 38-10 and Cecil Afrika was on hand for a hat-trick as they downed Wales 38-5 in their second game.

Fiji won Pool B with ease, beating Scotland 38-5, Papua New Guinea 41-0 and Australia 38-7 with the Australians finished second for a quarter-final date with New Zealand.

In Pool C, England beat Kenya 24-10 after wins over USA and Tonga to win the Pool. England needed an injury time try to beat Tonga 24-19 in the earlier game.

In Pool D Canada scored the upset of the day, beating Argentina 26-7 in their opening game, and needed a late conversion to beat France 21-19 and qualify for the quarter-finals.

Collated results from the first day of the New Zealand round of the IRB Sevens World Series on Friday:

Pool A

New Zealand 29 Wales 5
South Africa 38 Niue 10
Wales 26 Niue 12
South Africa 38 Wales 5
New Zealand 49 Niue 5
New Zealand 19 South Africa 7

Pool B

Scotland 34 Papua New Guinea 5
Australia 24 Scotland 7
Fiji 41 Papua New Guinea 0
Australia 31 Papua New Guinea 12
Fiji 36 Scotland 5
Fiji 38 Australia 7

Pool C

United States 15 Tonga 7
Kenya 24 United States 7
England 24 Tonga 19
Kenya 15 Tonga 7
England 31 United States 7
England 24 Kenya 10

Pool D

Canada 26 Argentina 7
Samoa 31 France 19
Canada 21 France 19
Argentina 19 France 5
Samoa 27 Canada 14
Samoa 33 Argentina 14

Quarter-final line-up:

Samoa v Kenya
England v Canada
Fiji v South Africa
New Zealand v Australia

SUPERRUGBY