NZ sevens unbeaten

Both New Zealand’s men’s and women’s sevens teams carried on their winning ways on day two of the Cape Town tournament yesterday. After each recording a win in their sole game on the opening day of the event, both went on to win their remaining two pool matches to secure their spots in the quarterfinals. Following their first-up 43-7 thrashing of Wales, the men’s side went on to beat Canada 33-12 and Argentina 19-14 to top their group and were to meet Scotland in the quarterfinal last night. In the women’s event, the New Zealand women followed up their opening-day 40-0 hiding of South Africa with a narrow 12-10 win over Fiji, then a 12-0 victory over Russia to top Pool A. That saw New Zealand pitted against England – who finished third in Pool C – in a quarterfinal last night.

New Zealand’s Aaron Gate secured a second gold in as many weeks on the UCI Track Cycling World Cup circuit. The 29-year-old enjoyed a blast from the past with a dominant victory in the omnium in Brisbane on Saturday. It made three straight World Cup wins for the New Zealand team in the four-discipline Olympic event after current world champion Campbell Stewart triumphed in Hong Kong and Cambridge. Meanwhile, Natasha Hansen was eighth fastest in 10.669s and Olivia Podmore 11th in a personal best 10.804 in the women’s individual sprint qualifying. Picture: Aaron Gate celebrates his win in the omnium at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Brisbane.