Aussie men upset NZ to book Sydney 7s semi

A breathtaking solo effort from rugby sevens rookie Maurice Longbottom has helped Australia to a 24-12 win against New Zealand that booked a Sydney 7s semi-final berth.

The visitors scored first in both halves and looked poised to run away with the game in front of a boisterous Allianz Stadium crowd.

But Longbottom was injected with immediate impact, racing 50m from a standing start with his first touch to break the 12-12 deadlock with two minutes remaining.

Captain Lewis Holland then managed to get the ball down over the line despite the attention of two tacklers to extend Australia's advantage after another turnover deep in New Zealand territory.

Chasing their first World Series title since 2012, Australia will play Argentina or England in the final four later on Sunday.

USA beat an out-of-sorts Fiji 24-7 and will meet South Africa, who accounted for Kenya 17-0, in the final four.

Australia had beaten the US 26-19 in the pool games, with the Americans only narrowly progressing to the quarter-final thanks to a slight for-and-against advantage over Scotland.

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