Sonny Bill Williams out of Olympics as Japan stun NZ
Last Updated: 16/08/16 2:58pm
Sonny Bill Williams is out of the Olympics after rupturing an Achilles during New Zealand's shock defeat to Japan.
The Kiwis were already reeling from losing their rugby sevens opener in Rio 14-12 when it was confirmed Williams will play no further part in the competition.
A tweet from the New Zealand Olympic team said Willams has suffered a "partial rupture", which could keep him out for up to nine months, and will be replaced in the squad by Sione Molia.
New Zealand later returned to winning ways as they claimed a 28-5 victory over Kenya, who were no match for Team GB in the other opening match in Group C.
Dan Bibby scored twice for the Brits, whose other three scores in a 31-7 win came from Dan Norton, Phil Burgess and Mark Bennett.
Japan were a conversion away from drawing with Great Britain, but the last-gasp kick was missed and Tom Mitchell's men held out for a 21-19 victory.
Two James Rodwell tries put Britain in the driving seat, but Japan had no intention of rolling over, and they fought back to level the contest through converted scores from Lomano Lemeki and Katsuyuki Sakai.
Marcus Watson, brother of England star Anthony Watson, then touched down to put the Pool C leaders back in front, only for Lemeki's second try to set up a nerve-shredding climax that narrowly saw Britain move towards the quarter-finals ahead of tackling New Zealand on Wednesday.
