New Zealand have crashed out of the Olympic men's rugby seven's after suffering a 12-7 quarter-final defeat to Fiji.
Great things were expected of the All Blacks ahead of the tournament but injuries took their toll and the gold medal favourites Fiji were proved to be just too strong.
Gifted a tournament lifeline when the Fijians beat the United States earlier on day two, the 12-times world sevens series champions were unable to take advantage of their reprieve in a breathless encounter at a wet Deodoro Stadium.
Fiji skipper Osea Kolinisau finished a brilliant length-of-the-field try to open the game many thought would take place in the final and Jerry Tuwai skipped through the All Blacks defence to add a second for the Pacific islanders.
Gillies Kaka had replied for New Zealand off a chip and chase while his team mate Rieko Ioane was in the sin-bin but the Fijians were able to hold on at the end to book a semi-final against Japan.
The Japanese also staged an upset by defeating France on a scoreline of 12 points to seven.
In the other quarter-finals, South Africa reversed their group stage defeat to Australia, coming out on top on a score of 22-5.
It took extra-time to separate Great Britain and Argentina, with both sides cancelling each other out for twenty minutes before Team GB got the games only score in the added period to win 5-0.
