DAN Bibby’s dramatic extra-time try saw Great Britain into the semi-finals of the Rio 2016 sevens rugby tournament at the expense of Argentina.
In a titanic battle, Bibby raced over to score the all-important ‘golden point’, just seconds after captain Tom Mitchell had struck the post with a penalty.
Argentina spurned a glorious chance to win it with the last kick of the second half but their shot at goal missed the target.
It all means that Team GB and Gwent’s Sam Cross are one victory away from a shot at the gold medal.
They will play South Africa for a place in the final at 7pm on Thursday, with Fiji facing Japan in the other semi.
Britain and Argentina were two evenly matched sides and cancelled each other out for the whole of normal time.
The South Americans had more of the ball in the first period and only a brilliant piece of work at the breakdown by Welshman James Davies, just yards from his own try line, kept the score at 0-0.
Cross came on in added on time at the end of the first half and performed admirably before being replaced at the start of extra time.
Britain had a couple of chances to score in the second half, first when Davies broke free down the left but lost his balance and was caught with the whitewash in his sights.
Then Dan Norton was subjected to a high tackle which was penalised but not with a yellow card.
With 40 seconds left, Argentina’s Juan Imhoff was rightly sin-binned for a dangerous tip tackle, although seconds later Davies suffered the same punishment for a high tackle.
The Pumas opted to go for goal with the penalty, missed, and then, after Mitchell hit the woodwork in extra time, Bibby produced his moment of magic to seal it.
Earlier today, Britain had withstood a second half fightback by New Zealand to move into the quarter-finals.
Team GB cruised into a 21-0 half-time lead, but the All Blacks dominated after the break and got back to within two points before the final whistle.
The win saw Britain finish top of Pool C with a 100% record from their three group games.
Their first try against the Kiwis came just after the kick-off when Norton went on a dazzling run.
The ball ended up with Scotland’s Mark Bennett and he gathered his own chip ahead to cross under the posts. Mitchell converted.
Excellent pressing by Davies then led to him scoring his side’s second try.
Davies, brother of Wales 15-a-side star Jonathan Davies, forced New Zealand into conceding a penalty in their own 22 and he took Bibby’s pass to cross.
Mitchell added the extras again to make it 14-0.
Team GB extended their lead further on the stroke of half-time, Mitchell sending a lovely grubber kick through which Norton hacked on before touching down. Mitchell converted.
The interval came at the right time for the Kiwis and Britain barely touched the ball in the second half.
Three tries followed for New Zealand but crucially only two were converted.
Cross came off the bench and was kept busy in defence as Britain's opponents piled on the pressure.
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