SA win USA Sevens to lead World Series
South Africa defended their USA Sevens title in style in Las Vegas, winning a thrilling Cup final 14-7 against reigning Series champions, New Zealand.
In winning a second successive tournament title this season, South Africa assume a one-point lead over New Zealand in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings. They also extend their winning streak against the kiwis to five matches, stretching back to December 2012.
Scott Curry gave New Zealand the lead in a bruising final at the Sam Boyd Stadium, but tries by Branco du Preez and Werner Kok were enough to seal the South Africans’ title defence as they conceded just 14 points en route to their victory. .
Powell’s side reached the Cup final in Las Vegas with a 14-0 win over the 2010 an 2012 USA Sevens champions Samoa.
A try either side of half time from Chris Dry and Sampie Mastriet ensured the blitzbokke reached a third final in four years still having conceded just one try in their first five matches.
New Zealand set up a repeat last year’s Cup final coming from 7-0 behind to beat Canada, appearing in only their second Cup semi final, 26-7 including two tries from Bryce Heem.
Canada went on to finish third, their highest-ever finish at a World Series event, coming from 12-0 behind to beat Samoa 22-19 and claim 17 Series points thanks to Phil Mack, named in the Las Vegas Dream Team, scoring a penalty drop goal with the last play of the match to take his tally to 11 in the match.
England claim silverware in Las Vegas
England overcame Australia 26-24 thanks to 11 points from the Series leading points scorer Tom Mitchell and collected 13 Series points to take their tally to 53 for the season.
Peter Schuster sent Australia through to the Plate final with a try in sudden death extra time after Michael O’Connor’s side had finished the normal 14 minutes locked at 19-19 with Argentina.
England booked their place in the final with a 21-12 win over France.
Fiji impressive in Bowl
Five different try scorers crossed the line for Fiji as they beat Kenya 35-0 in the final of the Bowl.
Having been knocked out of the Cup, much to the disappointment of coach Ben Ryan, Fiji came out firing on the third and final day and beat Wales 40-12 in their semi final with six different players scoring.
In the other semi final Kenya came from 7-0 behind to reach the Bowl final after tries from Dennis Ombachi, Billy Odhiambo and Collins Injera secured a 21-7 win against Scotland.
Host celebrate Shield
Zack Test and the USA saved their best for the third and final day of their home tournament, beating Spain 31-0 in the final of the Shield with Test scoring two tries to the delight of the home crowd at the Sam Boyd Stadium.
Matt Hawkins’ side earlier defeated Uruguay 28-14 with tries from Test (2), Brett Thompson and Carlin Isles as they claimed important Series points.
In the other semi final Spain beat their neighbours Portugal 19-12 to reach the final with Francisco Hernandez scoring nine points.
Courtesy of IRB
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