Fiji beat South Africa to win their first Cup final of the season as Australia take bronze.
Fiji beat the defending HSBC World Rugby Sevens series champions South Africa in a thrilling Cup final in Hamilton to secure their first tournament title of the new season.
It marked the men’s first Cup final win since Hong Kong in April 2017 and Fiji were at their free-flowing best to secure the title in front of anexhilarated crowd at the Waikato Stadium.
In the Cup final, the eventual tournament winners came back from 5-17 down at half-time. Three of their four tries were scored by the HSBC Player of the Final Alasio Sovita Naduva with Eroni Sau delivering the fourth.
After the full-time whistle their head coach Gareth Baber was pleased with their final performance and the two days as a whole.
“We did struggle at times in the tournament and won some close games but in the final in the second half we decided we were going to play better that South Africa and we did,” he said. “The teams character, belief and their love of their country came through and we knew we had the ability to score from anywhere. We had to believe in that and we got momentum in the tackle and in the contact areas.”
In the Bronze final Australia finished third after beating New Zealand 8-7 in dramatic fashion – James Stannard’s penalty drop goal after the final siren decided the match.
The Challenge Trophy Winners were the USA after day two victories over Spain, Papua New Guinea and Argentina, 31-12, in the Challenge Trophy final.
After four rounds Fiji move up to third in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings with South Africa extending their lead over second placed New Zealand to eight points, despite their loss in the final. The teams will reconvene in Las Vegas on 2-4 March and the USA Sevens is the fifth of 10 tournaments in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series .
CUP SEMI-FINALS
Fiji 14-12 New Zealand
The first Cup final was eagerly anticipated by the crowd and the fans in Hamilton were treated to a tight encounter between the sides placed second and fifth going into this tournament.
Fiji immediately gained possession from the kick-off and from it produced their first five-pointer. Alosio Sovita Naduva was metres short before recycling and Josua Vakurunabili finished a move that was packed with trademark Fijian offloading. The hosts hit back through Sam Dickson and as a result Amenoni Nasilasila’s conversion separated the two 7-5 at the break.
New Zealand started strongly in the second seven minutes. Vilimoni Koroi showed electric pace off the back of a ruck to secure their second try of the game, he would finish the day on 40 points, and that pushed them 7-12 ahead.
Almost instantly Fiji capitalised off a quick tap penalty and Mesulame Kunavula hit back. Nasilasila was once again on target with the conversion and that kick would ulltimately win them the game. Baber’s side had a final try chalked off after Regan Ware’s pressure forced Vatemo Ravouvou to spill the ball over the line but they held firm for the win.
Australia 5-24 South Africa
The second Cup semi-final was a rematch of last weekend’s Cup final in Sydney. Seven days ago Australia ran out 29-0 winners over South Africa but in Hamilton it was a different story.
The Blitzboks’ capitalised on two first-half errors to open the scoring. An overthrown lineout, and James Stannard losing his footing to create a gap, meant that Australia were punished with five-pointers from Cecil Afrika and Seabelo Senatla.
After a misjudged intercept attempt a yellow card followed for Senatla and with the extra man Tim Anstee took advantage before the first-half ended 5-10. Neil Powell’s team talk clearly was a strong one because the Blitzboks held Australia scoreless in the second seven minutes. Afrika and Kwagga Smith extended their lead and that set up a Cup final meeting with Fiji.
FINAL Results DAY TWO #Hamilton7s 04 February
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2018 Hamilton
Cup Final
F/T: FIJI 24 vs 17 SOUTH AFRICA
Bronze Final
F/T: NEW ZEALAND 07 vs 08 AUSTRALIA
5th Place Play-Off
F/T: SAMOA 19 vs 15 KENYA
Challenge Trophy Final
F/T: ARGENTINA 12 vs 31 USA
13th Place Play-Off
F/T: WALES 17 vs 19 FRANCE
13th Place Semi Finals
F/T: WALES 33 vs 07 RUSSIA
F/T: SPAIN 14 vs 19 FRANCE
Challenge Trophy Semi Finals
F/T: USA 42 vs 12 PAPUA NEW GUINEA
F/T: CANADA 12 vs 14 ARGENTINA
5th Place Semi Finals
F/T : SAMOA 22 vs 17 ENGLAND
F/T : KENYA 33 vs 19 SCOTLAND
Cup Semi Finals
F/T : AUSTRALIA 05 vs 24 SOUTH AFRICA
F/T : FIJI 14 vs 12 NEW ZEALAND
Cup Quarter Finals
F/T: FIJI 12 vs 10 SAMOA
F/T: NEW ZEALAND 19 vs 12 ENGLAND
F/T: KENYA 12 vs 33 AUSTRALIA
F/T: SOUTH AFRICA 22 vs 00 SCOTLAND
Challenge Trophy Quarter Finals
F/T: WALES 14 vs 19 CANADA {A.E.T}
F/T: ARGENTINA 21 vs 12 RUSSIA
F/T: USA 29 vs 07 SPAIN
F/T: PAPUA NEW GUINEA 35 vs 00 FRANCE
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