South Africa were eliminated in the semifinal of the IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai on Saturday against New Zealand, who then went on to beat Fiji 31-21 in the final.
New Zealand, who had earlier tackled South Africa out of contention to win their semifinal clash 12-7, ran in three converted tries in the first half of the final. A yellow card to Fiji’s Neumi Nanuku with a try from the ensuing penalty in the first move after the break saw the All Blacks in a seemingly safe position at 26-0.
But then Fiji cut loose, and within four minutes had taken the score to 26-21. A try to New Zealand with less than two minutes remaining put the result beyond doubt.
In the Plate final, Argentina inflicted a second surprise defeat on Samoa to win 15-14.
Samoa had advanced to the Plate final after beating Scotland 28-19. They were earlier surprised in the quarters by an England side (26-19) that seemed to have taken up a step from day one.
The Bowl was won by Australia, who overran Canada 31-0 in a match between two sides who dished up some good fare mixed with some poor rugby in the tournament. It was probably the Wallabies’ best show of the tournament, and arguably Canada’s poorest.
Zimbabwe, who came close to beating Kenya and also nearly shocked Australia in the pool stages, had some consolation when they beat Tunisia 22-19 to win the Shield — justice indeed for a side that deserves better than just two IRB tournaments per year.
Earlier, the All Blacks won the semifinal against the Springboks 12-7 to set them up for yet another final against Fiji after the latter had beaten England 22-21 in a match that saw a penalty try awarded to England for the holding back of a player in the very first minute.
The semifinal between Fiji and England was probably more entertaining to the average spectator than the clash between the two southern hemisphere sides, but the aggression, guts and uncompromising tackling of both the Springboks and All Blacks made up for the lack of free running in the clash between the two old foes.
It was obvious that New Zealand tried to capitalise on the lack of bulk of the smaller South African backs, and to starve the Springbok speedsters of possession. It worked to a tee with a number of turnovers coming at the tackle-ball breakdown.
South Africa were, however, unlucky to have a late try disallowed for a forward pass, but justice was probably done in the end as the pressure from New Zealand wore down the Springboks.
In the quarterfinals on Saturday, South Africa survived a late try by Kenya to scrape home 17-15 to set up the semifinal against New Zealand, who beat Argentina 40-7, and Fiji were far too strong for Scotland (28-5) after Samoa had lost to England. — Sapa