Fiji scored five tries in a breathless Cup final at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, beating South Africa 33-26 in round six of the HSBC Sevens World Series on Sunday.
Captained by the impressive Osea Kolinisau, Fiji head into next weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens full of confidence after claiming their second Cup final of the season.
Defending champions South Africa (116) returned to the top of the Series standings by reaching the final to lead New Zealand by two points after the All Blacks Sevens (114) lost to England in the third place play-off.
Ben Ryan’s Fiji sit third (95), a further 19 points behind, with England on 85 points heading into round seven next weekend.
Earlier Neil Powell’s side beat England 17-0 as they booked their place in a fourth consecutive final while two DJ Forbes tries were not enough for New Zealand who suffered a 17-12 defeat in the Cup semi finals at the hands of Fiji.
Second successive Plate for Australia
Greg Jeloudev scored his eighth try of the weekend as Australia beat the USA 17-12 to win a second successive Plate on the HSBC Sevens World Series.
Earlier, Sam Myers scored two tries in their 36-0 defeat of Kenya in their semi final while Brett Thompson impressed for Matt Hawkins’ side as they came from 15-7 behind to claim a 28-15 defeat against neighbours Canada in their semi final.
Evans fires Wales to Bowl
Iolo Evans scored a match-winning try as he completed a hat-trick to give Wales a 28-21 victory against Scotland in the final of the Bowl.
James Johnstone scored two tries in the final for Scotland, but Wales left it late for the second time on day two having earlier beaten Japan 26-21 with Alex Webber scoring the winning try in sudden death extra time in the first semi final.
Lomano Lemeki had scored his second try of the match and fifth of the tournament to level the scores but Webber broke the hosts’ hearts to reach the final.
Earlier, Japan recorded their best-ever performance against a core side, beating Samoa 42-12 in the Bowl semi final to the delight of the home crowd in what was also a first win against the Pacific islanders in their 16th encounter.
Argentina beat Samoa in Shield final
Martin Rodriguez scored nine points as Los Pumas ended a disappointing Tokyo Sevens with some silverware, beating Samoa 26-0 in the Shield final.
Santiago Gomez Cora’s side booked their place in the final after Gaston Revol scored a penalty drop goal to record a 24-21 over Portugal having trailed 21-7.
It was only the third time Samoa have competed in the Shield in the history of the World Series and both sides will want to forget this weekend ahead of the Hong Kong Sevens next week.
IRB
