• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

Nick Jordan

A remarkable penalty goal from veteran Tomasi Cama gave New Zealand a thrilling 22-19 win over England in the Cup Final at George.

With the scores locked at 19-19, and Kiwi Bryce Heem in the sinbin, the 30-year old Cama, playing in his 33rd IRB tournament, held his nerve to strike the winning goal. It gave the Kiwis back-to-back titles in South Africa and came at the end of a pulsating final where England led 14-0 at one stage.

Gordon Tietjens' side fought back through scores to youngster Declan O'Donnell, crucially right on halftime, and captain DJ Forbes. Tim Mikkelson gave the Kiwis the lead but Mat Turner's late score tied up the match before the Cama tie-breaker.

"Fair play to New Zealand getting the penalty although we let them in at the end," said England coach Ben Ryan.

"I'm proud of our lads as they performed really well. We wanted to play even though we could have kicked for touch and gone to extra time but you back yourselves and unfortunately that's what happens."

England retain the lead in the HSBC Sevens World Series Series after two tournaments with 44 points ahead of New Zealand on 40, Samoa 36 and Fiji 32. South Africa round out the top five with 24. In the semis New Zealand had produced a similar late finish to knock out Fiji. Having trailed 5-12 at halftime and with the score locked at 19-19, Jackson Ormond scored the try to thrill the hundreds of Kiwi fans at Outeniqua Park.

"It was heartbreaking for us but credit to New Zealand as they managed to get up," said Iliesa Tanivula. "There's been a lot of improvement for us and we can look at the positives and hopefully come back strong in Wellington."

England beat Samoa for the second time in a week 22-12 in their semi final. Dan Caprice, Iso Damudamu and John Brake scored tries and Ben Gollings kicked a critical penalty goal to repeat their Dubai victory.

"England really played well today," said Samoan coach Stephen Betham.

"We could have done better but that's rugby and we just have to refocus and come back for Wellington. Some young players stepped up in Dubai and George and we should have the services of Lolo Lui, Rupeni Levasa and even Uale Mai back for Wellington."

The Plate competition threw up some of the best games of the tournament, in some of the toughest conditions. Cecil Afrika scored a hat-trick for South Africa in the semi-final against Wales who lead 21-17 as the hooter sounded thanks to tries from Tom Isaacs, Richie Pugh and Aaron Shingler.

The 70kg Afrika went over in the final play of the match to the delight of the boorish George crowd to win 22-21 and book a second successive Plate final. Argentina also won their semi after the buzzer had sounded when Diego Palma scored the try that drew them level with Australia at 12-12.

Joaquin Todeschini landed the decisive conversion for the Pumas in a match played in pouring rain. Afrika, scorer of seven tries and a tournament-high 55 points, then missed the Plate final through injury but his teammates claimed the 12 points on offer beating Argentina 10-5 in an enthralling final. Bernado Botha gave the Blitz Bokke the lead but Diego Palma drew the scores level at 5-5 early in the second half.

The home crowd were delighted when Frankie Horne crossed in the corner to seal a narrow win over the team they had put away 29-5 in pool play. "We were up at halftime in the quarter final so we are a bit disappointed, as were the crowd, and hopefully the players will learn from it," said coach Paul Treu after the Plate victory.

"But it is a final we've won and gives us momentum as we head into a break.

"We've exposed more players to international sevens and will start working with our under-18s next week but unfortunately we have lost Cecil Afrika who looks to be out for a while."

Earlier, the Cup quarter-finals were also exciting affairs. It had looked as though the first of the day, between the reigning Sevens World Series champions, Samoa, and current Rugby World Cup Sevens champions, Wales, would go to sudden death extra time.

Tom Isaacs gave Wales a 7-0 lead but two tries from Alafoti Fa'osiliva put Samoa in the driving seat.Ifan Evans drew the scores level before Simaika Mikaele broke Welsh hearts with the final play of the match after the buzzer had sounded.

England played a perfect second half to beat the hosts 19-10. The Dubai champions came from 5-0 and 10-5 behind with John Brake scoring two decisive tries. New Zealand beat Argentina 26-0 while Fiji easily accounted for Australia 33-5. Captain Emosi Vucago scored twice and Player of the Tournament Seremaia Burotu scored his eighth try of the tournament (he finished with nine).

Scotland defeated Russia 26-0 in the final of the Bowl thanks to tries from Andrew Skeen, Graham Fisken, captain Scott Riddell and Dougie Fife and won their first silverware since San Diego in 2006.

"The boys were fantastic today and ran their hearts out playing for their country and for each other," said Riddell. "Russia played really well in the final but we had a little more accuracy. It's been a long time since we won a Bowl."

Scotland had beaten Portugal 14-10 in a close semi-final. Fraser Harkness and Struan Dewar scored Scotland's two tries and it was Andrew Skeen with the decisive conversions that took them into the playoff for the four Series points. Earlier, they beat Namibia 14-5 with two tries to newcomer James Fleming, while Portugal captain Pedro Leal's conversion was the difference as they avenged a Shield semi final loss to Kenya last week with a 7-5 victory.

Russia overwhelmed France 34-0 in their semi final, with Vasily Artemyev and Vladimir Ostroushko each scoring twice, and Artemyev also scored two of Russia's five tries in their 25-7 victory over Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe went on to defet Kenya 14-5 to take the Shield trophy in an all-African affair.

Jaques Leitao gave Zimbabwe the lead although Brian Nyikuli hit back early in the second half to give Kenya hope. Gardener Nechironga secured victory for Zimbabwe and send Ben Ayimba's men home wondering how to get back to the glory days of 2008 and 2009 (where they made five Cup semis and a final).

Zimbabwe coach Liam Middleton said the experience gained would be invaluable as they look to improve their world standings.

"We're trying to put our hands up and be considered as one of the top African sides," he said.

"We've brought in a couple of real young players and the victory here is part of developing a team as we try and build for the next World Cup.

"To finish like this is outstanding for the whole team - it's the opposite feeling of last week's loss - and it was an awesome victory for us. We've seen little bits of our best game in this final which shows we can do it."

Both France and the USA went without silverware despite playing out a classic in their Bowl quarter. Renaud Delmas scored after the hooter had sounded to clinch a dramatic 19-17 victory for France after leading 14-0 at half time and seeing the USA take a lead 17-14 thanks to tries from Mark Bokhoven, Roland Suniula and Miles Craigwell.

The USA also suffered a heartbreaking 17-19 loss to Zimbabwe in another see-saw encounter.

"It's been a wonderful 10 days of sport and you see such a diversity of the tournaments," said Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship of HSBC.

"It's a real carnival and it's very pleasing to see Sevens being celebrated in such different places. "What I'm most excited about is that every tournament has it's own local feel to it but we see a lot of opportunity for growth. It's not at maximum level yet but my goodness you can see the path to get there."

Results

Cup

Quarter finals
Wales 14 - 19 Samoa
South Africa 10 - 19 England
New Zealand 26 - 0 Argentina
Fiji 33 - 5 Australia

Semi finals
Samoa 12 - 22 England
New Zealand 26 - 19 Fiji

Final
England 19 - 22 New Zealand

Plate

Semi finals
Wales 21 - 22 South Africa
Argentina 14 - 12 Australia

Final
South Africa 10 - 5 Argentina

Bowl

Quarter finals
Scotland 14 - 5 Namibia
Portugal 7 - 5 Kenya
Russia 25 - 7 Zimbabwe
USA 17 - 19 France

Semi finals
Scotland 14 - 10 Portugal
Russia 34 - 0 France

Final
Scotland 26 - 0 Russia

Shield

Semi finals
Namibia 0 - 41 Kenya
Zimbabwe 19 - 17 USA

Final
Kenya 5 - 14 Zimbabwe

International Rugby Sevens brought to you by Herbalife, nutrition for a better life