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Nick Jordan, in Las Vegas thanks to Air Pacific, the world's friendliest airline, and the Hard Rock Hotel

South Africa, without a win on the HSBC Sevens World Series since early 2009, hit the jackpot at the Sam Boyd Stadium beating crowd favourite Fiji 24-14 in the Cup Final.

Captain Kyle Brown was very proud of his team, reduced to 10 men for the final day after injuries to Steven Hunt and Petrus Engelbrecht.

"We stuck to the game plan which was to go right back to the basics," said Brown, who had scored a critical try in the semi final win over England. "Defence is one of the fundamentals of the game so we tried to reduce their number of opportunities and hold on to the ball as long as we could. We know Fiji loves to play off turnovers so we stuck to our guns."

South Africa produced a pair of aces when it counted in the final, with Cecil Afrika and Branco de Preez scoring in the first five minutes. Watisoni Votu struck back for Fiji but the exciting Paul Jordaan was the joker in the pack with a stunning run to set up Chris Dry for a critical try just before halftime.

"Jordaan is unbelievable and when you have Cecil and Branco making plays on the inside that is a real attacking force that could be something to be reckoned with in the future," said Brown.

Fiji lost captain Emosi Vucago at halftime and conceded a series of ruck penalties which were costly. Although Mitieli Nacagilevu scored for Fiji, the Bokke were always in charge and Bernardo Botha sealed the victory with a try in the corner.

Fijian legend Waisale Serevi, in Vegas to launch serevirugbynation.com, said the loss of Vucago was a crucial moment.

"When Fiji was playing catch-up rugby there was no-one there to control the game on the field," said the Maestro who was nevertheless very proud of his countrymen.

"Fiji played their hearts out against the big guns of the tournament and they were much, much better than last week," he said. "They had their chances in the final and kicked away possession three times which was critical."

Serevi believes coach Iliesa Tanivula should be pleased with the tournament, despite some in Fiji calling for the coach's head.

"It's not for me to say (whether he should stay)but overall this performance was very positive for Tanivula. It's also the players on the field to decide when to kick and when to take opportunities, it's not up to the coach."

ENGLAND AND NEW ZEALAND STAY IN CHARGE

England and New Zealand remain joint leaders of the Series after both exited in the semi finals.

"Yes, that keeps the Series alive and keeps us on an even keel but it's disappointing not to be in the final, " said England's Chris Cracknell after the 10-17 loss to South Africa. "We faltered a litle bit, didn't hit our straps and they did their job and did what they are good at. They had obviously done their homework, took our legs away from us and slowed the ball up.

"We did well in the first half to lead 10-0 but didn't continue it in the second and didn't put together a 14-minute performance."

Afrika and Brown scored tries for the Bokke with du Preez adding a penalty late in the match. Dan Norton and Tom Powell scored England's tries.

Gordon Tietjens expressed similar senitments after a heavy 7-26 loss to Fiji in the second semi. Burotu, Lutumailagi, Nacagilevu and Matawalu scored for Fiji in their first win over New Zealand since Edinburgh 2009.

"Going away equal top is a bit of a plus," said the New Zealand coach. "To have England get ahead of us would have been a little disappointing. Fiji were desperate and were up for it and we had three opportunities but their defence caused pressure and we couldn't finish. They took their opportunities and that was the difference.

"We got ourselves a little isolated which hurt us and when you miss first-up tackles against Fiji they punish you," continued Tietjens. "That was the best I've seen them play for a long time and it was their day today."

CROWD CHEERS HOME HEROES

Defending champions Samoa salvaged 12 Series points after beating Kenya 26-15 to win the Plate, Scotland won their second Bowl of the season 19-14 against Canada and hosts USA took home silverware beating Japan 19-12 in the Shield final.

The crowd, although a little down on Saturday, enthusiastically supported the hosts and coach Al Caravelli hopes they will return next year to see a triumph in a higher competition.

"The weekend is amazing and hopefully the fan numbers will grow, we will attract more athletes and get more sponsors with it being on network TV." ?

Cup Final

South Africa 24 Fiji 14

Semi finals

South Africa 17 England 10

Fiji 26 New Zealand 7

Plate Final

Samoa 26 Kenya 17

Semi finals

Kenya 24 Australia 21

Samoa 26 Argentina 14

Bowl Final

Scotland 19 Canada 14

Semi finals

Canada 22 France 14

Scotland 17 Wales 12

Quarter finals

France 19 Uruguay 12

Canada 19 USA 15

Scotland 28 Japan 7

Wales 54 Guyana 0

Shield Final

USA 19 Japan 12

Semi finals

USA 24 Uruguay 7

Japan 24 Guyana 7

HSBC Sevens World Series

England 80

New Zealand 80

Fiji 64 Samoa 64

South Africa 56

Australia 36

Argentina 24

Wales 18

Kenya 12

Scotland 8

USA 6 ?

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