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

The South African Vipers made it a hat-trick of victories at the Singapore Cricket Club Sevens taking the Ablitt Cup for the third year in succession.

It was a repeat of the 2008 final on Sunday as the South Africans were up against the talented Fijian side, Davetalevu, who themselves have won the Ablitt Cup four times in the 62 editions of the competition. The mostly expatriate crowd rallied behind the Fijian team in an effort to create an upset.

But Vipers proved too good for Davetalevu again, controlling the game and showing superb aggression and discipline in defence in their 24-0 victory at the Padang.

The South Africans scored through Cecil Afrika (2), Bernado Botha (1) and Kyle Brown (1), making two conversions to take their score to 24.

"We're extremely pleased with our performances over the past two days," said Vipers coach Paul Treu. "We fielded new players this year to give them an opportunity to develop their skills.

"The SCC 7s has, since our participation, been a good platform for us to raise our standard of play. The competition has been really keen and we hope to return next year."

It was the final preperation for the South Africa, the reigning IRB Sevens World Series champions, ahead of the start of their 2009/10 campaign at the Dubai Sevens on 4-5 December.

Malaysian side Borneo Eagles took the plate, beating The Oriental Rongotai 31-5, while the bowl final was won by the Casuarina Cougars, who beat the East Arnhem Rugby Club 17-0.

The weekend was an emotional event for the Brunei Flying Kukris who recently returned from a tour of Afghanistan where they tragically lost two of their regiment. Serving out of Borneo the squad gathered before the commencement of their quarter-final to paying respect to their own squadron but also in tribute to Remberance Day which coincided with the weekend's tournament.

The schools' and colleges' tournament returned to the SCC 7s after a 15-year absence from the main SCC tournament umbrella, and Darwin's Nhulunbuy High School took the under-16 title while Tanglin Trust School reigned supreme in the under-18 category.