England beat Fiji in Dubai thriller

Two yellow cards end Fijian challenge

England started the 2004/05 International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens series by winning the Dubai Sevens on Friday. England beat Fiji, who were twice reduced to six men, by 26-21 in a thrilling Final.

In the other Finals Tunisia took the Shield after beating Ireland 17-5, Portugal won the Bowl with a 10-5 extra-time victory over France and Samoa won the Plate when they beat Argentina 21-19.

It was a nervous start by both teams in the Cup Final. They opted for speculative kicks rather than creative play. But the Fijians soon found space and one of those kicks were collected by Kameli Ratuvou, who raced over for the first try.

But England came back through a piece of individual brilliance by Pat Sanderson, who stood up strong in the tackle and then broke free to score for England.

The next crucial play was a late tackle on the England captain Simon Amor, which earned Fijian Saiasi Fuli a yellow card and left his team a man short.

This numerical advantage was exploited by England, with newcomer Neil Starling and Mathew Tait scoring in quick succession to see the score advance to 19-7 at the break.

England took a huge leap towards the title when Rob Thirlby scored four minutes into the second half to stretch their lead further.

But Fiji weren't done yet and a brilliant scored by newcomer Marika Vakacegu saw the gap narrow to 26-14 - giving the Islanders a sniff of hope.

Another score, by Neumi Nanuku, straight afterwards saw the score close even further to 26-21.

Then came another crucial ruling by New Zealand referee Gary Wise - who was the yellow card king of the play-offs - when he sin-binned a second Fijian.

Even though the Fijians tried bravely, they simply could not find the space to score the winner.

* In the Cup semi-finals Fiji performed brilliantly to overwhelm top-seeds New Zealand and storm to a well-deserved 22-12 victory, while a late Peter Richards try - after South Africa were reduced to six men - sealed England's 14-5 win over the defending champions.

In the first semi-final the Fijians showed their intent from the outset. In the opening stages Neumi Nanuku scored a try to set the tone. The Kiwis showed patience and managed to go ahead through a converted try - scored by Tafai Ioasa.

But tries either side of the break, by Tuidriva Bainivalu and Mosese Luveitasau, saw the Fijians take a 17-7 lead. The Kiwis pulled another one back, by Sosene Anesi, but a another score by Nanuku saw the Fijians home.

In the second semi-final it was England who got off to a flying start when they made good use of turnover ball to send Tony Roques away for the first score. The conversion made it 7-0. But South Africa hit straight back when their captain Marc de Marigny powered his way over to narrow the gap to 7-5 - which was also the half-time score.

The turning point in the game came when referee Gary Wise saw fit to sin-bin South Africa's Lesley Jackson - a decision many would question, certainly the South Africans will.

The result was that England used their numerical advantage to score the winner, with Peter Richards the man to be credited with the try that made it 14-5.

* Earlier all the big guns advanced safely into the semi-finals.

New Zealand continued their march to the Final when they trounced a hopelessly outclassed Scotland 31-0. The Scots tried bravely, as they always do, but the Kiwis simply had too much pace and power and seemed to have the ability to score at will.

The next quarter-final was a lot more exciting, with Samoa taking an early 7-0 lead against fellow Pacific Islanders Fiji. But in the end the class of the Fijians came through and they scored twice to steal a hard-earned 14-7 win.

South Africa needed to come back twice for their hard-stopping 19-12 win against the hard-working Argentineans. The Pumas went up 5-0, before Mzwandile Stick scored the first of his three tries. Stick added the conversion for a 7-5 lead. The Pumas scored and converted to take a 12-7 lead, before Stick scored his second to level the scores.

Then, with the Pumas down to six men after Stick was kicked as he went over for his second score, the Bok flyer completed his hat-trick and added the conversion to clinch the game.

It was Stick's second hat-trick of the tournament and he has now scored 38 points in this his fifth appearance in Dubai. He has 104 points to his credit in this desert classic.

England simply had too much pace for the young Australian outfit and ran out comfortable 24-5 winners.

But the game was marred by two moments of madness - one on either side.

The first "brain explosion" came from England, when over-elaboration saw Geoff Appleford dropping the ball inside the Australian in-goal area and so gave up a certain try.

Then there was Australian Josh Gamgee's moment of madness, when an equally wild pass saw Ugo Monye of England receive the ball in acres of open space to jog over for the softest of tries.

Day Two results:

Bowl quarter-finals:
Canada 14-17 France
Ireland 19-29 Kenya
Portugal 5-0 Tunisia
Uganda 21-14 Arabian Gulf

Cup quarter-finals:
New Zealand 31-0 Scotland
Fiji 14-7 Samoa
Argentina 12-19 South Africa
England 24-5 Australia

Shield semi-finals:
Canada 17-24 Ireland
Tunisia 31-0 Arabian Gulf

Bowl semi-finals:
France 17-7 Kenya
Portugal 38-0 Uganda

Plate semi-finals:
Scotland 15-33 Samoa
Argentina 24-19 Australia

Cup semi-finals:
New Zealand 12-22 Fiji
South Africa 5-14 England

Shield Final:
Ireland 5-17 Tunisia

Bowl Final:
France 5-10 Portugal

Plate Final:
Samoa 21-19 Argentina

Cup Final:
Fiji 21-26 England