IRB Sevens - Day Two, Wellington

Fiji beat Boks in extra time

Waisale Serevi's Fijian side claimed their second consecutive title when they beat South African 27-22 in extra time in a thrilling Final at the Wellington Sevens - Round Three of the 2005/06 IRB Sevens series.

South Africa had contested their first Cup Final of the 2005/06 Sevens season, while Fiji reached their third - having lost to England in the Dubai Final and beat Argentina in George.

Saturday's result in Wellington means Fiji are now on 56 points on the IRB standings, 16 clear of their closest rivals - England and South Africa, who share second place.

Paul Treu's South African team appeared slightly nervous and the Fijians capitalised fully with William Ryder the star of the first half.

The final was a marvellous advert for the game, and also for the remarkable talents of William Ryder and the never-say-die attitude of Paul Treu's men.

Serevi's young protegé scored a try early on, which was cancelled out by a fine Fabian Juries effort, but responded with a fine run to the line for his second and then cut loose in midfield to give a mesmeric blind pass, which set free Dranivasa for his side's third and a 17-5 half-time lead.

The second period saw South Africa rally though, and Juries scored again before Ryder capped a thrilling display with his hat-trick with little over two minutes to go.

But Burger pulled one back to make it 22-17 and then, in a thrilling climax, Gio Aplan went over to make it 22-22. Basson missed the conversion and golden try time followed.

Basson kicked clear and attacked and so nearly scored, but Serevi, now on the field, calmed his side, and looked for Neumi Nanuku, who first jinxed clear and then sprinted the length of the pitch beyond the despairing Basson.

New Zealand's failure to defend their title on home ground now places serious question mark over their ability to retain the overall IRB title. Before the start of the Wellington tournament the table-topping Fijians already had a 22-point lead over the Kiwis and it now appears that only England and South Africa can still steal the title from the South Sea Islanders.

DAY TWO - RESULTS/REPORTS:
(All times are local - GMT+13)

CUP COMPETITION:

In the semi-finals the Boks overwhelmed the French, who were forced to play much of the game in their own half and never came to terms with South Africa's physical approach, twice falling prey to the quick-fire Fabian Juries, who looks back to his impish best.

Fiji then snuffed out any hope of a fourth consecutive Wellington title for New Zealand as Neumi Nanuku struck twice in their 26-14 semi-final win. New Zealand captain Tafai Ioasa was again outstanding and, in the likes of Lote Raikabula, Corey Jane and Zar Lawrence, new stars loom on the horizon, but Fiji were deserving winners on the day.

Earlier in the quarter-finals Gordon Tietjens laid on another coaching masterclass in guiding his young side of newcomers past the stern challenge of an experienced Argentina side and into the Cup semi-finals. Lote Raikabula proved the match-winner, with Corey Jane and Zar Lawrence providing the vital ingredient of pace.

The home side then faced the daunting prospect of Fiji in the semi-final after Neumi Nanuku created a try from nothing to win the game for Waisale Serevi's men after Australia had done so well to bring the score back to 14-14.

Earlier, France stole through to the Cup semi-finals by producing a fine performance to beat top seeds England 19-14. With Dulin once again instrumental, Malzieu proved the difference as England struggled to contain the French and failed to claw back the deficit in a match which they never led.

France faced South Africa in the semis after Paul Treu's men overcame Samoa in the quarter-finals, somewhat fortuitously. Stefan Basson was too often all that stood between Samoa and victory and one senses that his teammates will have to lend him more support if they are to progress any further.

Cup quarter-finals:
M29: England 14-19 France
M30: South Africa 17-12 Samoa 
M31: NZ 26-12 Argentina
M32: Fiji 21-14 Australia

Cup semi-finals:
M39: France 5-28 South Africa
M40: NZ 14-26 Fiji

Cup Final:
M44: South Africa 22-27 Fiji (extra time)

PLATE COMPETITION:

Top seeds England overcame the disappointment of their quarter-final loss to France by beating Argentina 14-10 to capture the Plate trophy.

Mathew Tait put Mike Friday's men ahead within seconds of the start, only for Francisco Bosch to pull one back for the Pumas.

Andy Vilk then struck for a 14-5 lead, but again the resilient Argentineans responded through Pablo Gomez Cora. But England held on in the face of a late onslaught and take eight series points to add to the 32 they brought to Wellington.

England and Argentina contested the Plate Final, after both registered 21-17 wins in fine semi-finals.

England beat Samoa in the first, Nils Mordt and Luke Narraway outstanding so early on in only their first season of IRB Sevens, while Argentina held on against another strong Australian performance, Lobbe, Bosch and Gomez Cora just about getting the better of Gamgee, Mackay, Reily and co.

Plate semi-finals:
M37: England 21-17 Samoa
M38: Argentina 21-17 Australia

Plate Final:
M43: England 14-10 Argentina

BOWL COMPETITION:

The Bowl Final between Scotland and Canada was always going to be a tight affair and with the sides locked at 5-5 after 14 minutes of energy-sapping Sevens, golden try extra time ensued and a try to Scotland's rampaging Ross Rennie captured the trophy and the two points on the standings.

Earlier Scotland and Canada booked their places in the Bowl final with wins over Kenya and Cook Islands. Rory Lawson inspired Rob Moffat's men to a 52-0 win over the Kenyans, before giant wing Justin Mensah-Coker proved too much of a handful for the Cooks as Canada won through 33-10.

In the quarter-finals Scotland had survived a scare, coming from behind late in the second half to beat Niue 14-12 and set up the clash with Kenya, who had produced their only performance of note to beat fancied Tonga 15-14.

Cook Islands and Canada had won respective quarter-final victories against USA 43-5 and PNG 33-10.

Bowl quarter-finals:
M25: Scotland 14-12 Niue
M26: Tonga 14-15 Kenya
M27: Cook Islands 43-5 USA
M28: Canada 33-10 PNG

Bowl semi-finals:
M35: Scotland 52-0 Kenya
M36: Cook Islands 10-33 Canada

Bowl Final:

M42: Scotland 10-5 Canada

SHIELD COMPETITION:

Having won through to the Final of the Shield with respective wins over Niue 21-14 and USA 15-12, South Sea islanders Tonga and Papua New Guinea produced a match of genuine class for the day's first Final. The lead exchanged hands throughout, but Tonga finally wrapped up a deserved success with Kaufusi's try, 19-14.

Tonga had, of course, only been denied a place in the Cup quarter-finals by Argentina's rallying win over South Africa late on day one, after the Tongans had themselves opened up the competition by beating the Pumas.

Shield semi-finals:
M33: Niue 14-21 Tonga
M34: USA 12-15 PNG

Shield Final:

M41: Tonga 19-14 PNG

DAY ONE - RESULTS:

POOL A:
(England, Australia, Scotland, Papua New Guinea)

England 12-5 Scotland 
Australia 24-10 Papua New Guinea 
England 64-0 Papua New Guinea 
Australia 22-12 Scotland 
Scotland 34-12 Papua New Guinea 
England 19-7 Australia 

POOL B:
(Fiji, France, Canada, Niue)

Fiji 28-14 Canada 
France 26-17 Niue 
Fiji 52-0 Niue 
France 19-7 Canada 
Canada 38-7 Niue 
Fiji 21-7 France 

POOL C:
(New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya, Cook Islands)

New Zealand 28-5 Kenya 
Samoa 26-19 Cook Islands
New Zealand 41-7 Cook Islands 
Samoa 50-10 Kenya 
Kenya 7-43 Cook Islands 
New Zealand 5-5 Samoa 

POOL D:
(South Africa, Argentina, Tonga, USA)

South Africa 38-14 Tonga 
Argentina 29-17 USA 
South Africa 38-5 USA 
Argentina 12-21 Tonga 
Tonga 19-17 USA 
South Africa 0-7 Argentina