Aussies edge Boks in dramatic Final
Sun, 23 May 2010 14:40
Australia have beaten South Africa in a dramatic Cup Final at Twickenham on Sunday, to claim their first IRB Sevens World Series tournament title in eight years.
In a Final that saw the lead change hands several times, the Aussies edged the Boks 19-14 - courtesy of a Henry Vanderglas try with less than two minutes on the clock.
It was also the Boks' first appearance in a Cup Final this year, after they had failed to advance past the quarterfinal in the previous six tournaments - having won the series outright last year.
South Africa reached the Final with an impressive 24-12 win over Samoa, while the Aussies knocked Argentina out by the same margin - 26-14.
Samoa took a step closer to the overall Series title when they knocked out their nearest challengers, New Zealand, 19-10 in dramatic fashion in the quarterfinal, ensuring their will take a handy seven-point lead into next week's final competition in Scotland.
New Zealand won a famous victory against Fiji in the Plate Final, Sherwin Stowers sprinting clear well after the final hooter had sounded to a two-point win and keep alive New Zealand's hopes of winning a ninth World Series. They will win the 2009/2010 season should they take the Edinburgh Cup title and Samoa fail to reach the Cup final in Murrayfield.
Canada beat Portugal in the Bowl Final and Kenya beat France to claim the Shield.
We bring you all the play-off action!
Bowl quarterfinals:
Portugal beat Italy in the first match of day two with a 41-0 victory. Sebastiao de Cunha scored the first try of the day and Joseph Gardener and Francisco Serra both crossed twice to set up an encounter against Scotland who beat France 21-12.
Canada recorded the same margin of victory over Russia and will play USA who beat Kenya 19-10. Blaine Scully crossed twice for the Americans and although Kenya hit back through Brian Nyikuli and Victor Sudi Simiyu in the second half, Al Caravelli's side held on to progress to set up an all-American semifinal with Canada.
Results:
Match 25: Italy 0-41 Portugal
Match 26: Scotland 21-12 France
Match 27: Canada 21-12 Russia
Match 28: Kenya 10-19 United States
Cup quarterfinals:
In front of over 40,000 fans at Twickenham, hosts and defending champions England bowed out of the Cup competition, beaten 17-12 by South Africa.
With the score still 0-0 England captain Ben Gollings saw yellow midway through the first half and in his absence the Boks took control of the match.
MJ Mentz scored a first try and they led 17-0 at the half after tries from Ryno Benjamin and Cecil Afrika. England hit back through Tom Varndell, but South Africa slowed play down cleverly and Tom Powell's late try - when South Africa were reduced to five men with two yellow cards - was nothing more than a consolation.
Australia's Clinton Sills and Watison Votu of Fiji both crossed for hat-tricks in a pulsating second quarterfinal but Sills scored his third dramatically in the last minute to secure a 29-28 victory.
In a repeat of the RWC Sevens 2009 final, Argentina booked their place in the semifinals with a 27-14 victory over Wales, including just the second penalty kick on this year's Series through Joaquin Todeschini.
New Zealand continued to struggle against Samoa, as the race for the Series title is set to go down to the wire next week. Tim Mikkelson opened the scoring for the Kiwis, before Mikaele Pesamino put the Samoans ahead just before the break. Kurt Baker scored a crucial early try for the Kiwis as they took the lead, 10-7, before Reupena Levasa put the Pacific Islanders back in the lead and Ofisa Treviranus sealed the win a minute from time.
Results:
Match 29: Argentina 27-14 Wales
Match 30: Australia 29-28 Fiji
Match 31: South Africa 17-12 England
Match 32: New Zealand 10-19 Samoa
Shield semifinals:
France and Kenya will compete in the Shield final after France beat Italy 29-7 in the first semi final with Camille Canivet scoring a hat trick of tries, and Kenya beat Russia 21-17 in the second semi final.
Results:
Match 33: Italy 7-29 France
Match 34: Russia 17-21 Kenya
Bowl semifinals:
Canada recorded a dramatic 22-17 victory over rivals USA in the first sudden death extra time of the weekend.
Locked at 17-17 after 14 minutes, USA looked to have won it before Phil Mack made an incredible cover tackle. Canada's Sean Duke then sprinted the entire length of the pitch to put them into the final.
Portugal booked their place in the Bowl final after a 24-19 victory over next weekend's hosts Scotland.
Results:
Match 35: Portugal 24-19 Scotland
Match 36: Canada 22-17 US
Plate semifinals:
Fiji won through to the final of the Plate by beating Wales 22-10. The Welsh were competitive throughout but the Fijians enjoyed the edge, Apisai Naiyabo scoring a brace of tries.
England then suffered double heartbreak, losing to New Zealand 19-22 in the second Plate semi Kurt Baker's length of the field try sealing victory in the dying seconds when captain Ben Gollings looked to have inspired a home win.
Results:
Match 37: Wales 10-22 Fiji
Match 38: England 19-22 New Zealand
Cup semifinals:
Australia were the first side through to the London Cup final, beating Argentina 26-14 to reach their first IRB Sevens Cup final since February 2002 in Brisbane.
Clinton Sills and Watisoni Votu of Fiji both crossed for hat-tricks in a pulsating quarterfinal which the Wallabies won in the last minute 29-28 and in the semifinal against Argentina Sills added two more tries to take his tally to nine for the tournament, but looked to be suffering from a leg injury in the latter stages.
South Africa reached their first Final of the season with tries from Cecil Afrika, Ryno Benjamin, Chris Dry and Fabian Juries.
Afrika opened the scoring, Alafoti Fa'osiliva replied for Samoa and Benjamin scored late in the first half in this ding-dong battle. Dry opened the second half with an early score, as the Boks put their stamp on the game, but Fa'osiliva's second try brought the Samoans back in the game till veteran Juries showed his class with a kick-'n-chase that sealed the win for South Africa.
Fixtures:
Match 39: Argentina 14-26 Australia
Match 40: South Africa 24-12 Samoa
Shield Final:
Captain Humphrey Kayange's two tries inspired Kenya to come from behind against France and Dennis Mwanja's score at the death sealed a dramatic 24-21 win in the Shield final for Kenya against France. Earlier the Kenyans came from behind to beat Russia 21-17.
Result:
Match 41: France 21-24 Kenya
Bowl Final:
Canada followed a dramatic 22-17 semifinal victory over rivals USA to beat Portugal 19-17 and claim the London Bowl title.
Sean Duke's supreme pace was a welcome addition to the Canada squad, which was again impeccably led by captain Phil Mack. Portugal hit back to lead 17-12 late on, but Justin Mensah-Coker's try sealed the win.
Result:
Match 42: Portugal 17-19 Canada
Plate Final:
New Zealand won a famous victory against Fiji in the Plate final, Sherwin Stowers sprinting clear well after the final hooter had sounded to clinch a 26-24 win when Isake Katonibau's try looked to have given Fiji the win with only 30 seconds remaining.
In clawing back the victory New Zealand also kept alive their hopes of claiming a ninth IRB Sevens World Series title. They will win the 2009/2010 season should they take the Edinburgh Cup title and Samoa fail to reach the Cup final in Murrayfield, although Samoa do now lie seven points clear.
Result:
Match 43: Fiji 24-26 New Zealand
Cup Final:
Australia won their first IRB tournament in eight years when they beat South Africa 19-14 in a dramatic Cup Final at Twickenham on Sunday - the lead changing hands several times before a Henry Vanderglas try secured the win.
Australia suffered an early setback when they lost Clinton Sills to a knock, as he staggered off the field groggily. South Africa piled on the early pressure with some big hits and their physical play seemed to count.
However, as the referee waved off a head-high tackle on Frankie Horne - after a chip-'n-chase on Fabian Juries - Brackin Karauria-Henry used the loose ball to sprint clear for an 80-metre try. Horne also left the field in groggy state.
A string of penalties against the Springboks halted any momentum they would have built up, as their discipline let them down at breakdown.
It took a moment of magic from replacement Fabian Juries - a chip-'n-chase from the veteran and a favourable bounce giving the Boks their first try - 7-all at the break.
Australia also scored first in the second half, with James Stannard sprinting down the blind side from a scrum and shrugged of an attempted tackle to put the Aussies back in front.
And another magical Juries moment - a pick-up from a ruck, a blindside break, a step-and-go and he was clear for the Boks' second try. The conversion made it 14-12 to South Africa.
Henry Vanderglas scored the next try, some great support play after a couple of penalties against the South Africans at the breakdown again, the conversion making it 19-14.
James Stannard then pulled off a match-saving tackle as the Boks pushed for a long-range try.
Wild celebrations erupted in the Aussies camp as another penalty, turned into a line-out and a ball hacked into touch ended a very exciting Final.
Result:
Match 44: Australia 19-14 South Africa
With thanks to the IRB
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