Fiji dazzles to claim third World Crown
DAY THREE WRAP: Olympic champions Fiji turned on a dazzling display to win the Sevens World Cup after emphatic victories against Australia and New Zealand at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
Fiji overwhelmed Australia 38-14 in the semifinal, before romping to a 29-12 win over New Zealand in the Final.
It was Fiji’s third world title, but their first since 2005, while New Zealand had won the previous two editions in 2013 and 2018.
Fiji scored five tries against the All Blacks, whose defence had only been breached twice in their first three matches.
Fiji made a sensational start, scoring two tries in the first two minutes through Joseva Talacola and Kaminieli Rasaku.
Moses Leo hit back for New Zealand but Elia Canakaivata and Filipe Sauturaga crossed the All Blacks line again to give Fiji a 24-5 half-time lead.
Two yellow cards early in the second half threatened to undermine Fiji, but New Zealand’s Akuila Rokolisoa was also sent to the sin bin soon after he narrowed the deficit with a try.
Pilipo Bukayaro sealed victory for the Fijians in the last minute.
“This is huge for Fiji,” coach Ben Gollings said.
“The boys have been fantastic. We can score tries but we also have to stop them and it was a huge defensive performance.”
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Flying finish for @fijirugby! ✈️
Scenes were made in Cape Town thanks to Fellipe Sauturaga!#HereToSevens | #RWC7s pic.twitter.com/Zy3nG8FYiA
— Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 (@WorldRugby7s) September 11, 2022
WOMEN
Strong-running Maddison Levi scored a hat-trick of tries as Australia denied New Zealand a third successive women’s title. Australia won 24-22 after both teams scored four tries.
Faith Nathan scored Australia’s fourth try while Kelly Brazier, Stacey Fluhler, Shiray Kaka and Alena Saili crossed for New Zealand.
New Zealand trailed by 14 points with two minutes to play but hit back with two tries, the last by Saili almost two minutes after the final hooter.
Tenika Willison narrowly missed a conversion attempt which would have taken the match to extra time.
She is just too strong! 💪
Faith Nathan reaps the rewards for @Aussie7s as New Zealand just can’t bring down Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea 🇦🇺#RWC7s | #HereToSevens pic.twitter.com/Z5vM6vr3x0
— Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 (@WorldRugby7s) September 11, 2022
SEMIFINALS
In the men’s semifinals, Fiji scored six tries against Australia, with their handling and switches of direction enabling them to outclass the Australians.
New Zealand had a more difficult semi-final, beating tenacious Ireland 17-10 with Ngarohi McGarvey-Black scoring their three tries.
Ireland went on to claim the bronze medal, beating Australia 19-14.
Argentina took fifth place with a 10-7 win against France, while hosts South Africa ended a disappointing campaign with a 35-5 rout of Samoa in the seventh-place contest.
England, eliminated by Ireland in their opening match on Friday, won the Challenge final for teams which failed to reach the quarterfinals, by defeating Uruguay 28-5.
In three matches after being knocked out of contention for the main trophy they scored 99 points and conceded only five.
France took the women’s bronze medal with a 29-7 win against the United States after being beaten 38-7 by New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Day Three results
Men
Championship
Final: Fiji 29 New Zealand 12
Third-place: Ireland 19 Australia 14
Fifth-place: Argentina 10 France 7
Seventh-place: South Africa 35 Samoa 5
Semifinals
New Zealand 17 Ireland 10
Fiji 38 Australia 14
Challenge Cup
Ninth-place: England 28 Uruguay 5
Eleventh-place: United States 26 Kenya 19
Thirteenth-place: Canada 12 Chile 10
Fifteenth-place: Wales 24 Scotland 21
Bowl
Seventeenth-place: Uganda 19 Germany 12
Nineteenth-place: Hong Kong 19 Tonga 0
Twenty-first-place: South Korea 12 Portugal 10
Twenty-third-place: Zimbabwe 31 Jamaica 17
Women
Championship
Final: Australia 24 New Zealand 22
Third-place: France 29 United States 7
Fifth-place: Fiji 53 Canada 0
Seventh-place: Ireland 26 England 10
Semifinals
New Zealand 38 France 7
Australia 17 United States 7
Challenge
Ninth-place: Japan 17 Poland 12
Eleventh-place: Brazil 19 Spain 17
Thirteenth-place: China 21 South Africa 19
Fifteenth-place: Madagascar 19 Colombia 12
