Fiji steal dramatic Vegas win

Coming back from being 0-15 down at half-time in the Cup Final, Fiji scored three converted second-half tries – two which started inside their own in-goal area – to edge Australia 21-15 in a dramatic Final.

It saw them edge clear of nearest rivals South Africa and New Zealand on the World Series standings – after the three teams came into the Vegas leg level on points.

The BlitzBoks finished third with a 21-10 win over hosts the United States and New Zealand on the Plate Final by beating Japan 27-7.

In the minor competitions Wales won the Bowl and Samoa the Shield.

* To read the semifinal reports, CLICK HERE!

All the finals on Day Three!

Cup Final – Fiji 21-15 Australia

It was a fierce start, with desperate defence from both sides having caused a number of early turnovers. It was Sam Myers who eventually broke the deadlock, as he stepped inside the cover defence in the third minute.

When Vatemo Ravouvou  was yellow-carded in the fourth minute for a spear tackle, Ed Jenkins fund both the space and pace to sprint over and stretch Australia's lead to 10-0 in the blustery conditions. Cameron Clark hen ran hard on a great angle, as the Fijian defence looked like it was evaporating and the Aussies took a 15-0 lead.

Try as they might, Fiji could not breach the Aussie defence, even producing a knock-on a couple of metres from the tryline and conceding a penalty. The Aussies also piled on tremendous pressure at the breakdown.

A poor restart of the second half put the Fijians straight back under pressure, but a break by Kitione Taliga from his own tryline got the Pacific Islanders straight back into the game.

Some slick passing in the testing wind allowed Taliga to race over for a second try – making it a one-point (14-15) with five minutes left on the clock.

Savenaca Rawaca, who started inside his own in-goal area, beat the cover to sprint clear for another 100-metre try and a 21-15 lead with two minutes remaining.

Australia, after playing a penalty advantage, then produced a forward pass on the Fijian 22 that allowed the Pacific Islanders to hold on for the win.

SNAP REACTION: Fiji come from 15-0 behind to beat @Aussie7s in Cup final in Vegas, captain Osea Kolonisau says… pic.twitter.com/dj8kOqM5mt

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) March 7, 2016

Third-place play-off – United States 10-21 South Africa

The opening exchanges were marked by a number of unforced errors, but eventually Tim Agaba managed to hold onto a bobbling ball long enough to flop over for the first try.

The high error rate then cost the Americans a golden opportunity just metres from he BlitzBoks' line, but the Yanks turned the ball over at a tackle and Perry Baker had enough space to stroll over. Seabelo Senatla then showed he is not just pace, stepping a couple of would be tacklers to give South Africa a 14-5 lead at the break.

The second half started with Branco du Preez breaking a couple of half-hearted tackles and going over, but the error count continued to mount for both teams – as the wind, which had changed direction, reached gale-force strength.

Justin Geduld was then yellow carded for a dangerous tackle, the BlitzBoks forced to make plenty of desperate tackles. Carlin Isles eventually managed to find some space wide on the right wing, but with the conversion wide the Yanks trailed 10-21 with just a minute left on the clock.

The BlitzBoks held on to finish third, the hosts suffering their second defeat of the weekend against South Africa.

South Africa head coach Neil Powell on Bryan Habana: "I am really happy with his first tournament. It is always tough to come in, as sevens is a totally different game to 15-a-side and I am really happy with the way he played it. He made some good decisions in defence; he still made one or two mistakes but that's to be expected as he doesn't have the experience in sevens that he does in 15-a-side. He will get that experience the more he plays."

Plate Final – Japan 7-27 New Zealand

New Zealand used a power-based game to take the fight to Japan in the Plate Final and were rewarded with an early try for veteran DJ Forbes. Kurt Baker spotted the narrowest of gaps and burst through as New Zealand double their lead.

Slick passing across the field stretched Japan and Lewis Ormond dotted down in the right hand corner for a third unconverted try – 15-0 at the break.

Veteran DJ Forbes, now in his 10th year on the series, crossed for his second try after New Zealand showed the sort of continuity in their attacking game sadly lacking for the most part in Las Vegas.

Beaudein Waaka put Japan firmly back in their place with New Zealand's fifth and final try shortly after the Asian champs had scored one of their own when Kameli Soejima bust through Sam Dickson's despairing tackle.

Bowl Final – France 14-28 Wales

Wales kept the ball from the first whistle and ended up scoring after an inside pass from Lloyd Evans is taken by Luke Treharne running at speed. Treharne then set one up for Tom Isaacs as Wales ran the ball back from just outside their own 22. Wales fumbled the ball twice in the shadow of the posts and France counter-attacked through Jeremy Alcardi. Alcardi didn't have the pace to go all the way, but he found Sofiane Guitoune up in support and he wriggled out of a tackle to score his team's first points.

Early in the second half France were caught napping in defence and Ethan Davies scooted home off first phase from a scrum without a hand laid on him. Ethan Davies stamped his class on the Bowl Final again with a scorching run to set up Luke Morgan for Wales' fourth try. Sofiane Guitoune grabbed a consolation for France but Wales were worthy winners of the Bowl.

Wales captain Luke Treharne: "On the first day we came home with two losses and in the next two days we won twice on both days so we were a lot happier with that. We have managed to keep the same team in the last couple of tournaments and the last time we won the Shield and now we've won the Bowl so we're building nicely. In the last tournament and the tournament before our tackle completion probably wasn't where it needed to be and that's something we've worked hard on in the last two weeks so it's nice to see that hard work come to fruition."

Shield Final – Canada 12-24 Samoa

What is it about Samoa and slow starts? After conceding a try after only 15 seconds in the semifinal against Portugal, Samoa shipped another straight from kick-off against Canada, with Mike Fuailefau's effort clocked at just 13 seconds. For the second time though Samoa find an immediate response as their star man, Samoa Toloa dotted down. It was all-square at the break, after Conor Trainor slips inside a tackle to cancel out Telea Seumanutafa's effort for Samoa. Samoa Toloa's second try edged the Islanders in front again and Alefosio Tapili scored Samoa's fourth try to seal the victory.

Samoa head coach Damian McGrath on winning the Shield: "We've had a really difficult week. We lost two players in the first game to concussion so we played with 10 and eight of the boys have been in bed all week with sickness. So for us to win something in the end was big for us."

Source: WorldRugby7s