Samoa stun NZ in Final
Samoa pulled of an upset and turned back the clock a few years when they stunned New Zealand with a 26-19 win in the Final of the United States leg of the IRB Sevens World Series on Sunday.
With the scores locked at 19-19 and the game looking destined for extra time, man mountain Alafoti Fa’osiliva powered over wide out on the right to score a memorable winning try.
In taking the Las Vegas title, Samoa become the fourth nation to win a Cup title after five rounds of the 2011/12 Sevens World Series.
The Kiwis, despite the loss in the grand finale, increased their lead at the top of the standings – New Zealand now with 92 points, five ahead of second-placed Fiji, followed by South Africa in third (76) and England (74). The win saw Samoa move up to fifth place (69).
Fiji kept their hopes of another Series triumph alive when they edge South Africa 21-15 in a brutal third-placed play-off, while Kenya come from 0-7 down to beat Argentina 21-7 and lift the Plate trophy. Canada claimed the Bowl and France won the Shield.
The global series continues next month at Hong Kong.
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Cup
Final:
Alafoti Fa’osiliva scored his second try in the last moments to give Samoa a 26-19 upset of season leaders New Zealand.
The giant forward crashed in for the deciding points at the death to bring a victory in Samoa’s first Sevens series final since the Dubai Sevens in December of 2010.
The shocker thwarted a two-try New Zealand comeback that had pulled the favourites level only to see them denied a third consecutive series crown.
Fa’osiliva scored his first try five minutes into the final to put Samoa ahead but Charles Piutau equalized for New Zealand.
Paul Perez’s try put the Samoans ahead late in the first half and Reupena Levasa’s conversion kick boosted the lead to 12-5 at half-time.
Fa’atonu Autagavia scored a try 70 seconds into the second half to stretch the Samoan lead to 19-5 before New Zealand rallied.
Tomasi Cama scored a try eight minutes into the second half and substitute Ardie Savea added another 82 seconds later and two conversion kicks by Cama pulled New Zealand level at 19-19, setting up the dramatic finish.
Result:
New Zealand 19-26 Samoa
Third-place play-off:
Fiji stayed in touch with New Zealand on the IRB table with a hard-fought 21-15 win over South Africa.
In a spiteful encounter, which saw Emosi Vucago sin-binned for foul play, the lead changed hands a number of times. Frankie Horne opened the scoring, but two tries by Setefano Cakau gave the Fijians the lead.
Stephan Dippenaar and Cecil Afrika scored to give the BlitzBokke a one-point lead, but Levani Botia scored the match-winner for Fiji.
Result:
South Africa 15-21 Fiji
Semifinals:
New Zealand will face Samoa/Fiji in the Cup Final after winning their semi final against defending US champions South Africa – who made an unprecedented 10 errors in the match.
Tries from Bryce Heem, Tomasi Cama, Mark Jackman and captain DJ Forbes put the current series leaders through in a 20-7 victory at the Sam Boyd Stadium .
Samoa came from 0-12 down at half-time to win 14-12, thanks to tries from Paul Perez and Fa’atonu Autagavia – in a classic Pacific derby, that had all the thrills and spill you could expect from these two teams.
Big hits were par for the course, but the Samoans showed greater composure when it mattered most, in the second half.
Results:
New Zealand 20-7 South Africa
Samoa 14-12 Fiji
Plate
Final:
Sidney Ashioya, Humphrey Kayange and David Ambunya all scored to help Kenya come from 0-7 behind to lift the Plate trophy with a 21-7 victory – to the delight of the crowd.
After a disappointing first three tournaments Kenya look back to their best, adding this Plate victory to a Bowl triumph in Wellington last weekend.
Result:
Argentina 21-7 Kenya
Semifinals:
Two tries from Agustin Migliore gave Argentina a 21-19 victory over England in the first Plate semifinal on day three and they will play Kenya in the final.
Humphrey Kayange, Collins Injera and Oscar Ouma tries helped the Kenyans in their 24-14 victory against reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions Wales.
Results:
England 19-21 Argentina
Kenya 22-14 Wales
Bowl
Final:
Sean Duke scored a dramatic try in the dying seconds of the Bowl final to give Canada victory against Australia, ending a successful two weeks for Geriant John’s side.
Result:
Australia 17-19 Canada
Semifinals:
Australia beat the United States 19-14 to reach the Bowl final after a 50-0 victory against Brazil in the opening Bowl quarterfinal on day two and will play Canada after Geriant John’s side beat Japan 21-5.
Results:
Japan 5-21 Canada
Australia 19-14 United States
Shield
Final:
Dubai Sevens runners-up France beat Scotland 22-7 in the Shield final – with second-half tries by Manoel Igna and Jean Barraque sealing the victory.
Result:
France 22-7 Scotland
Semifinals:
Dubai Sevens runners-up France will play Scotland in the Shield final after beating Brazil thanks to two tries from Jean Baptise Belanger in the first match of day three at the Sam Boyd Stadium.
Andrew Turnbull completed a hat-trick for Graham Shiel’s side in a 40-12 victory against Uruguay as they look for successive Shield victories having won this competition in Wellington.
Results:
Scotland 40-12 Uruguay
Brazil 7-33 France
