VIDEO: BlitzBoks make it a five-peat in Dubai
DAY TWO WRAP: Selvyn Davids pulled the strings as defending champions South Africa beat Argentina 12-7 in a thumping encounter to claim their fifth straight Emirates Dubai Sevens title and kick off their HSBC SVNS 2024 campaign in emphatic style.
Impi Visser had already crossed for the BlitzBoks when Shilton van Wyk, player of the Final in 2022, went over in the fifth minute to take the score to 12-0.
Argentina’s Matias Osadczuk cut the deficit to five points early in the second half, after Ryan Oosthuizen was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle.
Rosko Specman came within inches of a spectacular score, but lost the ball – and ploughed into a steward – in the corner, as South Africa held off the Argentinian fightback.
With the series heading to South Africa next week, their run to the title in Dubai could not have come at a better time.
Fans will be hoping they can go back to back in Cape Town next weekend.
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South Africa’s acting coach Philip Snyman hailed his squad’s, “amazing performances throughout the weekend”.
“We said we wanted to leave everything on the field,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what happens with the result – we want to look each other in the eye and have smiles on our faces. Even with the yellow card tonight, they really played each other, they played for their jersey and they restored the pride in the Springbok Sevens jersey.”
Winning difficult matches is a defining characteristic of champions – and South Africa set up a shot at a fifth straight title with a high-intensity 14-7 win over Fiji in the last four.
Our winners of #HSBCSVNSDXB 🌟🏆
Congratulations to the @Aussie7s and @BlitzBoks #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/2efFxxuJdv
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 3, 2023
The defending Dubai Sevens champions had kicked off finals day – after that remarkable comeback win over New Zealand on day one – with a comfortable 24-7 quarter-final win over Australia.
“We told ourselves that yesterday didn’t count,” Davids said after that opening victory.
“We didn’t achieve anything. We knew that the first game of day two was the most difficult one and the most important one.”
The @Blitzboks can’t be stopped 😱
Will they go back to back in Cape Town next weekend?#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSDXB
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 3, 2023
2nd try of the night for @Blitzboks – Shilton Van Wyk’s sprint🤝 Selvyn Davids’s offload #HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSDXB pic.twitter.com/OAAl3cir9k
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 3, 2023
Marcos Moneta – who else? – scored twice as Argentina came from 0-14 down to win their quarterfinal against Samoa 21-14, and set-up a last-four match with New Zealand.
In the semifinal, evergreen 37-year-old Gaston Revol, in his 99th sevens tournament, was the try hero for Argentina as they came from behind to beat New Zealand 21-19 to reach their first-ever Final in Dubai.
Fehi Fineanganofo stepped and burst through two defenders to score the bronze final-winning touchdown as New Zealand beat Fiji 17-12 at the end of a tense encounter that would have graced the final.
It was another tight encounter for the All Blacks Sevens – five of their six matches decided by a margin of five points or fewer.
The match looked to be heading into golden point territory, with the clock ticking down the final seconds as the All Blacks Sevens spun the ball wide to Fineanganofo, who still had some work to do to get the ball down.
A slow-burn of a first-half had burst into life just before halftime, as Fiji captain Joseva Talacolo and New Zealand’s Akuila Rokolisoa traded tries. Cody Vai and Manueli Maisamoa then traded second-half scores, with the decisive touchdown coming on the cusp of full time.
Fineanganofo said immediately afterwards: “The boys were a bit disappointed with the semi-final. We just wanted to pick up. I think we did – and the boys will be happy for the rest of the night.”
Ireland bag valuable HSBC SVNS points
Levi Milford scored for Samoa on the last play of their fifth-place play-off against Ireland. It wasn’t enough to win the match – Ireland winning 28-7 to kick off their HSBC SVNS 2024 campaign with useful points.
Ireland’s Harry McNulty was pleased with his side’s performance in Dubai, but said they were looking for improvements next week in Cape Town. “I don’t think there’s an incredible amount of work that you can add on top – it’s a case of making sure you can be consistent,” he said. “We talk a lot about having that consistency each game, each performance you’re getting a bit better.”
Australia coach John Manenti admitted his squad’s Dubai Sevens campaign had been below par, after they claimed seventh place with a 26-12 win over USA – but said that there was more to come from his young squad. “It’s a start-point,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We did have a few boys re-entering from pretty decent injuries and it was their first bit of footy for a while. They’ll be better next week, and we had a few guys on debut. No question we’re going to have to lift our standards for next week.”
Great Britain were unable to repeat their remarkable victory over Fiji on the opening day, finishing 10th after losing the ninth-place play-off against France 22-0.
An enthralling 11th-place play-off between Spain and Canada, two sides who were yet to record a win when they met as the sun sank over the horizon in Dubai ended 19-14 in the Spaniards’ favour.
WOMEN: Australia claim fourth straight Dubai title
Teagan Levi touched down either side of halftime as Australia ended New Zealand’s 41-match winning streak to claim their fourth consecutive title in Dubai, as the HSBC SVNS 2024 got off to an electric start.
Not to be overshadowed by her younger sister, Maddison Levi broke her own tournament try record, her 12th try of the weekend in the 13th minute was the decisive one.
The match kicked off at an astonishing speed – and did not let up. Bienne Tarita scored the opening try with just 23 seconds on the clock to set Australia on the road to the title in the 23rd final meeting between the two sides.
But the Black Ferns Sevens made it difficult for the champions. Jorja Miller touched down twice in the first five minutes en route to a hat-trick in a losing cause, before Maddison Levi settled the tournament in the closing minutes.
Australia’s captain Charlotte Caslick had only praise for the younger Levi. “She’s unbelievable. She’s had an amazing pre-season so we’re all just getting to see the hard work that she’s done this year.”
And she explained the game plan for becoming the first team to beat New Zealand since last year’s final in Dubai: “We wanted to hold the ball as much as possible because we know when they touch it they’re dangerous. That was key for us – restarts and holding on to the ball.
“We love coming to Dubai, we love the fans here, playing in front of you guys. It’s a great team and we’re so proud of them. We worked really hard for this, so it’s really special for us.”
Australia got to the final the hard way. They toughed out a difficult semi against France, despite a red card for Alysia Lefau-Fakasosilea three energy-sapping minutes from time, winning 21-14 courtesy of Maddison Levi’s record-equalling 11th tournament try.
Teammate Demi Hayes said of the try-machine: “Isn’t she amazing? Her and Faith Nathan are just the best finishers ever. We’re so lucky to have them on our team. In clutch games like that, they always pull it out.”
Earlier, Kelly Brazier’s long-awaited 100th try for New Zealand – she became the third Black Ferns Sevens player to reach that milestone – came at just the right time as they beat Brazil 26-14 in the opening quarter-final.
They then beat Canada 21-19 in the semi-final to set up a repeat of last season’s final against Australia.
