World Series Sevens: Standings after London 2019 and all the highlights

Fiji are the new leaders of the World Rugby Sevens Series and will take a two-point lead over USA to the final event in Paris.

Read the full London Sevens 2019 wrap here.

It all came down to the final match at Twickenham after the Americans sealed third place at the #London7s, with Fiji knowing defeat would leave their rivals still at the summit with one round to go. If there were any nerves, they certainly were not apparent in the Cup final as Fiji romped to a 43-7 success.

Unstoppable Fiji.

Off the restart, Naduva flies through. Talent on tap.#DHLRugby pic.twitter.com/Fl6V37US6h

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) May 26, 2019

Fiji move onto 164 points with USA two back. New Zealand sit third with 143 and South Africa are fourth with 131. USA, Fiji and New Zealand sealed qualification for the Tokyo Olympics yesterday and they were joined by South Africa today as they profited from England’s (109) struggles to confirm a top-four finish in the standings.

Bronze for USA

With every point potentially vital heading to Paris, USA secured third place with a dominant display against France. Folau Niua burrowed past three France players to set them on their way but Danny Barrett stole the show in the first half, bulldozing his way through twice to make it 19-0 at the break. Maceo Brown and Steve Tomasin joined the party to set Mike Friday’s men up nicely for the Paris showdown for the title with a 31-14 stroll.

New Zealand edge South Africa for fifth

Terry Kennedy gave Ireland an early lead but it was all New Zealand thereafter as the All Blacks 7s celebrated their qualification for the Tokyo Olympics with a 35-14 win. Tone Ng Shiu and Joe Ravouvou both touched down in either half and Regan Ware iced the cake late on.

It may have been a loss for @Blitzboks but this from Justin Geduld was ace pic.twitter.com/jeQIvV8nC5

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) May 26, 2019

BlitzBoks coach Neil Powell, who was disappointed following the Cup quarter-final defeat by 29-22 against Australia. In their second match of the day, New Zealand won by 21-17 after conceding a try after the final hooter.

“One of our main aims at the start of the season was to make sure we qualify in the top four in order to get that automatic qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said Powell.

“We ticked that box and we are grateful and pleased with that. It does ease the disappointment of our performances here on the second day a bit. Our match against Australia was probably our worst all season as we simply didn’t play near to what we are capable of and supposed to.”

The Australians, who later contested the Cup final against Fiji, scored tries in quick succession in the first and second halves, leaving South Africa to play catch-up rugby all along.

“Maybe we had it too easy on the first day,” lamented Powell.

“The younger players need to learn that you cannot bank on good performances on day one and then not show up the next. We were just not good enough in that match and that was very disappointing.”

Powell was pleased with the effort against New Zealand though: “At least we showed some effort in that match and I will never fault that. The result was unfortunate, but we showed some urgency in the match.”

World Series Sevens: Standings ahead of Paris