NZ clinch sixth straight Sevens crown

New Zealand clinch their sixth straight IRB Sevens title on Sunday, but it was South Africa who claimed the London Sevens crown by beating England 21-12 in the Final of the penultimate leg of 2004/05 series.

Winner: Tobela Mdaka shrugs off Australia

With ten members of the squad that was so impressive in Singapore, South Africa coach Paul Treu was always hopeful that his side could go on to finish the season strongly, but most significantly he also had Fabian Juries back to his best.

Playing in a playmaker role behind the scrum, Juries showed great maturity in linking play with the effervescent Danwell Demas and captain Jaco Pretorius, while Stefan Basson was also instrumental at halfback.

Haughton struck first for England in the final before Jaco Pretorius, Schalk van der Merwe and Fabien Juries took the Springboks to a 21-7 half-time lead with the same kind of attacking performance that paid such rich dividends in their semi-final against New Zealand.

The second half brought an England response. Gollings scored and referee Nigel Owens three times signalled that the ball had been held up by frantic South African defence.

That same defence, though, repelled more of the same as Treu's men stamped their authority on their first final of the season.

While England won through to the final fairly comfortably against the Pumas, South Africa produced arguably the performance of the day to blitz New Zealand to a 35-0 deficit before the Kiwis clawed their way back into the game, albeit too late.

New Zealand's earlier 21-12 win over a fighting France had guaranteed enough tournament points from this event to secure their sixth overall IRB Sevens crown in as many years, but the semi-final loss certainly took some of the gloss away.

Juries and Demas inspired Paul Treu's men to a 28-0 half time lead against the kiwis, and another try shortly after the break took the match beyond New Zealand, although Gordon Tietjens' men did fight back in typical fashion to register 26 unanswered points of their own.

A superb Puma performance had earlier put Fiji to the sword to the tune of 31-5 to reach the semi, while England beat Scotland 40-7 to secure their place.

In the Plate competition, Waisale Serevi's Fiji eventually triumphed against Australia 29-12, tries from Ratuvou, Satala and Daunivucu taking them well clear after Josh Gamjee had put Australia ahead at 12-10.

Both sides were soundly beaten in their Cup finals - against South Africa and Argentina respectively - but then raised their games to win through to the second tier final, Australia beating France 19-12 and Fiji too strong for Scotland, 21-10.

Tunisia, for their part, showed that there is life after coach Claude Saurel, recording good victories over Georgia 33-0 and Italy 19-7, but ultimately fell short against Samoa, who, again inspired by the free-scoring David Lemi, beat the Tunisians 27-0- to win the Bowl final. Canada had earlier proved too strong for Kenya to win the Shield by 28-12.

DAY TWO RESULTS:

Quarter-Final Bowl: Tunisia 33-0 Georgia   
Quarter-Final Bowl: Kenya 17-22 Italy   
Quarter-Final Bowl: Canada 0-26 Portugal  
Quarter-Final Bowl: Samoa 45-0 Russia   

Quarter-Final Cup: New Zealand 21-12 France   
Quarter-Final Cup: South Africa 42-0 Australia  
Quarter-Final Cup: Fiji 5-31 Argentina  
Quarter-Final Cup: England 40-7 Scotland   

Semi-Final Shield: Georgia 12-17 Kenya  
Semi-Final Shield: Canada 26-12 Russia  

Semi-Final Bowl: Tunisia 19-7 Italy    
Semi-Final Bowl: Portugal 7-24 Samoa  

Semi-Final Plate: France 12-19 Australia  
Semi-Final Plate: Fiji 21-10 Scotland   

Semi-Final Cup: New Zealand 26-35 South Africa  
Semi-Final Cup: Argentina 7-33 England  

Shield Final: Kenya 12-28 Canada   

Bowl Final: Tunisia 0-27 Samoa   

Plate Final: Australia 12-29 Fiji   

Cup Final: South Africa 21-12 England

DAY ONE RESULTS:

POOL A:
(New Zealand, Scotland, Tunisia, Russia)
New Zealand 27-0 Tunisia
Scotland 26-14 Russia
New Zealand 36-7 Russia
Scotland 17-0 Tunisia
Tnuisia 35-14 Russia
New Zealand 36-0 Scotland

POOL B:
(England, Samoa, France, Georgia)
England 29-0 France
Samoa 22-10 Georgia
England 33-5 Georgia
Samoa 19-24 France
France 38-0 Georgia
England 15-19 Samoa

POOL C:
(Fiji, Australia, Canada, Italy)
Fiji 42-0 Canada
Australia 21-7 Italy
Fiji 49-0 Italy
Australia 33-0 Canada
Canada 26-14 Italy
Fiji 31-5 Australia

POOL D:
(Argentina, South Africa, Kenya, Portugal)
Argentina 38-0 Kenya
South Africa 33-7 Portugal
Argentina 24-17 Portugal
South Africa 24-12 Kenya
Kenya 19-12 Portugal
Argentina 21-24 South Africa