The Final was a physical contest played on top of a rather slippery surface under the Westpac Stadium floodlights. Not even the wisest old rugby owl could have predicted the final score that resulted in the Samoans knocking Fiji off their high pedestal.

Meanwhile, England came back from a disastrous start to home some respect after beating France 21-12 in the Plate Final. Argentina made amends to their bad run in the Pool stages to take revenge over Tonga and record a 12-5 win in the Bowl Final. Portugal will also be celebrating into the early hours of the Wellington morning after upsetting Scotland 26-24 in the Shield Final.

IRB SEVENS, WELLINGTON - DAY ONE RESULTS/REPORTS

Cup competition

Quarter-Finals

Fiji were emphatic in putting an end to Canada's Cup hope, Serevi's men piling on 60 more unanswered points before New Zealand overcame England 14-7 to set up a third semi of the season between the sides.

The other side of the draw produced the better matches. Samoa were never behind against Kenya but Peter Ocholla inspired the Africans to draw level at 21-21 with seconds to go, only for Uale Mai to spark one final attack from which the islanders scored the winner. In the fourth quarter-final South Africa built on a 14-7 half-time lead to defeat France 26-14.

Fiji 60 Canada 0
New Zealand 14 England 7
Samoa 26 Kenya 21
South Africa 26 France 14

Semi-Finals

New Zealand started well enough from the kick-off and got the packed 'Cake Tin' crowd to their feet after Zar Lawrence made a good sprint up the left-hand touch-line. Unfortunately, that was the first and the last time the home crowd had anything to cheer about as New Zealand's downfall already started to take place. The Kiwi's gave away three penalties in as many minutes to allow the Fijians to work their way into the home team's half. After a silly knock-on by a New Zealand player and another penalty, Fiji ran in their first try after Nabuliwaga broke through two pitiful tackles to score in the corner. William Ryder added a superb conversion to give the Fijians an early lead. New Zealand were awarded their first penalty soon after, but fluffed it after being blown for a forward pass just seconds later. They were made to pay dearly for that school boy error when Ryder chipped a kick into an open space, only to pick up and score under the posts. Ryder converted his own try to give his side a 14-0 lead at the break.

Fiji started the second half just as splendidly as they finished the first. Saravanua touched down within a minute gone after the break after the Fijians put the width of the field to good use. The fourth try was without a doubt the try of match when New Zealand's Nigel Hunt was left stranded in the middle of the pitch. His attempt to run the ball back at Fiji was short-lived after Nabuliwaga put in a thumping tackle that saw Hunt spill the ball forward. Vacago responded brilliantly by picking up the loose ball and making a dash for the line. He then kicked ahead, regathered, shoulder charged a New Zealand defender off his feet and scored under the poles. That was enough to get a rousing standing ovation from all the New Zealand supporters in the sold-out stadium. Cakau put the final nail in the home team's coffin when he ran in the fifth try of the match after a four-man overlap spelled the end for New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Samoa were made to work for their place in the Cup Final after South Africa put on a brave fightback in the second half. Both teams had big shoes to fill after the entertaining Fiji performance that had taken place in other semi-final, instead the match was an extremely tight encounter that showed harldy any breaks whatsoever. It was South Africa that got the scoreboard ticking after Schoeman was held up inches short on the Samoa try-line, only for captain Makwoena to casually pick up and finish off his team-mates hard work. Stick missed the conversion for his country, a miss that would ultimately cost his side the game. But South Africa managed to keep the lead for the majority of the half, until Samoa used their strength to turn a Springbok scrum around and set up a try for Lui under the posts. Lui converted his own try to give his side a 7-5 advantage into the break.

It wasn't long into the half when Lui was on hand again for his team to pick up a brace of tries in the match. The Samoa star made another dive under the posts after some brilliant interplay from the whole team resulted in a five-pointer. Lui was never going to miss the conversion and suddenly Samoa had a nine point lead. Howard Noble, on his Sevens debut for South Africa, came very close to scoring after he failed to capitalise on some impressive soccer work from the half-way line. However, Noble's gain in territory resulted in former Bok centre Gcobani Bobo crashing over after a well-worked move from the set piece. Stick was more successful with his conversion this time round, but South Africa were still two points behind. And that is where it stayed as the islanders held off a battering ram of South Africans on their try-line for the rest of the half. It just goes to show how much conversions count in the any form of game.

New Zealand 0 Fiji 31
South Africa 12 Samoa 14

Final

The stage had been set for a thriller of a Final between Fiji and Samoa, and the two sides certainly didn't disappoint. An all-Island clash between the two respected teams was a fitting end to what has been an enthralling two days of Sevens rugby in New Zealand's capital city. Samoa needed the perfect start and they got it in the opening minute of the match. The underdogs surprised everyone but themselves after Mikaele Pesamino dived under the posts untouched thanks to a well-worked move by the number 10. The try was easily converted by Lui and the Fijians realised they had a game on their hands. There was plenty of running from both teams in the early exchanges of the first half- so it must have come as a blessing when play was stopped due to a fan showing his love for the game up and down the pitch. When the ref resumed play, Fiji soon found themselves with a telling three-man overlap. It would have been a certain try if it weren't for Saravanua trying to be the Lone Ranger and opting to go alone.The ball was lost, as was the try - a cardinal sin in a Final. Samoa seemed to have a better strategy by pulling in five Fijians at a time, tiring out the defence. They also showed how strong they were on their feet, by bumping off several Fijian tacklers... and that was just off one Samoan! Play was stopped once again when Lui hit the deck courtesy of a high tackle. The Samoa full-back in the fifteen-man game had a stretcher brought on, but refused to leave the field. Eventually the medical staff forced the tough man off the field, only for him to return shortly afterwards to continue for his team. Much to the delight of the colourful crowd. Fiji's star player, William Ryder, had another opportunity to put his team on the scoreboard when he made a superb break down the middle of the field. With only one man to beat, his pass was knocked down from a Samoan defender and another chance went begging. Fiji coach and player Waisale Serevi brought himself on in the hope of making a difference to the scoreline. But the half-time whistle stopped the Fijian legend from causing too much damage and the Samoans led 7-0 at the break.

Samoa started the second half in similar fashion as the first with Ofisa Treviranus brushing off two tackles to score in the left-hand corner. The conversion was good from out wide and the Fijians looked a bit shell-shocked. Serevi didn't last long and was calling the shots from the sidelines once again. Though perhaps the Fiji coach should have stayed on a little longer as Treviranus nearly put the game beyond reach with another try moments later. Thanks to a hard hit from two Fijian defenders, the big man was stopped just five meters out. Fiji found themselves with a bit more possession in the second half, but the Samoa defence denied the Sevens champs to break out in their traditional style. Serevi and his troops were running out of ideas as the stadium clock quickly ran down. Samoa got their hands back on the ball thanks to a penalty against Fiji for going off-side. In a bizarre decision, the Samoans opted to kick at goal from 40-meters out. Only drop-goals are required when taking a penalty in Sevens rugby and it seemed closer to a miracle if the kick went over. The reaction from the crowd said it all as Lui nailed a beauty of a kick. That gave the Samoans a handy 17-0 lead with just minutes to spare. Serevi was soon back on the field and helped Cacau to their first try of the match through some brilliant counter-attack play from their own 22. The Samoans failed to block Cacua off, and the strong Fijian dotted down under the posts for an easy conversion. Both teams looked tired and were on their last legs with just seconds remaining. Samoa knocked on but the hooter went off to the delight of the men in blue. But the ref gave Fiji one last chance at scoring a try and let the game continue. However, even if Fiji did score a try and converted - the game would still be won by Samoa. So with just pride at stake, Fiji made one last gallant run at the Samoans. Nasoni Roko made a clean break towards the line, only for the stadium lights to go out. It probably summed up Fiji's match, the lights had been switched off in their favoured Wellington campaign too. Roko scored and converted in the dark and the Fijians had the last laugh. But they will surely be spending the rest of the night in tears.

Fiji 14 Samoa 17

Plate

Semi-Finals

England recovered from their Cup quarter-final loss against New Zealand to come from behind and beat Canada 29-7 with Daniel Gray among the tries.

In the Final they face France after Thierry Janeczek's side built a 19-0 lead against crowd favourites Kenya and, despite a brief rally by the African side, ran out 26-5 winners, Nicolas Couttet's late try sealing the victory.

England 29 Canada 7
France 26 Kenya 5

Final

England came from behind to beat France in a tight Plate Final 21-12, tries from Simon Amor, Rob Thirlby and Daniel Gray overhauling a lead established through efforts from Montagnat and Deniau.

The match literally kicked-off with an early mistake from France as the Les Bleus found the touch-line when they got their final underway. England didn't do much better when they knocked on after a penalty was taken moments later. Montagnat used the scrum to France's advantage and made a clean break down the middle of the field to open the scoring for his team. The try was converted with ease, with the French looking hungry for a win. Their appetite was helped even more after England had the ball ripped from their arms and quickly sent to Deniau to cross over in the corner moments later. England captain Amor led his team by example by touching down under the posts after Thirlby went on a splendid run down the right touch-line, only to draw the only remaining French defender and send his skipper over to score. England continued their comeback through another well worked try to Roques after poor French defence allowed the big Englishman to throw a dummy and level the scores. The conversion took England into the lead for the first time in the match and into the break.

It wasn't long before England were on the board again through a soft try to Danny Gray. Amor was involved once again after the skipper sent a pass behind his back to set up his team-mate who was in good support. Gray strolled to the try-line as three French defenders looked on and forgot they actually need to tackle the player carrying the ball to prevent a try. France looked a different side to the one in the first half and were totally shut out of the game. They were denied any use of the ball, and the opportunities they got were squandered through silly mistakes. The Les Bleus were incredibly lucky not to get a fourth try against them after Amor failed to hang on to a pass with the try-line shouting his name. The French kept to their second half rhythm and knocked the ball on to signal the end of the match.

The result means that England repeat their performance of last year in Wellington, taking eight series points, while France travel on to San Diego with six.

England 21 France 12

Bowl

Semi-Finals

Tonga overcame first Papua New Guinea and then the Cook Islands to reach the Bowl Final against Argentina. Tevita Tuifua rounded off a convincing win for the island side against the Cooks, 29-7.

In the other half of the draw Australia fought from behind to take their semi with Argentina into extra time. The Pumas finally played something approaching their best to build a strong lead with Francisco Bosch on the score-sheet but Glen Ella's side showed character to come back, Nic Cummins among the scorers. The Argentinians took little time to wrap up the tie in extra time, though, Pablo Gomez Cora going over from close range.

Tonga 29 Cook Islands 7
Argentina 26 Australia 21

Final

Argentina overcame Tonga in a physical Bowl Final to win 12-5 and take two points for the series. Tevita Tuifua put the Tongans ahead but Francisco Bosch pulled the Pumas level just before the break. The second half was tighter still as both sides' defences held firm until Bosch pounced on Santiago Gomez Cora's clever through kick to seal victory.

Argentina 12 Tonga 5

Shield

Semi-Finals

Portugal overcame a spirited Papua New Guinean effort to win 26-19 and make it through to the Final against Scotland, who came from behind to beat Al Caravelli's USA side by the same score-line.

Portugal 26 Papua New Guinea 19
Scotland 26 USA 19

Final

Portugal set aside the disappointment of their opening loss on Day Two against the Cook Islands to take the Shield title, beating Scotland in the Shield Final.

With coach Tomaz Morais and a clutch of players on European Nations Cup duty, the side did their country proud to beat a rejuvenated Scotland 26-24 in a fine match, Sebastiao Cunha crossing at the death to snatch what had looked an unlikely victory.

Portugal 26 Scotland 24