South Africa win the Edinburgh Sevens in dramatic fashion
The final leg of the IRB World Series Sevens took place in Edinburgh this past weekend, with New Zealand being crowned champions, and South Africa pulling off an incredible last few seconds win over Australia in the final. Here's a wrap-up of all the action.
New Zealand took the overall World Series champions title, but failed to produce for the second week in a row. They had already clinched the title last weekend, so despite perhaps wishing to have gone out on a high, they were victorious nonetheless.
Scotland, who were hosting the event, seem to have found their straps and managed to cause quite the upset, beating Fiji 14-12 on day one, as well as thrashing the USA. They lost out narrowly in the Bowl final though, with Kenya scoring late in the game.
Canada beat Russia 17-12 to take the Shield, but ultimately it was all about the Cup final, where South Africa and Australia served up one of the best, and highest scoring, finals of Sevens rugby ever seen.
Having won in London last weekend, South Africa had to launch two comebacks in their final against Australia, firstly from being down 7-28 early in the second half, then from trailing 19-35 with just two minutes on the clock. They scored last gasp tries through Steven Hunt, and then the winning try with time up was scored by flyer Sibusiso Sithole, who was so excited, he almost dived out in the process of scoring. The game ended at 36-35 to South Africa.
"Australia made a good start and we had to give it everything we got," said coach Paul Treu. "We were severely disrupted by the injuries and apart from the injured players, Frankie also shouldered on bravely despite hurting his knee early on Saturday.
"What can you say after a performance like that? They refused to give in and South Africa can be very proud of these young men," he added.
South Africa leapfrogged England, who sat on 127 points, to take second place in the overall standings on 140 points, while New Zealand were out of reach at 166 points. Fiji and Samoa came in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Below are three videos in a playlist. The first shows some of the big games, and then includes the final. The second video shows top points (385) and top try (40) scorer Cecil Afrika, and the third shows Seven of the Best tries from the weekend. Enjoy.
New Zealand took the overall World Series champions title, but failed to produce for the second week in a row. They had already clinched the title last weekend, so despite perhaps wishing to have gone out on a high, they were victorious nonetheless.
Scotland, who were hosting the event, seem to have found their straps and managed to cause quite the upset, beating Fiji 14-12 on day one, as well as thrashing the USA. They lost out narrowly in the Bowl final though, with Kenya scoring late in the game.
Canada beat Russia 17-12 to take the Shield, but ultimately it was all about the Cup final, where South Africa and Australia served up one of the best, and highest scoring, finals of Sevens rugby ever seen.
Having won in London last weekend, South Africa had to launch two comebacks in their final against Australia, firstly from being down 7-28 early in the second half, then from trailing 19-35 with just two minutes on the clock. They scored last gasp tries through Steven Hunt, and then the winning try with time up was scored by flyer Sibusiso Sithole, who was so excited, he almost dived out in the process of scoring. The game ended at 36-35 to South Africa.
"Australia made a good start and we had to give it everything we got," said coach Paul Treu. "We were severely disrupted by the injuries and apart from the injured players, Frankie also shouldered on bravely despite hurting his knee early on Saturday.
"What can you say after a performance like that? They refused to give in and South Africa can be very proud of these young men," he added.
South Africa leapfrogged England, who sat on 127 points, to take second place in the overall standings on 140 points, while New Zealand were out of reach at 166 points. Fiji and Samoa came in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Below are three videos in a playlist. The first shows some of the big games, and then includes the final. The second video shows top points (385) and top try (40) scorer Cecil Afrika, and the third shows Seven of the Best tries from the weekend. Enjoy.
Share | Tweet |
15 Comments:
i love dubstep and weed
By Anonymous, at May 31, 2011 2:09 pm
nice combo
By Anonymous, at May 31, 2011 2:13 pm
Shame England did so badly in the last 2 legs, they looked set to finish 2nd behind NZ until the last 2 weeks.
Some great tries there, cheers RD! Brilliant to watch, i wish more people got involved with Sevens, it's such a great game and gives smaller nations a chance to play rugby on the world stage.
Can't wait for next year's sevens to start!!
By Dave_7, at May 31, 2011 2:35 pm
Afrika on the wing for the boks.. please?
By Anonymous, at May 31, 2011 2:57 pm
"Afrika on the wing"
Are you kidding, bro? His defence makes Kurtley Beale look like Schalk Burger... and we've got plenty of speedmen to step up if they decides Habana is no longer up to it.
The final in Edinburgh was crazy, never seen anything like it... apart from the three late tries there was also an amazing conversion from wide-out, which was obviously crucial too.
By edbok, at May 31, 2011 3:30 pm
Anyone else notice the French number 2 just not even try to tackle King at around 2:10. Is he offside or a pussy cos it looks to me like he just doesnt want to know. Insanity
By Jej, at May 31, 2011 6:33 pm
Have to admit I'd love to have seen the last try-scorer smashed over the deadball line while he was still doing his poxy superman impression.
By Von, at May 31, 2011 9:07 pm
Afrika is far to small for 15s at international level and probably club level too.
As such, wouldn't be surprised if he overtook Ben Gollings one day as record points scorer.
By LoveSportsPro, at May 31, 2011 10:31 pm
What was with the tannoy guy talking all the time? Annoying.
Also, try scorer almost stuffed that up due to ego.
By Anonymous, at May 31, 2011 10:56 pm
Well done SA!
What hell happened to England in the last 2 legs?
By Anonymous, at June 01, 2011 12:20 am
the french guy number 2 should be shot for his poor effort against king at 2.10 in the last video
By Anonymous, at June 01, 2011 6:08 am
what a comeback BLITZBOKKE!!!
By Anonymous, at June 01, 2011 11:00 am
I don' think you can say he almost stuffed it up based on his ego so much as it was the sheer adrenalin and shock he was faced with. Watch his reaction after the try is awarded, the poor guy can hardly stand. What an amazing talent he is going to be. Absolutely stoked about this win.
By JRaines, at June 01, 2011 4:45 pm
Any chance of more complete highlights? By all accounts it was a fantastic last 3 minutes but the clips are quite short and don't show it all
By Anonymous, at June 02, 2011 5:36 pm
Sevens rock! Can't wait to see it in the Olympics
By Jeremy, at June 03, 2011 9:55 am
Post a Comment
<< Home