Australian Sevens miss out on silverware
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Australia were unable to repeat their giant-killing feats of Dubai as New Zealand stormed home at the George Sevens to beat Fiji 21-12 and claim their second iRB Sevens World Series Cup title in as many weeks on Saturday (Sunday AEDT)
The Kiwis go into the break with a maximum 48 points from the first two legs of the Series and head into the Wellington Sevens with an impressive 12-point lead over Fiji. Australia has 18 points after a disappointing final day at OuteniquaPark, George.
The Australian Sevens struggled against the might of Kenya in the Cup quarterfinals and despite scoring two second half tries through Shaun Foley and Pat McCutcheon were defeated 24-12.
They faced an even tougher assignment against England in the Plate semi-finals and were right in the battle when captain McCutcheon scored his second try of the day early in the match to give Australia a 5-0 lead.
England then piled on four unanswered tries and ran away with the game to record an impressive 24-5 victory over Michael O’Connor’s young squad.
O’Connor, while disappointed with the day’s results, said he expected his players would learn from their experiences and he was proud of their performances over the last two weeks.
He said he will be looking for them to make another step up ahead of the Wellington Sevens in early February.
“I think the experience will serve our boys well,” O’Connor said.
“We’ve played the top teams, they’ve showed us how high the bar is and what we need to do to be able to play at that level.
“The boys played better than they did yesterday but I felt they weren’t up to the standard as they were before.
“We definitely played better last week in Dubai. We’re a very young side, it’s a mental toughness thing and hopefully we’ll learn a lot from it.”
England beat host nation South Africa for only the second time on South African soil to claim the Plate trophy 21-7 and take 12 points towards the World Series, which lifts them to third.
Russia again proved they are an increasing power in Sevens with a fine win against the US to win through to the Bowl final but Wales proved too strong and claimed a 14-5 victory.
Scotland ended a disappointing two weeks of Sevens on a positive note with a 28-19 win over France to clinch victory in the Shield.
Sevens action returns in Wellington on February 4-5.
