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Wellington - The Springbok Sevens Rugby team had to settle for second best in the plate competition of the New Zealand Sevens tournament in Wellington when they were beaten 26-12 by Fiji in the final on Saturday.
Paul Treu’s charges had won this segment of the competition in Dubai and George, making this their poorest result of the new season.
In the final the Boks conceded several penalties -- and a yellow card awarded to Renfred Dazel -- early in the first half, but did well to keep the big Fijians at bay.
A great sign of encouragement was that Paul Jordaan, who was still an SA Schools player last year, was able to show his skill and pace when he opened the scoring for his team shortly after Fiji drew first blood.
Fiji, however, regained the lead before the break with a neat chip and chase which saw Vatisoni Votu get in under the posts.
With everything still to play for in the second stanza, Jordaan again played a key role in getting the Boks out of their own half.
He forced a lineout close to the Fijiaan line and because the Boks were inch perfect in their execution, skipper Kyle Brown managed to score his team’s second try.
The hard work in levelling the scores was then wiped-out when replacement Chris Dry made a simple mistake from the kick-off which allowed Fiji to regain the upper-hand.
That seamed to break the spirits of the South Africans which led to two more tries by the Islanders.
* Earlier, the Blitzbokke lost their Cup quarterfinal to Australia 7-14, before bouncing back to beat Wales 22-5.
That scoreline against Australia is however, slightly misleading as the Boks were 0-14 down for much of the game.
Scorers: Plate Final South Africa 12(7): Tries Paul Jordaan, Kyle Brown. Conversion - Branco du preez Fiji 26(14): Tries Mitieli Nacagilevi, Watisoni Votu, Emosi Vacugo, Peni Gaunimeke. Conversions Vacugo (3) Cards: Renfred Dazel.
