Share

Samoa finish series in style

Johannesburg - Samoa on Sunday won the final tournament in the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series in Edinburgh with a 41-14 trouncing of Australia to put the cherry on top of a rugby day the islanders will never forget.

In the semifinal they were crowned the new IRB Series champions after beating England 15-12 following two sets of extra time. It was the first time that Samoa had won the IRB Series and also meant that New Zealand, for the first time in the history of the IRB Series, had not won it for two years running.

Last year South Africa won the series to deny New Zealand - and the Springboks went out in disappointing fashion on Sunday after losing both their matches, in the quarter-final to Samoa (19-0) and in the Plate semifinal to Scotland (19-14).

Scotland went on to win the Plate final when they beat Argentina 19-9. The Bowl was won by Wales who beat Kenya 26-10 while Russia outplayed Canada 26-7 in the Shield final.

** The highlight of the day was not the final where Samoa were brilliant in outplaying Australia, but rather the semifinal when Samoa fought bitterly for the win against England that ensured that they would be the new champions.

It was an amazing match with two full sets of extra time - five minutes apiece - played before a drop penalty by Lolo Lui clinched matters for Samoa, 15-12.

Samoa seemed certain of victory in normal time before England pulled even after time had expired. Ben Gollings, usually the most secure of all kickers, missed this one as it struck the upright.

With it, Samoa got the reprieve they needed - and they took a few seconds more than the ten minutes of extra time to win the series when they were awarded the penalty with four seconds to go and Lui taking many seconds more before the kick sailed over.

Australia advanced to the final with a 24-19 win over New Zealand - their second final in a row after last week when they won the Twickenham tournament.

** Turnovers cost South Africa dearly as they squandered a number of golden opportunities in their 19-14 defeat to Scotland after they were earlier eliminated from the Cup competition by going down 19-0 to Samoa.

That ended a disappointing season for South Africa where the loss of more than half of last year's heroes that won the IRB Series were at times unavailable due to Super 14 call-ups and injury.

In the Plate semifinal too the injuries to Mpho Mbiyozo and Frankie Horn gave coach Pail Treu a bench of only three players and inexperienced forwards which made the loss of Kyle Brown to injury before the Twickenham tournament felt even more.

These factors were undoubtedly contributory to Scotland winning only their second match from 23 against South Africa.

The Springboks started of at pace and looked threatening and sharp. Chris Dry had a 65 metre run to put South Africa 7-0 up after the Boks had failed twice when they seemed set to score somehow contrived to run over good ball.

Dry scored his second try a minute later with a perfect off-load by Neil Powell setting him free to put the Springboks 14-0 up. However, after the hooter Scotland's Mark Robertson kicked through and got the bounce to put Scotland back in the game at 14-7.

Mike Adamson scored after good play by Scotland and poor tackling by South Africa, but the conversion from touch was wide and the Boks led 14-12. Then another turnover by South Africa saw some lovely interplay from the hosts with Ben Cairns rounding off under the posts to give Scotland victory.

** South Africa were eliminated in the quarter-finals when they were beaten 19-0 by Samoa.

The Boks, playing without injured forwards Horn and Mpho Mbiyozo, were eliminated at the quarter-final stage for the seventh time in the eight tournaments of the 2009/10 series.

They reached last weekend's final at Twickenham after eliminating Samoa in the semifinal.

On Sunday South Africa simply couldn't get their hands on the ball and also missed a one-on-one tackle to let Alafoti Fa'osiliva in for Samoa's second try. That made the score 14-0.

Despite good defence in the second half when they conceded only one try, the Boks were beaten 19-0 with Uale Mai scoring the clincher after Reupena lavasa had broken sharply to the inside for Samoa's try-opener after Reupena lavasa had cut sharply to the inside for the try-opener.

England clinched the game against Scotland in the last two minutes. The home side led 7-0 until right at the end when Nick Royal scored twice to help England to a 19-5 win.

Australia, who won last week's tournament at Twickenham, beat Fiji 15-7 and were full value for their win which set them up for a semifinal against New Zealand who won their quarter-final against Argentina 26-0.

New Zealand were in full control throughout despite the halftime lead of only 7-0 against a side that stunned Samoa in their pool match on Saturday.

Final results: Shield: Russia 26 Canada 7 Bowl: Wales 26 Kenya 10 Plate: Scotland 19 Argentina 0 Cup: Samoa 41 Australia 14 Semifinal results: Shield: Canada 35 Italy 0, Russia 17 Portugal 0 Bowl: Wales 26 France 12, Kenya 17 United States 12 (extra time) Plate: Scotland 19 South Africa 14, Argentina 19 Fiji 17 Cup: Samoa 15 England 12, Australia 24 New Zealand 19 Quarter-final results: Bowl (winners through to Bowl semifinals, losers to Shield semifinals): France 19 Italy 5, Wales 21 Canada 14, United States 26 Portugal 21, Kenya 12 Russia 0.

Cup (winners through to Cup semifinals, losers to Plate semifinals): Samoa 19 South Africa 0, England 19 Scotland 7, Australia 15 Fiji 7, New Zealand 26 Argentina 0.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
25% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1472 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2251 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE