Sports After Dark

The party continued in Wellington as the IRB World Sevens Series came to its conclusion. Among the costumes, dancing and singing, a new star was born.

Many years ago an unknown player fresh out of high school burst onto the world rugby scene with a dominating performance at the Hong Kong Sevens. That player was Jonah Lomu, and after watching the performance of teenage sensation Victor Vito fans will be wondering if history is about to repeat itself.

If Friday produced a few surprise results, the knock-out phase of the competition produced some absolute stunners. The Cup quarter-finals provided two of the biggest upsets of the tournament, first when Tonga beat the more fancied South African and then when defending champions Samoa defeated favourites Fiji.

Yesterday’s biggest disappointments, Argentina and England, reversed their poor form and picked up their first wins of the tournament on their way to the Bowl final. England triumphed by 12-7 in a hard fought and tough game, a returning Ben Gollings playing a big role in the win.

Giant killers USA and the Cook Islands were able to continue on their good form from Friday, the Cooks making it into the Bowl semi finals while the USA won the Shield final over Kenya. Todd Clever stood out for the USA, a big man with an incredible turn of pace and fantastic hands, and it was Clever who created the last gasp penalty try which won the game.

The Plate final saw Wales take on South Africa, who recovered from their shock loss to Tonga by eliminating Fiji in the semi-finals. South Africa came away winners by 19-12, but the final score was not a real reflection of the game as South Africa dominated, only to have Wales close the gap with a try after the final hooter.

The night was capped off with the Cup final between defending champions Samoa and hosts New Zealand. Both sides had played brilliantly throughout the tournament, but New Zealand went into the game with the psychological advantage after the beat Samoa in pool play.

Samoa got off to an excellent start as Mikaele Pesamino scored the first try of the match inside two minutes, but New Zealand answered when Vito did his best Lomu impression, shrugging off multiple Samoans as he rampaged over the line. Captain Zar Lawrence then gave New Zealand the lead with a try on the stroke of half time.

The second  half was a see-saw affair, Samoa regaining the lead through a try and an extremely rare drop goal, then New Zealand tying it up with a try of their own. The game was won at the last possible moment as Vito crashed over in the corner for his second of the game, giving New Zealand their third tournament win in a row.

Fans were treated to a wonderful two days of rugby and partying, supporting nations where rugby is a very minor sport, such is the attraction of sevens. The series moves to San Diego next weekend where the question remains: Can anyone beat New Zealand?

Similar Posts:

• Home side in charge after day one at Wellington Sevens
• Can New Zealand make it three in a row at the biggest party of the summer?
• Keys to victory: The dark horses
• Feast of sports this weekend
• Early upsets look unlikely at Rugby World Cup

The Tietjens magnificent seven continue perfect record win home tournament win by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.