The Sevens Springboks won their second IRB Sevens World Series title of the year on Sunday when they came from behind to beat Fiji 24 – 14 in the Final of the London leg of the competition.

The other highlight of the day’s drama at Twickenham, was the fact that despite defeat in the semifinal, Gordon Tietjens’ New Zealand side had plenty of reason to celebrate – having clinched their ninth World Series title after their quarterfinal victory against Argentina.

But the South Africans were not going to allow the Kiwis to steal their spot in the limelight.

It was one of the most remarkable come-from-behind wins in a Final this season – as the Springboks trailed 0-14 after just over three minutes.

However, they changed their strategy and not only got a stranglehold on the game, but throttled the life out of the Fijians with one of the most tactically astute games produced this season.

Coach Paul Treu admitted that some “hard words” were spoken after the Boks lost (7-12) to Fiji in the pool stages the day before.

“We decided we will stick to our structures and all credit to the players,” Treu said in his post-match reaction.

Captain Kyle Brown was also full of praise for his team.

“We decided to just keep it tight,” Brown said, admitting that two early mistakes – which handed Fiji their two tries – shook them.

Brown said they are “trying to build a winning spirit and winning culture” and they are looking to ending the season on a high in Edinburgh next week.

South Africa’s victory on Sunday means the race for second place in the IRB Series will be a four-way battle at next weekend’s Edinburgh Sevens – involving England (121), South Africa (116), Samoa (112) and Fiji (110).

Samoa defeated 2010 London Sevens champions Australia in the Plate Final to collect 12 points, Scotland claimed four Series points after a dramatic 21-19 victory against Kenya in the Bowl Final and England ended a disappointing weekend at Twickenham with some silverware, beating Portugal 22-7 in the Shield Final.

We look at all the Day Two action!

Cup:

South Africa beat Fiji 24-14 to not only win the London Sevens, but keep alive their chances of a second-placed finish in the series behind New Zealand.

From the kick-off the Fijians showed their brilliant off-loading skills and running angles, as Watisoni Votu went over for the first try inside the opening minute. A South African mistake at the breakdown allowed Livai Ikanikoda to hack the ball ahead and score the second try – although the Springboks would have felt aggrieved at not getting a penalty for a deliberate knockdown moments earlier.

With just over three minutes of the first half remaining Boom Prinsloo pulled a try back for the Boks, after he picked up the ball behind a scrappy ruck. And some brilliant interplay and sublime off-loading in the tackle, gave Bernardo Botha a second try for South Africa – making it 14-10 to Fiji at the break, after they had kicked both their conversions.

South Africa continued their comeback as they took the lead through another Botha try, with some great stepping by Cecil Afrika. The Boks, with a well-executed game plane, forced the Fijians into conceding a couple of penalties – eating up the time.

The Boks, using mauls from line-outs, then set up Steven Hunt for the fourth try, with the conversion making it 24-14 – not to mention a penalty going to the Boks for a late hit by a Fijian after the try. The South Africans held on for the last few seconds it make it a deserved come-from-behind win.

* In the earlier semifinals Fiji advanced to the Final in the most emphatic fashion – easily disposing of the new champions, New Zealand, winning 42-19 in an exciting semifinal that was decided early in the second half.

The Fijians raced into an early 14-0 lead – converted tries by Watisoni Votu and Joeli Lutumailagi – before New Zealand pulled one back to trail by just seven point at the half-time break.

Metuisela Talebula and Dale Tonawai scored in quick succession for Fiji soon after the restart and New Zealand looked dead-and-buried. When Nikola Matawalu scored the fifth try with just under three minutes on the clock, the game was over as a contest at 35-7. There was more magic to come, from Peni Gaunimeke, before Buxton Popoalii and Tim Mikkelson added late consolation scores for the Kiwis to make it 42-19 at the end.

Two Boom Prinsloo tries saw South Africa edge Wales in a thrilling semifinal, 21-19.

In their semifinal South Africa opened the scoring when Boom Prinsloo cut back on the angle to take a great pass from Cecil Afrika to set up the first try. Just before half-time Bernardo Botha became the curator and scorer, as he went down the blindside, off-loaded timeously and then followed up to receive the scoring pass – 14-0 at the break.

Wales needed to score first after the break and Jevon Groves obliged by running onto a well-timed pass near the Boks’ line. And Alex Cuthbert evened it up when he ran a great angle moments later as Wales continued their impressive run after the break. With just under three minutes remaining Prinsloo put South Africa back in the lead, a try created by Afrika. With time up Kristian Phillips scored in the right corner, but Gareth Davies was wide with the conversion – allowing the Boks to advance to the Final.

Results:

Final:
South Africa 24-14 Fiji

Semifinals:
Fiji 42-19 New Zealand
South Africa 21-19 Wales

Quarterfinals:
France  12 – 19  Wales
Australia  0 – 17  South Africa
Fiji  26 – 14  Samoa
New Zealand  31 – 14

Plate:

Outgoing World Series champions Samoa defeated last year’s London Sevens Cup winners 22-12 in the Plate final.

Collecting 12 Series points for winning the Plate, Tom Iosefo took his tournament try tally to 10 with two more tries in the final against Michael O’Connor’s side.

In the earlier semifinals Samoa became the first team through to the final after a convincing 38-0 victory against Argentina.

Tom Iosefo scored three of Samoa’s six tries, taking his tournament tally to eight, in the victory and the Pacific Islanders will face defending London Sevens champions Australia in the final.

Brian Sefanaia and Greg Jeloudev (two) helped Michael O’Connor’s side to a 19-0 victory against France. The last time the two sides met was in the Cup quarterfinals in Adelaide, with Samoa edging the match 19-14.

Results:

Final:
Samoa 22-12 Australia

Semifinals:
Australia 19-0 France
Argentina 0-38 Samoa

Bowl:

Andrew Turnbull snatched victory for Scotland in the Bowl final to add four more World Series points to their season tally. Having trailed 19-14 after the buzzer had sounded Turnbull showed great composure to secure a 21-19 victory and Scotland’s third Bowl of the season.

Scotland reached the Bowl final after a 19-17 victory against Spain with Peter Horne crossing for two of their three tries. Graham Shiel’s side will face Kenya in the final after Humphrey Kayange’s late try sealed a 19-15 victory over Russia.

Earlier, hosts England’s poor form in London continued as they suffered a 19-17 defeat to Kenya in their final Bowl quarterfinal. Despite leading 17-0 at half time, Oscar Ouma, Collins Injera and Lavin Asego inflicted more misery on Ben Ryan’s side.

Spain became the first team through to the semi finals in the opening match of day two after defeating Al Caravelli’s USA 14-0 thanks to tries from Pablo Feijoo and Igancio Martin. Lee Jones, who was part of Scotland’s Commonwealth Games squad that finished sixth in Delhi, scored a hat-trick in their 26-0 victory against Portugal.

Evgeny Brysryakov, Ivan Kotov and Nikolay Zaporzhin had earlier all crossed for Pavel Baranovsky’s Russia in a 15-12 victory against Canada in the third quarterfinal, setting up the meeting with Kenya.

Results:

Final:
Scotland 21-19 Kenya

Semifinals:
Russia 15-19 Kenya
Spain 17-19 Scotland

Quarterfinals:
England  17 – 19  Kenya
Canada  12 – 15  Russia
Portugal  0 – 26  Scotland
Spain  14 – 0  United States

Shield:

England proved too strong for Portugal in the Shield final to end a disappointing weekend at Twickenham with some silverware.

Mat Turner, Dan Norton (two) and John Brake’s tries secured a 22-7 victory to the delight of the home crowd.

Portugal and England advanced to the Shield final after respective 21-5 and 22-14 victories against USA and Canada.

David Mateus, Diogo Mateus and Aderito Esteves scored first half tries to secure Portugal’s path to the final whilst Nick Royle, James Rodell, Dan Norton and John Brake helped Ben Ryan’s side reach the final despite Ciaran Hearn scoring twice for Canads.

Earlier, Ben Gollings scored his 2,624th point in the history of the World Series, doubling Waisele Serevi’s next best tally of 1,310, with his try against Kenya.

Results:

Final:
England 22-7 Portugal

Semifinals:
Canada 14-22 England
United States 15-21 Portugal

Source + Pic: rugby365.com