New Zealand claim the spoils at Twickers

Sevens Heaven: Fans brave the elements at Twickenham

New Zealand clinched the Cup at the London leg of the IRB World Sevens series by recording a clinical 29-7 victory over Fiji in the final, countering island magic with organisational nous.

With just one leg remaining, Fiji still lead the overall standings with 120 points, but New Zealand have closed the gap to just ten points. Samoa lie third with 106 points.

In the other competitions, South Africa held on in the face of a late surge from a talented young Australian side to win 14-5 and take the Plate.

Tries by forwards Isoa Damu and Michael Hills either side of the break gave hosts England reason to cheer at the end of two disappointing days as they beat Portugal 10-0 to win the Bowl.

And two tries by Victor Sudi Simiyu fired Kenya to Shield success as they overcame Italy 15-0 in an error-strewn match.

RESULTS AND REPORTS - DAY TWO:

CUP

Fiji recovered from a jittery opening to book a berth in the Cup semi-finals by notching up a polished 26-10 win over Australia in the first of the main quarter-finals.

Australia drew first blood as Luke Burgess raced away from the kick-off to score in the corner. Fiji steadied themselves and hit back when William Ryder ushered big Semisi Naevo Saukawa through the narrowest of gaps.

Ryder than flashed with brilliance, goose-stepping his way to the line as the Australians clutched at his shadow. He then converted to leave the scoreboard reading 12-5 at the break.

Setefano Cakau added another to Fiji's tally be rounding Australia's fading defences, and he was soon followed across the line by the jinxing figure of Nasoni Roko.

Australia had the last word when Nathan Trist muscled his way over, but it was too little too late.

The series leaders will met Wales in the semi-finals after the men in red beat Scotland 15-5 in the battle of the Celts.

Wales opened the scoring after a long period of Scottish pressure, with Jonny Vaughton breaking from his own half. Rhodri McAtee added Wales's second on the stoke of half-time to give his side a 10-0 lead at the break.

Scotland responded early in the second half when Colin Shaw broke through a last-ditch tackle to score.

Wales fought back and Jonny Vaughton was soon across the whitewash for his second try of the match.

South Africa made New Zealand work hard for a spot in the semi-finals, putting up a brave fight before succumbing to a 14-0 defeat.

South Africa weathered an early battering before pulling off a fine counter-attack that saw them awarded a penalty in the shadow of New Zealand's goal. But the men in black held firm thanks to some tenacious defence.

New Zealand eventually won back possession and Lote Raikabula got on the end of a good break-out and was soon under the sticks for a converted try.

Mzwandile Stick thought he had opening his side's account early in the second half when he got over the line after hacked on and winning the race to the line, but he was adjudged to have made a double-movement in the act of scoring.

It was, however, New Zealand who were the next to celebrate as Afeleke Pelenise's blistering pace saw him out-strip the green and gold defences for his ninth try of the weekend.

Argentina found Samoa too hot to handing in the last of the day's main semi-finals, with the tournament's hot tips romping to a 39-10 victory.

Samoa got off the mark with an early try from Mikaele Pesamino. Jerry Meafou added his country's second before Pesamino struck for his second and third tries of the game as the Samoans began to feed off Argentine mistakes.

Adrift 20-0 at the break, Argentina's Santiago Bottini manage to score in the opening minute of the second half. Argentina talisman Santiago Gomez Cora soon added a second and suddenly an upset was on the cards.

But Gomez Cora then found himself in the sin-bin for killing the ball and the wily Samoans made full use of the numerical advantage by sending Ofisa Treviranus over for a converted try.

Timoteo Iosua added another before Gomez Cora returned, but the islanders were already out of sight.

And the game was up for Argentina as Iosua added the cherry on the top by scoring another try at the death.

M29: Cup quarter-final: Fiji 26 Australia 10

M30: Cup quarter-final: Wales 15 Scotland 5

M31: Cup quarter-final: New Zealand 14 South Africa 0

M32: Cup quarter-final: Samoa 39 Argentina 10

Fiji swept into the Cup final on the back of an emphatic 24-7 victory over Wales.

A fine challenge from Rhodri McAtee prevented Semisi Naevo Saukawa from scoring an early try in the corner, but the big Fijian soon had his name on the books after William Ryder unpicked the Welsh lock with a chip and chase.

Ryder was up to all his old tricks moments later, slicing through the middle on a solo run to the line. But Jonny Vaughton showed good speed in tracking back for the tackle.

Naevo Saukawa got his second of the game just before the break, collecting the simplest of inside-passes from a free-kick on the red 22-metre line.

Ryder hacked through the middle in the first move of the second half and beat the Welsh defence to the ball to score a fabulously instinctive try. He then added another - coming on to the end of a speculative pass to dot down.

With Fiji suddenly 24-0 up, Wales had the right to throw in the towel - credit goes to them for not doing so.

Indeed, Fiji spend the next couple of phases pinned to their line and Wales soon had the try they deserved, supplied by Robert McCusker. But that was that.

New Zealand booked their berth in the final courtesy of a clinical 19-0 victory over the sodden Samoans.

Afeleke Pelenise got the party started by dotted down his tenth try of the weekend after shrugging off a one-on-one tackle in the right-hand corner.

The wet conditions were not to Samoa's liking and basic handling errors accounted for many a promising move.

Pelenise was soon off on another blistering run but he inexplicably chose to pass inside with the line at his disposal. The ball was spilt but New Zealand manage to re-gather and send Lote Raikabula for a try under the sticks, and the men in black took a 12-0 lead into the break.

New Zealand's dominance continued into the second period and some fine handling saw DJ Forbes collect his side's third try.

Samoa enjoyed more of the possession in the later stages of the game, but just couldn't find the gaps.

M39: Cup semi-final: Fiji 24 Wales 7

M40: Cup semi-final: New Zealand 19 Samoa 0

New Zealand clinched the Cup at the London leg of the IRB World Sevens series by recording a clinical 29-7 victory over Fiji in the final, countering island magic with organisational nous.

The men in black had the Fijians in reverse from the off, and it was Afeleke Pelenise who struck the first blow for New Zealand, handing off a weak challenge from Setefano Cakau to score an unconverted try in the fourth minute of the game.

New Zealand continued to press and Pelenise soon ushered Zar Lawrence over the line with a pop-pass from the base of a ruck under Fiji's sticks.

Fiji refused to be cowed and the brilliant William Ryder was soon converted his own try after he dummied and jinked his way to the line from his own 22-metre line, leaving New Zealand with a 12-7 lead at the break.

New Zealand reasserted their authority early in the second half with a bludgeoning raid on the Fijian line.

Like all the teams, the men in black were having trouble with the wet conditions, but Lawrence was soon over the line for his second of the game.

Fiji began to force the game and a hopeful pass from Cakau was intercepted by Roy Kinikinilau who sped through to score.

New Zealand continued to turn the screw and added the coup de grace with a push-over try from a line-out. Adam Thomson emerged from the pile of with the ball under one arm and the other raised aloft in triumph - it was all over.

M44: Cup final: Fiji 7 New Zealand 29

PLATE

Australia progressed to the final of the courtesy of a gritty 15-5 win over a game Scotland side in their semi-final encounter.

The Australians drew first blood with an early try but Scotland were soon back in the mix after James Lew was sin-binned for killing the ball.

Scotland made good use of their numerical advantage and Ben Addison was soon in at the corner - but a fine cover-tackle knocked him across the touchline.

Australia hit with a try from Luke Burgess and Scotland were down 10-0 at the break.

Ben Lucas extended Australia's lead with a try early in second period but Scotland hit back with a try from Colin Shaw.

Scotland were building a head of steam and attacked again, but Addison then found himself pushed out at the opposite corner.

South Africa booked a date with Australia in the Plate final courtesy of a battling 17-14 win over Argentina in their semi-final.

Argentina got off to a flying start with Ramiro del Busto bustling over the line in the first minute of the game.

South Africa bounced back and a good period of pressure resulted in a try for Dusty Noble in the left-hand corner. He then collected the re-start and slid in for a try in the right-hand corner. Argentina were suddenly on the rack.

The superior pace of the men in green began to tell but passes weren't going to hand. Gonzalo Camacho hacked on one such ball and chased up to score to give his side a 14-12 lead at the break.

South Africa managed to wrestle back the lead with three minutes remaining on the clock. Deon Fourie did the honours, punctuating a good period of inter-passing to score in the left-hand corner.

Argentina almost stole it at the death, but Francisco Albarracin's soccer skills deserted him as he went to hack on a loose ball with the line begging.

M37: Plate semi-final: Australia 15 Scotland 5

M38: Plate semi-final: South Africa 17 Argentina 14

South Africa collected the Plate title after recording a calm 14-5 victory over Australia in the penultimate game of the day.

The South Africans drew first blood after some tense early exchanges, with Gio Aplon collecting a chip ahead to score a converted try.

Australia rallied but they were unable to break down South African defences. Aplon scored again with the last play of the half after finding himself on the end of a move born of a speculative cross-field kick.

Australia had bags of possession in the second half but found it hard to transform ball into points. AJ Gilbert finally got over the line for an unconverted try, but time was running out for the men in gold.

All South Africa had to do was quell the late uprising, and they did just that.

M43: Plate final: Australia 5 South Africa 14

BOWL

Hosts England beat Kenya to win through to a Bowl semi-final against France, who easily saw off Georgia in their quarter-final.

In the other half of the draw, Portugal avenged their defeat to Italy in the final of the FIRA European event in Amsterdam last weekend, winning 5-0 to book a semi against Russia, who pulled off a shock 19-5 win against Canada.

M25: Bowl quarter-final: France 31 Georgia 0

M26: Bowl quarter-final: England 19 Kenya 0

M27: Bowl quarter-final: Italy 0 Portugal 5

M28: Bowl quarter-final: Canada 5 Russia 19

Despite finding themselves in the wrong war, France and England had a fine battle in their sodden Bowl semi-final, with the locals muscling their way through to the final on the back of a 17-7 win.

After a tense opening spell, France's Khrist Kopetzky cut through England's line for a try under the sticks.

England's Rob Thirlby then engineered some space down the right for big Isoa Damu who sneaked in for an unconverted try to leave the half-time score poised at 7-5 in favour of the French.

The men in white then used Damu's immense strength to good effect, sending him down the middle - through three Frenchmen - for a try under the sticks.

England were now in full flow and a fine phase of passing lead to a try by Ben Foden.

France fought the dying of the light, but good defensive work from England kept them at bay.

England will meet Portugal in the final, with the Iberians dancing through on the back of a tense 19-12 win over Russia.

Vladimir Ostroushko shrugged off some poor Portuguese tackling to score a converted try in the second minute of the game.

Portugal rallied and Diego Mateus soon dotted down a fine team try. He was on hand to add a second moments later to give Portugal a 14-7 lead at the break.

Russia then picked up a loose Portuguese pass and Ostroushko set out for the line from 60 metres out. Suddenly there was only two points between the sides.

But some clever play from Pedro Leal put Portugal back on the front foot, and Pedro Cabral plumped the cushion with a try in the shadow of the Russian posts.

M35: Bowl semi-final: France 7 England 17

M36: Bowl semi-final: Portugal 19 Russia 12

Portugal almost pulled off the greatest victory of their Sevens history by seeing off the hosts of the London Sevens in the final of the Bowl competition, but England managed to eke out a 10-0 win against the run of play.

The determined Portuguese held their own for much of the match and they enjoyed the lion's share of territory and possession.

The strength of the resistance forced England to change tactics and they began to back their speedsters by kicking long balls downfield.

And thus the deadlock was broken on the cusp of half-time as Isoa Damu collected a chip to dot down for an unconverted try.

Portugal were back on the attack early in the concluding half, but they were let down by poor handling at crucial moments.

Indeed, an error from Gonçalo Foro behind his sticks handed England a five-metre line out and Michael Hills crashed over in the last phase of the game.

M42: Bowl final: England 10 Portugal 0

SHIELD

Whilst Kenya made easy work of Georgia, Italy needed Alessandro Onori''s try in extra time to help them past Canada.

M33: Shield semi-final: Georgia 0 Kenya 19

M34: Shield semi-final: Italy 17 Canada 12

Kenya claimed the Shield title after recording a gritty 15-0 win over Italy in the final.

A tense first half failed to produce a try, but Kenya managed to outfox the Italian defence in the fifth minute of the second period, working the ball wide to Sidney Ashioya who scored in the right corner.

Victor Sudi Simiyu then darting into the opposite corner after stealing Italian line-out ball, and he made the game safe at the stoke of full-time, intercepting a desperate Italian pass to score.

M41: Shield final: Kenya 15 Italy 0