Kiwis too strong for Boks

New Zealand beat South Africa 27-12 in a tense Final at the San Diego leg of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series on Sunday.

New Zealand beat South Africa 27-12 in a tense Final at the San Diego leg of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series on Sunday.

New Zealand extended their winning streak in the Series to a record 36 matches and made it four consecutive tournament wins in the current Series – six overall, including the last two of the previous series.

The win places them 32 points ahead of South Africa on the overall standings on 80 points.

Fiji, who won the Plate Final in extra-time, have now dropped to third, four points behind the Springboks, on the IRB Sevens World Series standings with 44 points.

Samoa, who have enjoyed some good form in the past two weeks, are still in fourth position, but are accumulating points fast. They are now on 38 points.

Kenya, who did well to qualify for the Cup semifinal, have now leap above England and Australia into sixth position on the standings on 24 points.

Australia, who could only muster a Shield Final victory, see themselves fall three places to ninth position behind England and Scotland.

The rest of the table has remained unchanged.

We bring you all the Day Two action!

Day Two: Sunday, 10 February

Bowl quarterfinals:

France managed to pull off a comfortable 36-5 victory over the West Indies to advance to the Bowl semi-final in San Diego.

The USA put 40 points behind Chile to go one step further than they did in the Wellington tournament last week, where they featured in the Shield section of the tournament.

Canada showed some resolute defensive exploits when they kept a clean sheet against Mexico in their 45-0 victory in match 27.

Australia went down by three tires to two when they lost 12-19 against a determined Wales in the final Bowl quarter-final of the day.

Match 25: France 36-5 West Indies
Match 26: USA 40-12 Chile
Match 27: Canada 45-0 Mexico
Match 28: Australia 12-19 Wales

Cup quarterfinals:

New Zealand were far too strong for Fiji, who could only respond with one try, when they ran beat the Pacific Islanders 28-5 in the first Cup quarter-final.

A hat-trick from Kenya's Dennis Mwanja dashed England's hopes of making a Cup semi-final for the first time since the Dubai tournament last year.

A brace from South Africa's Mpho Mbiyozo sealed a rather comfortable 24-0 victory for the Springboks in their Cup quarter-final against Argentina on Sunday.

Apelu Fa'aiuga scores two phenomenal tries to bring the Samoans back into the match after trailing 0-7 early in the first-half.

Scotland did, however manage to keep themselves in the match in the second-half courtesy of a Scott Newlands try, but it was just not enough at the end of the day, as two more Samoan tries sealed a win for the South Pacific Islanders.

Match 29: New Zealand 28-5 Fiji
Match 30: England 7-17 Kenya
Match 31: Argentina 0-24 South Africa
Match 32: Samoa 24-14 Scotland

Shield semifinals:

People often take for granted how exciting a match between two minnows in any tournament can be. Chile and the West Indies put on a sterling display of rugby, as both teams exchanged the lead regularly, but it was a last gasp try from the South Americans that sealed their place in the Shield semi-final.

Australia drew first blood in their clash against Mexico through a Kacey Mitchell try, which was followed by a hat-trick of tries from Tim Wright. The Mexican team were weak on defence and showed absolutely no signs countering their opponents, let alone winning the match. The final result was purely academic really.

Match 33: West Indies 17-19 Chile
Match 34: Mexico 0-63 Australia

Bowl semifinals:

The was some vigorous defending from both France and the USA in the first Bowl semi-final and opportunities to score were few and far between. Poor handling from the USA almost proved costly, but a second try from Chris Wyles carried the USA home in the last minute of the game.

Wales dominated proceedings early on and opened the scoring through the big Jonathan Edwards, but a slight lapse in concentration allowed Canada to crawl back into the match and even snatch the lead. However, Wales responded with three more stunning tries to seal a victory. .

Match 35: France 10-12 USA
Match 36: Canada 14-22 Wales

Plate semifinals:

England and Fiji battled it out for pride in what was a most intense affair between two teams that have lost some form over the past week. After going into the half-time break with the scores equal. England regained the lead straight after the break, but Fiji again responded in the only way they know how.

However, England couldn't defend for ever and Fiji finally broke the line to score the winning try of the match with just over a minute to spare.

Argentina scored three early tries in the first-half and a brave Scotland just didn't have the firepower to turn the final result around.

Once again we witnessed some attractive rugby from both teams and the Final could be rather exciting indeed.

Match 37: Fiji 21-14 England
Match 38: Argentina 22-14 Scotland

Cup semifinals:

The Kiwis were once again exemplary on the field, as they dominated a hapless Kenyan team in the Cup semi-final, scoring five tries before the half-time break. The rest was history. However, Kenya deserve some praise, as they are the only team that has scored two tries in a match against New Zealand in this tournament. Steven Yates and Victor Vito scored three tries each.

South Africa scored three early tries against Samoa, putting the Pacific Islanders on the back foot immediately. Mikaele Pesamino struck back for Samoa, which set up a great second-half. Fabian Juries, who scored two of South Africa's tries, injured himself in the process.

Match 39: New Zealand 50-10 Kenya
Match 40: South Africa 22-12 Samoa

Shield Final:

Three first-half tries from Australia created a good cushion for the team to beat a determined Chile, who played with tremendous heart in the Shield Final.

Cristobal Westenenk responded with a try for Chile in the second-half before Cristobal Berti dotted down, creating a bit of anxiety for Australia. However, James Lew sealed the win for Australia in the dying moments of the game.

Match 41: Chile 12-24 Australia

Bowl Final:

Alec Jenkins and Tal Selley helped Wales to a 14-0 half-time lead and Dafydd Hewitt extended that lead midway through the second stanza. However the USA were not going to take defeat lying down and it was the talisman Todd Clever who inspired the team's recovery.

Mike Palefau scored the second try for the USA shortly after and suddenly the complexion of the game changed completely. The last three minutes were nerve wracking for Wales indeed.

Riaan Hamilton scored a last minute try for the USA, but it wasn't converted and Wales survived, but only just.

Match 42: USA 19-21 Wales

Plate Final: