Kenya crowned Singapore Sevens champs

Editor

during the 2016 Singapore Sevens at National Stadium on April 17, 2016 in Singapore.

Kenya beat Fiji 30-7 in the final of the Singapore Sevens, to win their first ever World Rugby Sevens Series title.

Collins Injera, named player of the final, scored twice in the final as his side blew the series leaders Fiji away with 20 unanswered first half points.

It was a fitting end to a sensational weekend of rugby sevens, with more than 45,000 people turning out at the National Stadium with Singapore returning to the World Rugby Sevens Series after a 10-year absence.

Fiji's place in the final, after victory over South Africa in their semi-final, extended their lead at the top of the standings to eight points with two rounds remaining in Paris and London while the Blitzboks returned to second place having finished third after beating Argentina 28-0 in the third place play-off which included a 50th career try for Kwagga Smith.

Earlier, two enthralling semi-finals set up the final with series leaders Fiji coming from behind for the second time of the day to win with the last play of the match. First Kitione Taliga helped Ben Ryan's side beat Australia 19-14 having trailed 14-5 before they beat South Africa 26-21 with substitutes Amenoni Nasilasila and Alivereti Veitokani scoring the decisive tries in the first semi final.

The second semi-final was just as dramatic with an Injera penalty drop goal giving Kenya the lead for the first time in the match and sealing a 15-12 win with the last kick.

Meanwhile, having trailed 21-14 with less than two minutes left on the clock, Samoa scored twice to give them a 26-21 victory over New Zealand who dropped to third in the standings.

First, a brilliant weaving run from Belgium Tuatagaloa accounted for the first try before Tila Mealoi intercepted a stray pass to race 40 metres and send the Samoans into raptures. It was Mealoi's second in the match, having also scored two in their semi-final win over France.

Samoa last beat New Zealand in 2012 and the victory will give them a lot of confidence heading into the last two rounds of the series and ultimately the repechage where they will compete for the last place in the Olympic Games.

Hugh Blake and Mark Robertson score tries for Scotland in their Bowl final against USA which ultimately proved too much for the USA. Despite Zack Test and Maka Unufe crossing, both tries left difficult conversions which were unsuccessful. Danny Barrett went on one of his rampaging runs towards the end of the match but the Scotland defence held firm to secure a second Bowl victory this season.

Russia won thier third conseuctive Shield trophy, beating Wales 24-7 in the final.

Vladimir Ostroushko powered down the right flank for the match's opening try, before setting up Mikhail Babaev for Russia's second as they powered to a 12-0 lead. Two further tries from Stanislav Bondarev and Vladislav lzarenko extended the lead to 24-0 before a Nicky Griffiths try gave Wales some consolation.

Results:

Cup 

Final

Fiji 7-30 Kenya 

Third place play-off

Argentina 28-0 South Africa 

Semi-finals

Fiji 26-21 South Africa 
Argentina 12-15 Kenya 

Quarter-finals

Fiji 19-14 Australia
South Africa 12-7 New Zealand
Argentina 12-7 Samoa
Kenya 28-7 France

Plate 

Final

New Zealand 21-26 Samoa 

Semi-finals

Australia 7-31 New Zealand
Samoa 21-7 France

Bowl 

Final

Scotland 14-10 USA 

Semi-finals

England 14-19 Scotland
Portugal 0-26 USA

Shield

Final

Wales 7-24 Russia 

Semi-finals

Wales 24-22 Canada
Japan 15-17 Russia

Quarter-finals

USA 24-5 Russia
Japan 7-14 Portugal
Scotland 26-19 Canada
England 26-17 Wales

Standings

1) Fiji – 147 points
2) South Africa – 139
3) New Zealand – 135
4) Australia – 115
5) USA – 95
6) Argentina – 92
7) Kenya – 85
8) Englnd – 75
9) Samoa – 62
10) France – 58
11) Scotland – 57
12) Wales – 44
13) Canada – 34
14) Japan – 21
15) Russia – 21
16) Portugal – 17
17) Brazil – 1
18) Zimbabwe – 1
19) South Korea – 1

With thanks to World Rugby's official website