IRB Sevens- Fiji grab the Plate
winning smiles back to the homeland. photo Zoomfiji
Emosi Vucago weaves his magic. photo Zoomfiji
Not the cup they wanted, but a happy win. photo Zoomfiji
powering past Portugal. photo Zoomfiji
Fiji beat France and then blitzed Portugal with a superb first half performance to claim the London Plate with a clinical 24-10 win.
Nasoni Roko, Emosi Vucago, Orisi Sareki and Waqa Kotobalavu all crossed for first half tries as the Fijians started in irresistible form to build a 24-0 lead. Portugal fought back well in the second half, and denied the Fijians another scoring opportunity, but could only manage two of their own by Sebastiao da Cunha and Goncalo Foro.
The Fijians were in superb form to beat rejuvenated France in their semi, Pio Tuwai and Orisi Sareki each grabbing a brace of tries in a 35-19 win. Portugal earlier recovered from the disappointment of losing against Scotland in the Cup quarters, Aderito Esteves, Goncalo Foro and Diogo Mateus scoring the tries in their 19-10 win against Australia.
The Fijians would have been aiming for a trophy bigger than the Plate, but silverware in your hands is a nice feeling and they will be lifted by some more limelight ahead of next weeks finale in Scotland.
In the main final a try in sudden death extra time from scrum-half Micky Young saw England notch a dramatic 31-26 victory over New Zealand in the final of the London Sevens at Twickenham.
New Zealand were quickly into their stride in the final and scored three unanswered tries through Julian Savea (2) and Kurt Baker, leaving England with it all to do. Ben Ryan's side needed to score first after the break and did so through powerful wing Uche Oduoza. Gollings converted to make the score 19-7 and Mickey Young's score brought it to 19-12.
England captitalised on a period of sustained pressure to pull level, James Rodwell breaking through the defence to score under the posts, but Zar Lawrence capped a superb personal performance to pull the kiwis ahead again, 26-19.
With the seconds counting down New Zealand seemed to have both hands on the Cup, but replacement wing Dan Norton streaked down the line and under the posts. Ben Gollings converted to pull England level, take his own all-time Sevens tally to 2,000 points and the match into sudden-death extra time.
With the 36,000 strong crowd on the edge of its seat, England pressed deep into kiwi territory and from a when the forwards won a scrum against the head scrum half Mickkey young sprinted to the corner to clinch a famous victory.