![LV= Cup [Anglo-Welsh]](images/LV Cup 2011 SB.jpg)
CAPE TOWN 7s 2016
ENGLAND broke South African hearts with a nail-biting 19-17 win to take gold at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens.
Despite Werner Kok scoring in the last seconds with England down to six men, a missed conversion from Justin Geduld ensured Simon Amor’s side won their first Cup since Tokyo 2015.
England captain Tom Mitchell said: “It was a tough tournament, to back up last weekend in Dubai, but I am so proud of the boys. We trained all summer and this makes it all worth it. We were a bit disappointed last weekend and we wanted to put it right. It’s been a bumpy road, but it always is. It was a pleasure to play in this stadium.”
In an enthralling final, Chris Dry showed incredible pace to beat Tom Mitchell to the try line with the first try of the match before Richard de Carpentier hit back immediately to give England a 7-5 lead. Dan Norton added another to his weekend tally after an impressive pass from Dan Bibby to make the scores 12-5 at half-time, with South Africa losing Branco du Preez to injury.
Du Preez’s replacement, Rosko Specman, scored another wonder try early in second-half, chipping over the England defence and dotting down under the posts to draw the scores level. But, soon afterwards, HSBC player of the final Ruaridh McConnochie stepped inside Philip Snyman to give England another lead.
Norton was then sent to the sin bin with less than a minute remaining for a nervy finish, allowing South Africa and Werner Kok to score in the corner but Geduld missed the conversion to give England the win.
England close the gap on series leaders South Africa, finishing the first two rounds on 39, two behind South Africa but ahead of Fiji on 32, Scotland and New Zealand, both on 27.
Ruaridh McConnochie, HSBC player of the final said: “There was not a big difference, it was a two point game. If the kick goes over it could be a different result, but the win helps massively. It shows the work we did off the pitch pays off and we are good enough to win a tournament.”
BRONZE FINAL
In the Bronze Medal game against New Zealand, Scotland matched the All Blacks score for score and it looked as if the game was going to finish 19-a-piece. Dougie Fife, George Horne and Fleming all scored for the Scots, while Dylan Collier, Tim Mikkelson and Antonioa Kiri Kiri touched down for the Kiwis. Like more than one final earlier, it looked as if this too would head into extra time sudden death, but Jonathan Ruru found the whitewash in injury time just as the siren sounded, and stole the win from a feisty Scottish side.
Earlier in the evening, Uganda and Canada battled it out for the 13th place, the North Americans gaining the upper hand and convincingly winning 19-10. Next France put Argentina to the sword to claim the Challenge Cup Trophy, the South Americans losing 7-19. And the final battle for 5th place was between last year's series winners and Olympic Gold Medallists, Fiji, who ran circles round Kenya for a 33-21 victory.
SEMI-FINALS: SCOTLAND 14-33 ENGLAND
England ended Scotland’s involvement in the Cup competition for a second week running, beating the Auld Enemy 33-14 in the HSBC Cape Town Sevens semi-finals.
Charlie Hayter scored twice and Dan Norton continued his fine form to open up a 19-0 lead before Mark Robertson hit back for the Scots on the stroke of half-time. But replacements Oliver Lindsay-Hague and Ethan Waddleton secured a win for Simon Amor’s side to set up a final against the hosts.
SEMI-FINALS: SOUTH AFRICA 14-7 NEW ZEALAND
In a tight encounter, Sherwin Stowers opened the scoring after a prolonged period of possession for New Zealand, before Seabelo Senatla created space for Branco du Preez to dart under the posts to make it 7-7 at half-time.
In the second half Rosko Specman scored a brilliant try, running the entire length of the pitch to the delight of the home crowd.
South Africa possess the meanest defence so far in the series, conceding just 11 tries, and held out in the second seven minutes to book their place in a home final as they looked to defend their title.
CUP QUARTER-FINALS
South Africa beat Wales 33-0 in their quarter-final with Cecil Afrika, Seabelo Senatla, Chris Dry, Ruhan Nel and Rosko Specman scoring for the hosts.
Tim Mikkelson, Sherwin Stowers and Scott Curry showed signs that New Zealand are getting back to their best after a disappointing campaign in Dubai. They all scored in their quarter-final against Kenya, with the captain grabbing two in their 28-7 victory.
In a thrilling third quarter-final, Scotland captain Scott Wight scored the winning try in sudden-death extra-time for a 24-19 win over the USA. Having agonisingly missed out last week in Dubai, this time they made the last four, after earlier tries from Scott Wight, Mark Robertson and James Fleming. USA captain Perry Baker, who impressed all weekend, scored two for the Americans.
In the fourth quarter-final, Olympic gold medallists Fiji were beaten by England after Dan Norton scored in sudden-death extra-time. Simon Amor’s side came from 19-0 behind to tie the scores at 26-26 after Ruaridh McConnochie’s effort, and it was England's all-time leading try scorer who snatched the win.
HOSTS South Africa, Fiji, New Zealand and Scotland all went unbeaten to top their respective pools at the end of day one at the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape Town.
The Cup quarter-finals sees defending champions South Africa take on last week’s fourth-placed side Wales, Scotland come face to face with the USA, Olympic gold medallists Fiji meet England and the All Blacks Sevens will play Kenya.
After last week’s Dubai Sevens, the Blitzboks will be looking to defend their HSBC Cape Town Sevens title on day two and increase their lead at the top of the series standings after the opening two rounds.
After the last match of the day, South African captain Philip Snyman said:
"It's been a good week for us. There are a lot of things here in Cape Town that can distract us but, over the last few days, we put last week's win in Dubai behind us. The guys played some nice rugby here today and I think we'll keep on building."
On a day when England speedster Dan Norton became England's top scorer, and third-highest try scorer in sevens history behind Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora and Kenya's Collins Injera, Canada's captain John Moonlight appeared in his 50th tournament as did Kenya's skipper, Andrew Amonde.
POOL A
1 
2 
3 
4 
HOSTS INTO CUP QUARTERS
Last week’s Dubai champions, hosts and defending champions in Cape Town, South Africa got off to a flying start as World Rugby sevens player of the 2016 Seabelo Senatla and Werner Kok both scored twice for the Blitzboks in their 41-0 win over Russia.
In their second match against last week’s Challenge Trophy winners USA, Maka Unufe gave the Americans the lead but tries from Cecil Afrika, Kok and Senatla secured the 28-10 win for Neil Powell’s side.
The South Africans rounded off a successful day on home soil with a 29-7 win against Australia, with Cecil Afrika and Nel each getting a try and captain Philip Snyman scoring two.
USA, captained by Perry Baker for the first time, started with a 19-0 win against Australia with Baker opening the scoring, before beating Russia 26-17 thanks to tries from Danny Barrett, Stephen Tomasin and Baker to reach the last eight.
Andy Friend’s Australia followed their defeat to the USA, beating Russia 36-0, but this was not enough to put them into the last eight and they will now compete in the Challenge Trophy.
POOL B
1 
2 
3 
4 
KENYA JOIN GOLD MEDALLISTS FIJI IN LAST EIGHT
Fiji defeated Japan with five different try scorers crossing the whitewash in their 33-7 victory, before beating Kenya 28-22 with conversions proving decisive as both sides scored four tries.
The last time the sides met was the HSBC Singapore Sevens final where Kenya won their first-ever sevens tournament, but they could not repeat the result as they lost to the Olympic gold medallists 28-22, after two tries from the impressive Samisoni Viriviri.
In Kenyan captain Andrew Amonde’s 50th tournament, he inspired his side to an opening 33-14 win over France with Billy Odhiambo and Willy Ambaka both scoring two tries each before their defeat to Fiji. They confirmed their spot in the last eight as they defeated Japan 24-5 with tries from Augustine Lugonzo, Odhiambo and Ambaka.
Fiji captain Osea Kolinisau opened the scoring in Fiji’s third pool match, to help them top Pool B, before Viriviri, Setareki Bituniyata and Jerry Tuwai confirmed a narrow 28-19 win over France.
France bounced back from their opening defeat to Kenya with an impressive record 50-7 win over Japan. Terry Bouhraoua and Manoel Dall’Igna both scored twice but it was not enough as they suffered defeat to Fiji.
POOL C
1 
2 
3 
4 
RECORDS BROKEN AS NEW ZEALAND AND ENGLAND REACH LAST EIGHT
England’s Dan Norton and James Rodwell both broke records on day one as their side reached the quarter-finals. First Rodwell became the most-capped England sevens player with a 71st tournament appearance before Norton scored his 220th, 221st and 222nd tries to become the all-time leading try scorer for England.
Taking over from Ben Gollings (220), Norton also moved into third on the all-time list behind Collins Injera (235) and Santiago Gomez Cora (230). England opened with a 33-10 win over Canada before Norton scored a brace in their 19-14 win over Argentina.
Having finished eighth last week in Dubai, New Zealand looked an improved side early on, beating Argentina 26-12 before Canada came from 14-0 behind to draw 19-19 against the All Blacks Sevens. John Moonlight scored one of the Canadian’s three tries in his 50th appearance against New Zealand.
Simon Amor’s England missed out on top spot in the pool with a defeat at the hands of the All Blacks Sevens. Captain Tom Mitchell had got the scoring underway, but Sherwin Stowers’ 113th try, Tim Mikkelson’s third try of the day, two DJ Forbes efforts and a penalty try secured an impressive 33-7 win and top spot for the Kiwis.
New Zealand's Tim Mikkelson was happy with his side's performance, especially after beating England in the last Pool C match:
"We played (England) last weekend in the last game and they gave us a bit of a lesson. We knew going into that game that we had probably had to win to make it to the cup so we're really pleased with that performance."
Bautista Delguy impressed in Argentina’s third pool match, scoring a first-half hat-trick against Canada as Santiago Gomez Cora’s side won 43-14 to finish third in Pool C.
POOL D
1 
2 
3 
4 
SCOTLAND AND WALES REACH SUCCESSIVE CUP QUARTER-FINALS
Scotland came from 19-7 behind in the opening match of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens to beat Samoa, with James Fleming drawing the scores level after the buzzer had sounded.
Scott Wight stepped up to kick a difficult conversion to give Scotland the 21-19 win, before they beat Uganda 38-7 in their second match to book a place in the Cup quarter-finals thanks to two tries from Jamie Farndale.
Wales joined them in the quarter-finals for a second successive week after they beat Uganda 29-7 in their first match before a tight encounter with Samoa. Matthew Owen scored a try in each half before Sam Cross secured the win for last week’s fourth placed side.
Samoa finished third in Pool D with a win over Uganda with Alatasi Tupou scoring twice in the 29-5 win.
In the pool decider, Scotland beat Wales 24-21 in a tight encounter. Wales were down to five men in the first half as Scotland opened up a 19-0 lead. Two second half tries from Owen Jenkins had given the Welsh a glimpse but the Scots held out to top the pool.
POOL A |
POOL B |
POOL C |
POOL D |
WORLD RUGBY announced the pools for the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape Town.
The draw for the HSBC Cape Town Sevens was made before the Cup final at the opening round of the series in Dubai.
Dubai winners South Africa are drawn in Pool A with Australia, USA and Russia.
Olympic champions Fiji, who suffered defeat to the Blitzboks in Dubai, head up Pool B with France, Kenya and Japan.
After an impressive performance in round one, Simon Amor's England head-up a tough Pool C which also features New Zealand, Argentina and Canada.
Pool D contains Wales, Scotland, Samoa and invitational team Uganda.
| SATURDAY 10th DECEMBER | |||||||
1 |
10:15 |
SCOTLAND |
21-19 |
SAMOA |
POOL D |
||
2 |
10:37 |
WALES |
29-7 |
UGANDA |
POOL D |
||
3 |
10:59 |
NEW ZEALAND |
26-12 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL C |
||
4 |
11:21 |
ENGLAND |
33-10 |
CANADA |
POOL C |
||
5 |
11:43 |
FRANCE |
14-33 |
KENYA |
POOL B |
||
6 |
12:05 |
FIJI |
33-7 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
7 |
12:27 |
AUSTRALIA |
0-19 |
USA |
POOL A |
||
8 |
12:49 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
41-0 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
9 |
13:36 |
SCOTLAND |
38-7 |
UGANDA |
POOL D |
||
10 |
13:58 |
WALES |
17-0 |
SAMOA |
POOL D |
||
11 |
14:20 |
NEW ZEALAND |
19-19 |
CANADA |
POOL C |
||
12 |
14:42 |
ENGLAND |
19-14 |
ARGENTINA |
POOL C |
||
13 |
15:04 |
FRANCE |
50-7 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
14 |
15:26 |
FIJI |
28-22 |
KENYA |
POOL B |
||
15 |
15:48 |
AUSTRALIA |
36-0 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
16 |
16:10 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
28-10 |
USA |
POOL A |
||
17 |
16:57 |
SAMOA |
29-5 |
UGANDA |
POOL D |
||
18 |
17:19 |
WALES |
21-24 |
SCOTLAND |
POOL D |
||
19 |
17:41 |
ARGENTINA |
43-14 |
CANADA |
POOL C |
||
20 |
18:03 |
ENGLAND |
7-33 |
NEW ZEALAND |
POOL C |
||
21 |
18:50 |
KENYA |
24-5 |
JAPAN |
POOL B |
||
22 |
19:12 |
FIJI |
28-19 |
FRANCE |
POOL B |
||
23 |
19:34 |
USA |
26-17 |
RUSSIA |
POOL A |
||
24 |
19:56 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
29-7 |
AUSTRALIA |
POOL A |
||
SUNDAY 11th DECEMBER |
25 |
10:36 |
AUSTRALIA |
42-12 |
UGANDA |
BOWL QF |
||
26 |
10:58 |
ARGENTINA |
33-12 |
JAPAN |
BOWL QF |
||
27 |
11:20 |
SAMOA |
14-17 |
RUSSIA |
BOWL QF |
||
28 |
11:42 |
FRANCE |
42-14 |
CANADA |
BOWL QF |
||
29 |
12:04 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
33-0 |
WALES |
CUP QF |
||
30 |
12:26 |
NEW ZEALAND |
28-7 |
KENYA |
CUP QF |
||
31 |
12:48 |
SCOTLAND |
24-19 |
USA |
CUP QF |
||
32 |
13:10 |
FIJI |
26-31 |
ENGLAND |
CUP QF |
||
33 |
13:57 |
UGANDA |
21-17 |
JAPAN |
13th PLACE SF |
||
34 |
14:19 |
SAMOA |
24-26 |
CANADA |
13th PLACE SF |
||
35 |
14:41 |
AUSTRALIA |
17-21 |
ARGENTINA |
CHALLENGE TROPHY SF |
||
36 |
15:03 |
RUSSIA |
12-17 |
FRANCE |
CHALLENGE TROPHY SF |
||
37 |
15:50 |
WALES |
14-19 |
KENYA |
5th PLACE SF |
||
38 |
16:12 |
USA |
12-28 |
FIJI |
5th PLACE SF |
||
39 |
16:34 |
SOUTH AFRICA |
14-7 |
NEW ZEALAND |
CUP SF |
||
40 |
16:56 |
SCOTLAND |
14-33 |
ENGLAND |
CUP SF |
||
41 |
17:43 |
UGANDA |
10-19 |
CANADA |
13th PLACE PO |
||
42 |
18:05 |
ARGENTINA |
7-19 |
FRANCE |
CHALLENGE TROPHY FINAL |
||
43 |
18:36 |
KENYA |
21-33 |
FIJI |
5th PLACE PO |
||
44 |
19:18 |
|
24-19 |
SCOTLAND |
BRONZE |
||
45 |
19:44 |
|
|
17-19 |
|
ENGLAND |
CUP FINAL |
NEW ZEALAND
SOUTH AFRICA
THE final squads have been named for the second round of the men's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape Town, as home side South Africa look to maintain winning ways.
The Blitzboks are top of the standings after they defeated Fiji at the first round of the series in Dubai last week.
South Africa are in Pool A and face Australia, USA and Russia on the opening day at the sold-out Cape Town Stadium.
Fiji, who took gold at Rio 2016, play in Pool B against France, Kenya and Japan.
England finished with the bronze last week in Dubai and are the top seed in Pool C, where they'll face New Zealand, Argentina and Canada on Saturday.
Pool D is made up of Wales, Scotland, Samoa and Uganda. Injuries and re-numbering mean last minute changes to the Fiji, Russia and Argentina squad lists.
