Fiji celebrate their Dubai Sevens title after beating South Africa 29-17 in the final
Photo: IRB / Martin Seras Lima.

by Brendan Bradford –

Fiji swept aside Scotland, New Zealand and South Africa to romp through Day Two and claim the second round of the IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai.

Having gone through the Pool Stages undefeated, Fiji beat Scotland 26-14 in the last eight and made the decider with a 44-0 demolition of New Zealand in Gordon Tietjens’ biggest ever defeat.

Earlier, South Africa defeated Kenya 21-12 and England 26-12 but were ravaged by injury in the final.

Fuelled by a double to try-scoring machine Benito Masilevu and a standout performance by Player of the Tournament Samisoni Viriviri, Fiji led from start to finish in the last match of the day for a 29-17 win to rise to second on the World Series rankings.

Fijian flyer Benito Masilevu hits the gas against South Africa in the final – Photo: IRB / Martin Seras Lima.

It is Ben Ryan’s first tournament victory in charge of the Fijian side and his third win in Dubai in four attempts after winning twice with England.

“I’m hugely pleased with the boys, they’ve been so easy to work with, they’re doing everything I’ve asked them to do and they’re learning fast, so it’s a great start for them,” Ryan said after the final.

While the decider secured the silverware, the Fijians’ best performance was the massive victory over New Zealand in the semi.

“I saw in the changerooms they were going to put on a show,” said Ryan.

“New Zealand are obviously a brilliant side, we knew what we had to do. We knew how to beat New Zealand, but in the past that hasn’t always worked, they play a cracking brand of rugby, but we played exactly to the game-plan and executed it flawlessly – no penalties. It was awesome.”

New Zealand, who beat England in the third place play-off, remain on top of the standings on 39 points with Fiji on 35 and South Africa on 34.

Argentina beat Wales 21-5 to win the Plate final while Gold Coast runners-up Australia lifted the Bowl with a 17-12 win over Portugal. Australia came from 5-0 down with tries to Tom Lucas, Luke Morahan and Paul Asquith but slip from second to fifth on the Series rankings, one place behind England.

After trailing 12-0, France beat Spain 28-17 in the Shield final but slip from ninth to 12th while Spain sit in 15th on the standings.

The third round of the Sevens World Series takes place in South Africa next weekend.

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND TWO