Australia triumphed in extra-time over South Africa in the semi-finals of the Cup
at the Gold Coast Sevens – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

by Brendan Bradford on the Gold Coast –

Australia won a semi-final nail-biter against South Africa to set up a Cup final against New Zealand.

Plenty of Australian players were in the attacking line for Australia’s first try against South Africa, but there was only one man fit for the job. Shannon Walker outpaced the defence and cut inside for a 7-0 lead before Con Foley doubled the advantage. The response – a chip-and-chase try from excitement machine Jamba Ulengo – was a piece of magic befitting finals footy.

The restart after halftime bounced perfectly into Ed Jenkins’ hands and the captain extended the lead to 19-7, but the 12-point advantage was short lived as that man again Ulengo scored a 50-meter runaway shortly after.

Stephan Dippenaar levelled the scores with another runaway but the conversion missed, Justin Geduld was sinbinned, another Ulengo chip-and-chase went dead and the match entered extra-time. Only desperate defence and a wasted overlap kept Australia from capitalising on five full minutes of sustained pressure on the South African line in the first half of extra-time while a yellow card to South Africa’s Sampie Mastriet tipped the scale in the home side’s favour.

When Australia won a penalty 30-metres out Cameron Clark had a chance to win the game with a shot at goal. It was a moment he’d like to have over again as the attempt scuffed his boot and splayed wide.

England’s Jack Rodwell soars highest in the semi-final defeat at the hands of New Zealand
Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

“We knew it was golden-point, so I had some confidence in Cam to slot it over, but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Jenkins after the game.

“I think he had some fatigue at the time, but we knew they’d kick it deep and we’d have another crack at them.”

Australia capitalised on their one man advantage with a sweeping back line move for Jesse Parahi to dive over in the corner, win the most entertaining game of the tournament and set up a final match against New Zealand.

“It was pretty physical and those two extra halves at the back end of 14-minutes didn’t help but we’ve been working really hard in the pre-season so our fitness showed in the end and we were able to get away with the win,” said Jenkins.

“Obviously it will be tough to back up, but we’ve done the hard work over the last nine weeks, so we shouldn’t be phased about that and I think we can come out here and give the Kiwis a good crack.”

England’s Mike Ellery became the first player in the tournament to score against New Zealand when he wrestled his way over the line in the third minute of the first Cup semi-final. A knock-on from Rob Vickerman opened the door for the Kiwis’ first scoring opportunity but when play broke down and a scuffle broke out, Tim Mikkelson was sent to the sin-bin and the attack come to nothing.

A one man disadvantage did little to deter the New Zealand attack as a succession of penalties saw Waisake Naholo offload to Scott Curry for a try under the posts and a 7-5 halftime advantage.

“When Tim went off we just had to put in an extra effort for each other,” said playmaker Tomasi Cama.

“We had to go quick, they had numbers on us and we know how they defend – they come up very fast on defence and we can’t afford to muck around, we needed to score points.”

England were caught in goal just after the restart but New Zealand knocked on in search of a second try and England got out of jail. If New Zealand’s first try was straight out of the ‘attack is the best form of defence’ play book, their second was a lesson in patience. Keeping the ball alive and using the full width of the pitch, New Zealand probed for gaps in the defensive line until Tim Mikkelson broke through for a 14-5 win.

“It was the toughest match of the tournament after we were cruising along yesterday and today, but we knew they were going to come out and play,” said Cama.

Oscar Ouma was a try-scorer for Kenya in a tense match against Wales – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

Plate Semi-finals –

Fiji flyer Benito Masilevu scored from the kick-off after just ten seconds of the first Plate semi-final against Samoa. It was the first of nine tries in a spectacle of attacking rugby from both sides as defence took a back seat. Two classy team tries followed for Fiji before Samisoni Viriviri imitated Masilevu in scoring directly from the kick-off for a 24-0 halftime advantage. It was Samoa’s turn to entertain in the second stanza as Reupena Levasa ran in their first points in two-and-a-half matches. Samoa scored three more tries while Fiji added a fifth for a 31-26 win.

Fiji will face Kenya after the crowd favourites won a tense 12-7 match over Wales in the other Plate semi. Wales drew first blood through captain Adam Thomas but Oscar Ouma left four Welsh defenders in his wake on a 60-metre run to the line to level the scores 7-7 at halftime. Fatigue induced mistakes plagued the second half for both teams with Wales looking most likely as the clock wound down. Only the blistering pace of Felix Ayange down the right flank could break the deadlock with 40-seconds remaining and send Kenya to the Plate final.  

Bowl and Shield Semi-finals –

Scotland and Canada entertained in their Bowl semi-final as the lead changed hands five times before Canada eventually won 19-14.

France were in cruise-control up 14-0 over Argentina in the other Bowl semi-final, but second half tries to Gaston Revel and Diego Palma sent the game to extra-time. French playmaker Julien Candelon burrowed over the line just a minute after the restart to end Argentina’s tournament and set up a Bowl final against Canada.

Meanwhile a 26-7 win over Spain earned the USA a spot in the Shield final against Portugal who had no troubles defeating Tonga 40-7.