Victory in France clinches another Blitzboks Series

SOUTH Africa secured the men’s World Rugby Sevens title with a 24-14 victory over England to claim the final leg in Paris.

Tries from Dewald Human, Ryan Oosthuizen and Werner Kok sealed victory in pouring rain inside Stade Jean Bouin.

England had led 14-7 after Ollie Lindsay-Hague and Dan Norton went over.

Fiji, who would have won the title had South Africa lost, finished second in the standings, with England fifth.

England beat Fiji 19-17 on Sunday before defeating Canada 26-12 to secure a place in the final. Simon Amor’s team had finished second in Pool D on day one after a 28-21 win over hosts France and a 28-19 victory over Argentina before drawing 19-19 with the USA.

Facing a South Africa side who needed a win to retain their series title, England barely had any of the ball in the opening minutes and clever footwork from Kok broke the deadlock. England’s reply was immediate as LindsayHague and Norton combined, with the former taking a pass back on the inside to score.

Norton’s 299th career try was something special to give England the lead as he powered off the left wing with a couple of sidesteps before racing under the sticks.

But Oosthuizen hit back in injury time to make it 14-14 at the break.

The Boks struck first again in the second half as Human crossed before Geduld knocked over a penalty as they established a ten-point lead.

England were unable to break through a well-marshalled Blitzboks defence again as they secured not only the Paris title but were crowned back-to-back champions of the series.

“We’re delighted to get to the final and I’m really pleased with the effort and the attitude of the guys right the way through,” said head of England Sevens Amor.

“I thought we played some really great rugby. Unfortunately we weren’t able to adapt when the weather came down in the final, but it’s a great learning experience for some of our younger ones – particularly Ryan Olowofela who has really made some great progress, and of course Harry Glover and Ethan Waddleton. The experience for them playing in the final is so important for our pathway.

“We’ll be working really hard with them to make them world-class players. I’m really pleased with the progress that we’ve made but we can still definitely be a lot better.

“We just need to finetune a few areas to give ourselves a really good chance of ending this season on a high at the World Cup.”