Samoa fly high at the emirates airline london sevens
Samoa beat Fiji 19 -14 on Sunday in a close fought final at Twickenham to take the top spot at the Emirates Airline London Sevens, after two days of rugby which saw 16 international teams play 44 explosive matches.
A Lolo Lui hat trick put the Emirates-sponsored Samoan sevens team into an early lead, and at 19-0 they appeared secure. However, Fiji came back strongly through Timoci Matanavou and then in the second half through Sailosi Rabonaqica. A last minute try to equalise by Fiji’s Nasoni Roko as the whistle blew was ruled out by referee David Keane because of a late tackle in the build-up.
Although New Zealand missed out on the Cup semi finals, thanks to England’s Tom Biggs' late try earlier in the day, the kiwis did clinch the defence of their IRB Sevens World Series title with one event to spare. New Zealand now have 134 points from seven events, 36 clear of South Africa on 98, who lead the race for second place from Fiji (90) and Samoa (88). New Zealand beat South Africa on Sunday 19-12 to win the Plate with a Nigel Hunt try in the closing stages.
In the other two finals Australia beat Wales 19 – 12 to win the Bowl, in a match which could have gone either way, and Spain beat Kenya convincingly 10 – 7 to tale the Shield. As ever the enthusiastic Kenyan supporters were out in force, and much of the stadium gave the plucky Kenyan team a standing ovation on their lengthy victory lap.
Over the two days, Twickenham also hosted the Emirates Airline Passing Challenge; a rugby ball throwing game created to raise awareness about the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens to be held in Dubai in 2009. Over 6000 members of the public ‘had a go’ and the England squad as well as some of the Samoans also paid a visit and tested their ball passing skills.
The IRB Sevens World Series enters its final round next weekend with the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens at Murrayfield on 31st May and 1st June.
