South Africa wins 2013 Tokyo Sevens

Monday, 1 April 2013 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

South Africa beat New Zealand 24-19 in the final of the 2013 Tokyo Sevens to clinch round seven of the HSBC Sevens World Series, their second Cup title of the season.

South Africa were 12-0 down at the break, but struck twice inside the first three minutes of the second half to go 14-12 up and then dominated territory and possession to grind out an impressive win, which takes them to second in the Series, ahead of Fiji in third.

USA beat Scotland to the Plate, meaning that the two sides are now tied for 12th place at the other end of the table ahead of the eighth round of the Series, the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens.

England claimed the Bowl in Tokyo with victory over Argentina to win a second successive Bowl, Dan Norton scoring two hat-tricks on day two to become only the 19th person to score 10 tries in a tournament, and Canada beat hosts Japan to the Shield.

In the Cup semi finals, New Zealand beat last year’s champions Australia 35-17 while Paul Treu’s side held on to beat France 14-12 with Australia finishing third. England won the Bowl and Canada the Shield in the other finals on day two.

USA beat fellow relegation rivals Scotland 17-0 in the final of the Plate to secure vital points towards their Series tally and they now sit on level points in joint 12th ahead of Glasgow. Earlier, Luke Hume brought an enthralling Plate semi final to a close with a dramatic last-minute try, with the decisive conversion being kicked by Shalom Suniula to win 21-19.

Scotland beat the other Pacific island side, Samoa, 21-17 with Colin Gregor, the man to have played in every minute of every match this season with the decisive try.