EMIRATES AIRLINES SOUTH AFRICA 7s
DAY 2
NEW ZEALAND retained their Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens title, beating England in the tightest of finals with a last-gasp penalty kick, 22-19.
In defending the title they won last year in George, the New Zealanders have closed England's early lead in the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series to just four points.
England led a pulsating final 14-0 but Gordon Tietjens' side fought back into the match to lead 19-14. Mat Turner's late score for England tied up the match and England looked to be in the driving seat with the kiwis reduced to six men, but Tomasi Cama held his nerve to strike the winning points with a last-second penalty goal.
After the first two events in Dubai and South Africa, England lead the World Series with 44 points from New Zealand (40), Samoa (36) and Fiji (32) with South Africa lying fifth on 24.
South Africa recovered from the disappointment of losing in the Cup quarters to beat Argentina to the Plate. Scotland won the Bowl and Zimbabwe the Shield.
Defending champions New Zealand reached the Cup final after an exhilarating finish to their Cup semi final with Fiji. With the tie locked at 19-19 and set for sudden death extra time, Jackson Ormond scored in front of a packed house at the Outeniqua Park Stadium to secure their place in the final, 26-19.
Their opponents in the final had earlier defeated Samoa for the second time in as many weeks thanks to tries from Dan Caprice, Isoa Damu and John Brake in the Cup semi final. Ben Ryan's side set up a repeat of the 2010 Dubai Sevens final as they came from 5-0 and 10-5 behind to beat hosts South Africa 19-10, Brake scoring two decisive tries, in the quarter final.
Earlier Samoa became the first side through to the Cup semi finals after beating Wales 21-14. It looked as though the match between the reigning Sevens World Series champions and current Rugby World Cup Sevens winners would go to sudden death extra time, but Simaika Mikaele scored after the buzzer had sounded.
Tom Isaacs had given Paul John's side a 7-0 lead but two tries from Alafoti Fa'osiliva put Samoa in the driving seat. Ifan Evans drew the scores level before Mikaele broke Welsh hearts with the final play of the match.
New Zealand beat Argentina 26-0 in the quarter finals to set up the match with Fiji who beat Australia 33-5. Captain Emosi Vucago scored twice and Seremaia Burotu scored his eighth try of the tournament in the victory over Michael O'Connor's side.
Home Side Win Back-To-Back Plate Titles
HOSTS South Africa won their second successive Plate trophy after beating Argentina 10-5 in an enthralling final in front of a partisan George crowd. Bernado Botha gave Paul Treu's side the lead, but Diego Palma drew the scores level at 5-5 early in the second half. The tension could be felt at the Outeniqua Park Stadium, but that turned to elation when Frankie Horne crossed in the corner.
Cecil Afrika had earlier scored a hat-trick in the Plate semi final against Wales to reach the final for a second successive week. Los Pumas also clinched their place in the final after the buzzer had sounded against Australia, Palma scoring his fourth of five tries in the tournament.
Wales have never beaten South Africa on the World Series but lead 21-17 in the semi finals as the buzzer sounded thanks to tries from Isaacs, Richie Pugh and Aaron Shingler. But Afrika scored his third try in the final play of the match to the delight of the packed Outeniqua Park Stadium to book a match with Argentina in the final.
Diego Palma scored the try that drew Argentina and Australia level at 12-12, with Joaquin Todeschini scoring the decisive conversion.
Scotland Too Strong For Russia In Bowl
SCOTLAND defeated Russia 26-0 in the final of the Bowl thanks to tries from Andrew Skeen, Graham Fisken, captain Scott Riddell and Dougie Fife and ended the day as one of two teams to win all of their matches on day two - the other being Cup winners New Zealand.
Graham Shiel's side had earlier beaten Portugal 14-10 in their Bowl semi final, Fraser Harkness and Struan Dewar scoring Scotland's two tries. But it was Andrew Skeen with the decisive conversions to take them one step further than the semi final they reached in Dubai.
Vasily Artemyev and Vladimir Ostroushko both scored twice as they overwhelmed France 34-0 in their semi final. Artemyev also scored two of Russia's five tries in their 25-5 victory over Zimbabwe in the quarter final.
Earlier Scotland beat Namibia in the opening match of day two, James Fleming scoring twice in their 14-5 victory. Attie du Plessis had given Namibia a 5-0 lead, but Fleming scored his third and fourth try of the tournament to secure the win.
Renaud Delmas scored after the hooter had sounded to clinch a dramatic 19-17 victory for France against USA. Al Caravelli's side had come from 14-0 behind at half time to lead 17-14 thanks to tries from Mark Bokhoven, Roland Suniula and Miles Craigwell, but Delmas crossed in the corner to reach the semi finals.
Portugal avenged a Shield semi final loss to Kenya last week with a 7-5 victory, Pedro Leal's conversion the difference, but Graham Shiel’s side proved too strong for Tomaz Morais' side.
Zimbabwe Take Shield In African Clash
ZIMBABWE defeated Kenya 14-5 to take the Shield trophy in front of a packed Outeniqua Park Stadium. The crowd got behind both African sides but it was Jacques Leitao who gave Liam Middleton's side the lead. Brian Nyikuli hit back early in the second half to give Kenya hope but Gardener Nechironga secured victory.
Earlier Kenya had beaten Namibia 41-0 with Wilson Opondo and Horace Otieno scoring twice in the semi final. Zimbabwe set up the all-African affair after Tafadzwa Chitokwindo scored the decisive try in their 19-17 victory over USA.
DAY 1
NEW ZEALAND kicked off their title defence at the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens in impressive fashion by beating last weekend's Dubai champions England to proceed unbeaten on day one in George.
Hosts South Africa and Wales were the only other sides to win all three of their pool matches in the second leg of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series.
Earlier, Fiji's Josefa Bole scored the 25,000th try since the inception of the World Series in 1999, as they drew 14-14 with great rivals Samoa.
Pool A 
WALES maintained their 100% record on day one with victory against France in their final pool match of day one. Aaron Shingler was the star, scoring four tries in the 29-12 victory. They had earlier begun their campaign with 33-15 and 19-7 victories against Australia and Scotland. Rugby World Cup Sevens winner Richie Pugh, Ifan Evans and Tom Isaacs all scored against their European opponents after they had beaten Australia for just the third time in 23 meetings.
It was the second time Australia and Wales had met in a week, Michael O'Connor's side winning in Dubai, but tries from Pugh, Rhys Shellard, Evans, Rhodri Davies and Shingler powered the Welsh to success.
Australia reached the Cup quarter finals with victories in their other two Pool A matches. Captain Bernard Foley scored their first try against France, before Tevita Kuridrani, Trent Dyer and Hamish Angus all helped secure the win. Jonathon Lance, Gregory Jeloudev and Angus crossed in their 21-7 victory over Scotland.
Graham Shiel’s young Scotland side won a close encounter with France with tries from Michael Fedo and James Fleming picking up where he left off in Dubai with two tries in the 21-12 victory.
Pool B 
SAMOA and Fiji ended day one with eight points each after the two Pacific giants drew 14-14. Fautua Otto and Simaika Mikaele had given the current Sevens World Series champions Samoa a 14-0 lead, but tries from Josefa Bole, scoring the 25,000th try in the history of the Sevens World Series, and Seremaia Burotu drew the scores level after the buzzer had sounded.
They had both earlier scored seven tries against Namibia, and each had to come from behind against Dubai Sevens Cup quarter finalists USA. Mile Pulu put USA ahead against Fiji, before Burotu scored his second hat-trick of day one in their 43-5 victory.
Pulu and captain Matt Hawkins had also given Al Caravelli's side the lead against Samoa, but Alafoti Fa'osiliva and Ofisa Treviranus combined brilliantly for the following three tries. Otto added their fourth, before Nu'u Punimata and NFL convert Miles Craigwell set up a thrilling finish as Samoa held on to win 24-22.
Burotu scored the first hat-trick of day one, and Nikola Matawalu scored twice during their victory against Namibia, but the biggest cheer of the match came when Attie du Plessis scored Namibia's consolation try in their 47-7 defeat.
USA ensured they finished third in Pool B after beating Namibia 33-7 thanks to two tries from Roland Suniula. We can all look forward to a repeat of last week’s Cup semi final between the two Pacific Island giants at the end of day one.
Pool C 
DEFENDING South Africa Sevens champions, New Zealand, beat the 2010 Dubai Sevens champions England to top Pool C at the end of day one. Declan O'Donnell, Frank Halai, captain DJ Forbes and Jackson Ormond all scored for Gordon Tietjens' side as they avenged a Cup semi final defeat at the hands of England last week.
Earlier they proved too strong for Kenya and Russia as they recorded 47-0 and 33-7 victories in their opening two Pool C matches. Tim Mikkelson scored twice against the African side, before Jack McPhee crossed for two tries against Russia.
England also beat the two teams, Russia 19-5 thanks to tries from Dan Norton (two) and Tom Powell, and Kenya 21-5. Russia beat Kenya 34-5 in their final pool match to finish third in Pool C thanks to Vladimir Ostroushko's two tries.
Pool D 
THE partisan George crowd enjoyed South Africa's opening day, 29-5, 38-0 and 33-7 victories over Argentina, Portugal and African neighbours Zimbabwe. Captain Kyle Brown scored twice against Tomaz Morais' side in their first match, with Paul Delport, making his first appearance of the Series, pulling the strings.
Cecil Afrika scored two tries against Zimbabwe, taking his tally for the Series to 13, before Delport, Sibusiso Sithole (two) and Brown crossed against Los Pumas.
Argentina won their opening two matches to reach the Cup quarter finals after beating Portugal 26-0, Joaquin Todeschini scoring twice, and Zimbabwe 24-12. Nicolas Fernandez Lobbe's team met the African side for the third time in a week, with Argentina winning 24-12, Diego Palma scoring two of Argentina's four tries.
Gardener Nechironga scored twice in Zimbabwe's final match against Portugal, but it was not enough as the European side won 26-19 to finish third in Pool D.
RESULTS
POOL A
Australia 15 - 33 Wales
Scotland 21 - 12 France
Australia 28 - 0 France
Scotland 7 - 19 Wales
Wales 29 - 12 France
Australia 21 - 7 Scotland
POOL B
Samoa 24 - 22 United States
Fiji 47 - 7 Namibia
Samoa 43 - 0 Namibia
Fiji 43 - 5 United States
United States 33 - 7 Namibia
Samoa 14 - 14 Fiji
POOL C
New Zealand 47 - 0 Kenya
England 19 - 5 Russia
New Zealand 33 - 7 Russia
England 21 - 5 Kenya
Kenya 5 - 34 Russia
New Zealand 20 - 7 England
POOL D
South Africa 38 - 0 Portugal
Argentina 24 - 12 Zimbabwe
South Africa 33 - 7 Zimbabwe
Argentina 26 - 0 Portugal
Portugal 26 - 19 Zimbabwe
South Africa 29 - 5 Argentina
BOWL QUARTER FINAL
Scotland 14 - 5 Namibia
BOWL QUARTER FINAL
Portugal 7 - 5 Kenya
BOWL QUARTER FINAL
Russia 25 - 7 Zimbabwe
BOWL QUARTER FINAL
United States 17 - 19 France
BOWL SEMI FINAL
Scotland 14 - 10 Portugal
BOWL SEMI FINAL
Russia 34 - 0 France
BOWL FINAL
SCOTLAND 26 - 0 Russia
SHIELD SEMI FINAL
Namibia 0 - 41 Kenya
SHIELD SEMI FINAL
Zimbabwe 19 - 17 United States
SHIELD FINAL
KENYA 5 - 14 Zimbabwe
PLATE SEMI FINAL
Wales 21 - 22 South Africa
PLATE SEMI FINAL
Argentina 14 - 12 Australia
PLATE FINAL
SOUTH AFRICA 10 - 5 Argentina
CUP QUARTER FINAL
Wales 14 - 19 Samoa
CUP QUARTER FINAL
South Africa 10 - 19 England
CUP QUARTER FINAL
New Zealand 26 - 0 Argentina
CUP QUARTER FINAL
Fiji 33 - 5 Australia
CUP SEMI FINAL
Samoa 12 - 22 England
CUP SEMI FINAL
New Zealand 26 - 19 Fiji
CUP FINAL
ENGLAND 19 - 22 New Zealand
FIXTURES & STANDINGS 
