South Africa crowned Sevens series champions

Mon, Sep 27, 2021, 1:13 AM
AAP & Staff Writer
by AAP & Staff Writer
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and captain Michael Hooper speak to media in Townsville.

Muller du Plessis has scored his 10th and 11th tries of the weekend to lead series champions South Africa to a 24-12 win over Britain in the Edmonton rugby sevens men's final.

The South Africans needed only to make the final to be crowned series champions after their tournament victory in the Vancouver leg last week in a shortened 2021 series due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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After Robbie Fergusson gave Britain the lead with a second-minute try, du Plessis scored in the fourth and seventh minutes to give South Africa a lead they never relinquished.

Captain Siviwe Soyizwapi also scored two tries for the winners.

"It was an amazing team effort here, but also a lot of help from home - the academy, the scouts," Soyizwapi said just before the trophy presentation.

Tom Bowen scored a late try for Britain, his 99th in sevens competition.

Kenya beat Canada 33-14 for third place on Sunday and Germany beat the United States 24-19 for fifth.

The back-to-back Canadian tournaments were missing many of the top-ranked teams due to COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions, including Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallists Fiji, silver medallists New Zealand, Australia and Samoa.

In the four-team women's tournament, Britain defeated the US 22-5 in the final.

Canada beat Mexico 63-5 for third place, mirroring the results from Vancouver.

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The series will be idle until two combined men's and women's tournaments are scheduled back-to-back in Dubai, United Emirates to kick off the 2022 season.

Those events are scheduled for November 26-27 and December 3-4.

Series officials also said that planned tournaments in Sydney, Australia, and Hamilton, New Zealand, scheduled for early next year will not be held due to pandemic restrictions in those countries.

Replacements tournaments are being planned.

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