Day Two - IRB Sevens, George

Fiji required the magical pace of 23-year-old William Ryder to produce the winning score and record a 21-19 win against Argentina in the Final of the Cup competition on Day Two of the George Sevens, the second round of the 2005/06 International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens series.

It was Fiji's first win in an IRB Sevens tournament in three years, but more importantly it saw them move to the top of the IRB standings and in a strong position to finally wrestle the IRB title from a New Zealand team that has held the overall title for six years.

The South Sea islanders won the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong earlier this year, but their last win on the IRB circuit was at the George tournament in December 2002.

Having beaten New Zealand and England on their way to the Final. Fiji certainly deserved the win. But spare a thought for Argentina, who came back from a first day upset loss to Wales to beat New Zealand in the pool stages and then march past Australia and hosts South Africa to reach the Final.

But it was fitting that the man-of-the-tournament award went to Fijian playmaker and captain Jone Daunivucu ... the man who took over the Fijian leadership from legendary Waisale Serevi here.

The Fijians needed less than a minute to open the scoring in the Final, with Jone Daunivucu obliging the fans with some neap stepping and equally impressive pace. The Pumas fought back bravely and set up a great scoring chance, but a momentary lapse in concentration allowed the Fijians to intercept and William Ryder scored 90 metres downfield to make it 14-0 after five minutes.

The Pumas finally pulled one back right on half-time, with Tomás de Vedia going over for a crucial score and keep them in the game - 14-7 at the break.

Ramiro del Busto scored his first IRB Sevens try after just 34 seconds of the second half, bursting through the tackle with a string hand-off to level the scores.

The Fijians them made a number of uncharacteristic handling errors, with forward passes and knock-ons giving the ball back to Argentina.

And one of those errors resulted in Argentina's next score, with Tomás de Vedia scoring from a counter after six minutes. The conversion attempt was a shocker, but the Pumas lead 19-14.

Suddenly the Argentineans looked the more creative, with clever little kicks putting the Fijian defence on the back foot. With three minutes to go Fijian maestro Waisale Serevi brought himself on in an attempt to salvage the game.

But it was William Ryder who produced the crucial play, breaking out from his own 22 and outstripping the cover defence to score under the uprights. The conversion, by Serevi, put Fiji back in the lead at 21-19.

The Pumas came with a huge raid on the Fijian line, but the cover managed to drag them into touch just five metres out. The final sirens went and Fiji won their first IRB Sevens tournament in three years.

* In the Plate Final Samoa opened the scoring with a Timoteo Iosua try after 34 seconds. New Zealand looked tired and despite some brave defence Uale Mai scored second try for Samoa after five minutes. This gave them a 12-0 lead at the break.

Keneti Tofilau scored Samoa's third two minutes after the break and the Kiwis looked dead and buried at 17-0. The Kiwis finally put points on the board, with Jason Hona going over in the fourth minute. But the Samoans remained in control and slowed the game down as they kept the Kiwis at bay. Samoa ran out 17-5 winners.

* In the Bowl Final Wales simply looked too strong for the ever-willing Portugal. By half-time Wales had raced into a 22-0 lead, with big and speedy Tal Selley prominent and scoring two of his team's four tries. Portugal scored midway through the second half and second try soon afterwards gave them a glimmer of hope. But when Wales scored in the sixth minute the game was over as a contest. The Welsh ran out 34-14 winners as Selley completed his hat-trick.

* In the Shield Final Canada managed just one first-half try against a tenacious Tunisian team for a 5-0 lead at the break. The teams scored one try each after the break and the Canadians won a scrappy affair 12-5.

* Earlier hosts South Africa were made to pay for their lack of discipline in the semi-finals, something that has plagued them throughout the tournament, as Argentina scored 21 points while the Springboks were reduced to six men - with speedster Stefan Basson yellow carded for a stupid high tackle.

The Pumas outscored the Boks by four tries to three and ran out deserved 28-19 winners.

Fiji, who again knocked out defending champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals, had to overcome a very tentative start in their semi-final. But once they found their rhythm they simply seemed to have too much pace and skill for an England team that uncharacteristically lost its composure.

Like the South Africans England were reduced to six men at a crucial stage and Fiji ran out 28-22 winners.

Look back at Day One here!

IRB SEVENS, GEORGE - DAY TWO RESULTS/REPORTS

Bowl quarter-finals:

Wales, who came so close to contesting the Cup play-offs, simply had far too much, pace, class and power for the hapless Namibians. Three first-half tries were followed by four more after the break as the Welsh raced away to a 41-0 victory. The seven tries were spread out among the team members. Zimbabwe, who were full of energy on Day One but just lacked that something special, finally found the X-factor on Day Two as they raced away to a 19-0 half-time lead - through tries by Fortune Chipendu, Manu Munyoro and Tongai Nemadire. After the break Canada looked far more impressive and outplayed the Zimbabweans, but they were always chasing the game and a fourth try by Nemadire left them with too much ground to make up. Late tries by  Akio Tyler and Adam Kleeberger were scant consolation.

Portugal, probably the most unfortunate team on Day One, raced into an early 10-0 lead against Tunisia, with tries by Diogo Gama and Sebastiao da Cunha. When Pedro Leal scored for Portugal after just 80 seconds in the second half, it looked like they had wrapped up the match. Frederico de Sousa added another after five minutes to make sure of a place in the Bowl semi-finals. Mohamed Ben Hamida recorded a late consolation score for Tunisia. Kenya, who had a miserable first day, got Day Two off to a much better start, with Collins Akwanyi scoring after just 10 seconds - the fastest score of the tournament so far. But Lee Kibble hit back for Scotland just over a minute later. A yellow card against the Kenyan try-scorer, Akwanyi, did not help matters. By half-time Scotland had raced clear through further tries by Olo Brown and Ciaran Beattie. Another yellow card, against Victor Oduor, reduced the Kenyans to mere token opposition. Clark Laidlaw scored a second-half hat-trick to give his team a convincing win.

M25: Wales 41-0 Namibia
M26: Zimbabwe 24-14 Canada
M27: Portugal 22-5 Tunisia
M28: Scotland 36-5 Kenya

Cup quarter-finals:

The Pumas' defence kept the Australians at bay for three minutes, before Luke Inman found space on the left to score the first try. There were no further scores in the first half, as the Aussies took a narrow 5-0 lead into the break. The second half started at a frenetic pace, with Tomás de Vedia going over for Argentina after just a minute and Nick Reily hitting straight back for Australia. The Aussies lost Josh Gamgee to a yellow card after about three minutes and that allowed Juan Ignacio Gauthier to score the try that put the Pumas back in the lead. The Pumas hang on for a tense final two minutes to record a narrow 14-12 win. Gamgee will kick himself for the silly high tackle that cost his team a place in the semi-finals.

Some early straight running by Samoa had South Africa in trouble, but Stefan Basson suddenly booted the ball upfield and his greater speed carried him past the Samoan chaser for the opening try. He scored a second soon afterwards, when he stepped out of a feeble Samoan tackle. Uale Mai pulled one back for Samoa after five minutes, when they broke clear from a quick-tap penalty. That left the score at 14-7 in SA's favour at the break. The second half started with a brilliant break from Bok playmaker Fabian Juries, whose blistering pace took him clear for a score after just 30 seconds. Two minutes later Henry Bryce pulled one back to bring the Samoans back into the game. The Boks lost their structure and Samoa scored their third try after five minutes when Keneti Tofilau went over in the corner. But the conversion was wide, which left the South Africans with a crucial two-point lead. The Boks hung for a tense last few minutes as the Samoans launched a number of raids and the Boks sneaked a 21-19 win.

Andrew Vilk opened the scoring for England after two minutes in their quarter-final showdown with France, as he used his pace to go around on the outside. Ben Foden added a second try two minutes later, as the English pace simply proved to much for the inexperienced French. Jacques Boussuge, the French's main try poacher pulled one back just before the break to keep his team in the game. The early stages of the second half was marked by a number of big hits, before Ben Foden found space up the middle and scored his second try. That score proved to be decisive, as the French ran out of time and in their desperation to pull something back made simply far too many errors. Ben Gollings wrapped up the game with a fourth try, which equally Argentinean Santiago Gomez Cora's all-time try-scoring record of 121 Sevens tries.

The Kiwis held off in the face of an early Fijian onslaught, before breaking out and Zar Lawrence using his pace to outsprint veteran Waisale Serevi. But the Fijians were patient and came back with a four-try burst. Great stepping, quick hands and stunning support play put Sireli Naqelevuki, Epeli Dranivasa (twice) and Vima Tuidraki over - taking the score to 26-7 in favour of the Fijians at the break. And there was no let-up for the Kiwis as Tuidraki sprinted clear to score after just 43 seconds of the second half. Tuidraki completed his hat-trick after two minutes and the Kiwis were heading for a record defeat. Lawrence eventually pulled one back for the Kiwis after five minutes, but it was far too little, too late. Jone Daunivucu rubbed further salt into the Kiwi wounds with another typical stepping try.

M29: Argentina 14-12 Australia
M30: South Africa 21-19 Samoa 
M31: England 26-5 France
M32: Fiji 43-14 New Zealand

Shield semi-finals:

Canada scored two first-half tries and Namibia just one, to leave the score 10-7 at the break. But the Canadians showed far greater speed and skill to score three more after the break and race away to a 29-7 victory. The five Canadian tries in the match included a Dave Moonlight hat-trick.

It was a scrappy and disjointed first half between Tunisia and Kenya, with two tries giving the Tunisians a 14-0 lead at the break. Kenya scored first after the break, but when David Okwena was red-carded (the first for the weekend) for a dangerous tackle midway through the half the game was over as a contest. Tunisia eventually ran out 28-7.

M33: Namibia 7-29 Canada
M34: Tunisia 28-7 Kenya

Bowl semi-finals:

Wales raced into an early 15-0 lead against Zimbabwe, but then Aled Brew was yellow carded just before the break and it left a small gap for the Zimbabweans to come back in the second half. And the Zimbabweans obliged by scoring in the first minute after the break. And Zimbabwe scored another, but Wales finally settled the matter with a fourth try to run out 22-19 winners - with the Zimbabweans scoring a late try ... too late, however.

There was lots of movement, and plenty of excitement, in the first half between Portugal and Scotland. An early Scottish score was followed by three great Portuguese tries to leave the latter leading 19-7 at the break. An early second-half score put the Portuguese further ahead and left the Scottish team with a mountain to climb. They eventually ran out 45-7winners.

M35: Wales 22-19 Zimbabwe
M36: Portugal 45-7Scotland

Plate semi-finals:

The encounter between Samoa and Australia started off tentatively, with both teams looking nervous. But Henry Bryce finally put the first score on the board for Samoa in the fourth minute. By half-time that lead had stretched to 14-0. In the second half Samoa just shut out Australia to run out 35-5 winners.

New Zealand's misery looked set to continue when Vincent Roux scored after just 14 seconds for France. But the Kiwis kept their composure and by half-time had scored three tries for a 17-7 lead. The teams exchanged early tries after the break, with the French appearing just a touch more desperate as they tried to close that 10-point gap. But again the Kiwis stayed composed and managed a deserved 29-12 win.

M37: Australia 5-35 Samoa
M38: France 12-29 New Zealand

Cup semi-finals:

Stefan Basson, the tournament's leading points scorer, opened the scoring for the South Africans in the second minute when he went over from a quick tap-and-go. Argentina came back strongly and despite some desperate Bok defence two Pumas tries and a yellow card to Basson for a high tackle left the Springboks in a lot of trouble. The Pumas enjoyed 14-7 lead at the break. And when the Pumas scored straight after the restart, with the Pumas exploiting the numbers, the hosts were in deep trouble. Juan Ignacio Gauthier scored another soon afterwards and it appeared the game was over as a contest at 28-7. Gauthier was yellow carded for a no-arms charge and it let a small gap, but very little time. Mzwandile Stick pulled one back and then Basson scored to pull it back to 28-19. That was the final score.

Ben Gollings became the top try-scorer of all-time in Sevens, when he went over for his 122nd Sevens after just 43 seconds in the semi-final against Fiji. That saw him overtake Argentinean Santiago Gomez Cora's all-time try-scoring record of 121. But Fiji went into the lead after five minutes with a brilliant William Ryder try. Ryder was heavily involved in the next score, but it was some magical Jone Daunivucu stepping that put the Fijian over. That left Fiji with a 14-5 lead at the break. England responded with a fine Mathew Tait try inside the first minute of the second half. But the next big play was another piece of brilliant Ryder stepping as the Fijians stretched the lead once more - to 21-10. England lost their cool and when their captain Simon Amor was yellow carded it looked bleak for them. But a Andrew Vilk try, despite some serious questions being asked about the player being knocked into touch first, gave England some hope. But the six-man England simply couldn't cope with the brilliantly running Fijians as Sireli Naqelevuki scored the crucial try to make it 28-15. There was a last consolation score for England, but it was too little too late as Fiji won 28-22.

M39: Argentina 28-19 South Africa
M40: England 22-28 Fiji

Shield Final: Canada 12-5 Tunisia
Bowl Final: Wales 34-14 Portugal
Plate Final: Samoa 17-5 New Zealand
Cup Final: Argentina 21-19 Fiji