IRB Sevens, Paris - Day Two

It was a case of mixed emotions for France on Day Two of the IRB Sevens in Paris, the penultimate leg of the series. The unfancied hosts threw the door open for England by recording a shock 22-21 victory over Fiji in the Cup quarter-finals.

But England failed to seize the initiative - Mike Friday's men, who started the tournament ten points adrift of the Fijians, then slumped to a 29-17 defeat to Australia.

Both Fiji and England went on to contest the Plate trophy with a maximum of eight points on offer, which the Fijians duly collected.

With the top two out of the running, South Africa sniffed an upset and took full advantage of the broken field.

They took out the reigning world champs, New Zealand, to take their place in the surprise semi-final line-up. There they beat the hosts and Samoa fell to the pacy South Africans in the Cup Final.

By winning the Plate, series leaders Fiji opened up a 14-point lead over second-placed England, who lost their Plate semi-final to Argentina.

Mathematically, England can still win the 2005/06 IRB Sevens title on home soil at Twickenham next weekend, but for that to happen Fiji would themselves have to lose in or before the Plate semi-finals and watch England take the major spoils.

CUP QUARTER-FINALS:

The plot in this year's IRB Sevens Series took another fascinating twist on Day Two in Paris as Fiji and England both crashed out in the Cup quarter finals.

Defending Paris champions France stunned Fiji with a try in the dying seconds to beat them 22-21, and then Australia produced their performance of the season to put England to the sword.

South Africa had earlier beaten New Zealand, meaning that for the first time ever the Cup semi final line-up is without Fiji, England and New Zealand.

With Fiji having lost against France, the door opened for England to close the gap on them in the overall series but Glen Ella's men slammed it shut.

The results also present South Africa with a real chance of closing the gap on both Fiji and England in the overall series.

M29: Fiji 21-22 France
M30: New Zealand 19-26 South Africa 
M31: Samoa 26-7 Argentina 
M32: England 17-29 Australia 

CUP SEMI-FINALS:

South Africa were first to seal a place in the Cup final, beating France 33-12 with Tobela Mdaka and Jaco Pretorius among the tries. Paul Treu's men now have a real chance of closing the gap on both Fiji and England in the overall series race.

Between them and a first title this season will be Samoa, who beat Australia 22-7 to keep alive their hopes of a first ever Cup title.

M39: France 12-33 South Africa 
M40: Samoa 22-7 Australia 

CUP FINAL:

South Africa overcame the mountainous challenge of Samoa, winning 33-12 in the final of the GMF Paris Sevens at the Stade Charlety to capture their first Cup title of the 2005/06 IRB Sevens Series.

Although they lost to the Samoans at the end of Day One, South Africa - with Gio Alpon, Tobela Mdaka and Ryno Benjamin in outstanding form - were always going to tough to beat on day two, and so it proved.

Uale Mai and Timoteo Iosua were again the key to Samoa's continued rise but that first IRB Sevens Cup trophy remains elusive.

South Africa were first to assert themselves on the final, Ryno Benjamin crossing twice to Simaika Mikaele's effort for Samoa as South Africa went in 14-7 up at half-time.

The second half brought an avalanche of points for South Africa as Danwell Demas scored two unanswered tries and, although Senio pulled one back for Samoa, Paul Delport's try at the death made it a comprehensive win for Paul Treu's men.

M44: South Africa 33-12 Samoa

PLATE SEMI-FINAL:

Fiji produced an improved performance to recover from the disappointment of losing in the Cup quarter-finals and beat New Zealand 29-14. Dwayne Sweeney's try gave New Zealand hope at 17-14 down but Lepani Nabuliwaqa sprinted clear to seal the win and the place in the final as Fiji hunt crucial series points.

For Argentina, Santiago Gomez Cora was once again the match-winner against England, sprinting through to seal victory.

M37: Fiji 29-14 New Zealand 
M38: Argentina 14-12 England 

PLATE FINAL:

Fiji recovered from their Cup quarter-final loss against France to take all eight points on offer from the Plate competition, overcoming a strong Argentine challenge to record a 31-12 win.

Filimoni Bolavucu and Sireli Naqelevuki crossed for Fiji before the Pumas fought back first through Felipe Gutierrez and then Ramiro del Busto to level it at 12-12. Semisi Naevo's score on half time, though, took the Fijians to a 19-12 half-time lead. Further tries for Neumi Nanuku and Naqelevuki ensured Fiji's win.

M43: Fiji 31-12 Argentina

BOWL QUARTER-FINALS:

Tunisia pulled off the first surprise of the day by putting the Scots to the sword. Scotland have impressed in earlier tournament but the Scotland Rugby Union's decision to pulling the plug on Sevens funding seems to have affected the young Scots.

Kenya, darlings of many recent tournaments, put away Portugal by drawing on their fathomless reserves of energy.

Italy recorded a good win over Germany and Canada took out their frustrations from Day One with a solid victory over Russia.

M25: Tunisia 19-14 Scotland 
M26: Portugal 0-22 Kenya 
M27: Italy 31-12 Germany 
M28: Russia 17-33 Canada 

BOWL SEMI-FINALS:

Kenya and Italy won through the Bowl final, Kenya winning a tight all-African semi against Tunisia 12-10 before Italy hung on against Canada to win 17-10.

M35: Tunisia 10-12 Kenya 
M36: Italy 17-10 Canada 

BOWL FINAL:

Kenya finished their Paris campaign strongly as their young side proved too strong for Italy, captain Sidney Ashioya and speedster Teddy Omondi inspiring them to a 31-7 Bowl triumph. Kenya also add two points to their total in the IRB Sevens series.

M42: Kenya 31-7 Italy 

SHIELD SEMI-FINALS:

Scotland beat Portugal 21-17 to win through to the final against Germany, who secured their first ever IRB Sevens win, 17-14 against Russia.

M33: Scotland 21-17 Portugal 
M34: Germany 17-14 Russia 

SHIELD FINAL:

Scotland finished a disappointing Paris tournament by capturing the plate trophy, beating Germany 40-0 in the final.

M41: Scotland 40-0 Germany 

With thanks to the IRB