Rank outsider Zimbabwe did however and Kenya who are recognized as a fast rising contender for the rugby top table were on the finals list.

Saturday started with a disaster for Kenya who lost to Argentina 43 to 0 in the first match of the day.

Zimbabwe beat the Arabian Gulf team 24 -14 in their last ever outing as the restructuring of the sevens tournament at the end of the year will see their exclusion. The Gulf team could be proud of their performance against the Africans as the Zimbabweans had to work hard for them. So it was something of a surprise when just three hours later they took on and defeated Scotland 28 to 17. It was a particularly impressive performance as Scotland had defeated France 28 points to 22 earlier. The Zimbabweans deserved their win as they showed greater stamina, determination and aggression against the Scots who looked listless by comparison apart from a few flashes of skill.

Kenya took on Portugal and in a measured performance picked up a 19 to 12 victory. Portugal with their shock win over England on Friday have built a noisy fan base and not a little respect from other teams as a result.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for one of the favorites South Africa who lost to Fiji, the tournament's 'sleeping giant'. The word on the touchline was that the Fijians were playing a strategic set of games waiting, just as New Zealand was suspected of doing, for the finals before unleashing full power. That was contradicted on Friday night when what looked very much like full power by the Fijians was not enough to subdue England.

During the USA-South Africa encounter on Saturday when serious injury struck. An accidental but tremendous head on collision by a charging US player on South Africa's Renfred Dazel saw him stretchered off with a serious injury, "possibly collar bone or even shoulder" said a source close to the team without giving any more way.

The morning England match on Saturday against Australia was almost a repeat of the script written against the Fijians on Friday. England's Ben Gollings played a captain's game with two tries and conversions for 14 of the points. However, at the seven-minute mark, England trailed Australia 19 to 21 and it was two minutes after time that England scored an unconverted try to prevail over the Wallabies 24 to 21 setting up the most difficult draw of all, the perennial champions New Zealand All Backs.

In the event whatever the All Blacks had held back was not enough. England matched every move the New Zealanders made and countered. Just over two minutes into the game, New Zealand scored and converted; the reply came from England 90 seconds later and the half ended even.

The Loins roared and within 50 seconds of the restart, England had scored once more and followed it two minutes later with another try. The New Zealanders had had the wind taken out of their sails but came back with one more try. It was not enough to stave off a 19 to 14 defeat.

Kenya followed with a masterclass of fast running, agility and sheer brute power, powering past France time and again to take the Shield place with a 26 to 0 win.

Surprise of the finals must be Zimbabwe. Underdogs of the tournament, the team poured everything they had into a game that occasionally frayed into scrappy play. The Argentine team held together and with their customary flare ran in 21 points to 0. The surprise was that Zimbabwe, who only a handful of years ago were completely new to sevens rugby had reached a shield playoff.

The southern hemisphere clash between South Africa and Australia was sure to produce sparks and it did not disappoint. Under a minute from the start, the Wallabies were ahead with a try from a blinding burst of speed along the touchline to score a converted try. Two minutes later, they were two tries up, the second unconverted.

However Cecil Afrika, slow to get going in the chill evening air put matters right with three solo tries, two of which he converted ending the match with a 19 to 12 win for the South Africans.

The match of the evening was the final. Samoa are always difficult to beat and they were determined to stop England's remarkable run of close-shave wins in the tournament. A second minute unconverted try from England's Oliver Lindsay-Hague got the agendum under way but Samoa responded with a converted try from Simalka Mikaeli just over a minutes later. To compound the situation, they scored again under four minutes later courtesy of Ofisa Treviranus and looked in control of the game. However another try from Lindsay-Hague brought the half time score to 14-12 to Samoa.

The Samoans came out to the second half very determined to capitalize on their lead and Alafoti Fa'osilliva pounded over England's line three minutes into the half to bring his side's score up to 21 points. There was a collective groan from the England supporters at the two-score difference — a gap not easy to close with six minutes of play left and a strong Samoan defense.

Under pressure and with a sense of commitment that was infectious, England hammered at the defenses; eventually they cracked and four minutes later Simon Hunt crossed the Samoan line to score. Hope flooded back into the crowd and the strains of "Sing Low" the supporters' anthem filled the night sky. It seemed to lift the England players for three minutes later Dan Norton scuttled through a widely spread Samoan defense to score which Ben Gollings converted.

As if to prove it was no fluke, 90 seconds later Mat Turner did the same thing and again Gollings converted.

Final score 29-21, and the crowds went wild. Two popular sides had played their hearts out an England had fully made up for the scare of the previous days defeat by Portugal.