DUBAI: Sevens rugby is notoriously unpredictable but the odds of the four top seeded teams being eliminated in the quarterfinals were extreme. It happened. Favorites England, New Zealand, South Africa and the world champions Fiji were all overturned by challengers.
Outsiders Wales ripped up the formbook to beat Argentina 19-12 and claim the Rugby World Cup Sevens title yesterday.
The Welsh team, largely a second-tier team on the IRB World Sevens Series which has never before reached a final, showed great poise on the third day of competition, stunning New Zealand and Samoa in the quarter and semifinals.
In the 20-minute final, Wales outscored the Pumas three tries to two, showing greater tactical onus and individual skill against a flagging Argentinian side. Richie Pugh opened the scoring, the once-capped international flanker sprinting clear into the corner after a long pass from irrepressible sweeper Lee Williams.
Argentina hit back through Martin Rodriguez who latched on to a loose pass to scoot in for a try he converted from the touchline.
Williams was everywhere for the Welsh in defense, coming up with try-saving tackles on Lucas Amorosino and Santiago Cora.
It was, however, another of Wales' one-cap wonders who extended the Welsh lead, winger Tal Selley continuing his fine tournament form with a dummy, step and sharp acceleration for a 60-meter run-in. Aled Thomas nailed the conversion to hand Wales a 12-7 half-time lead.
In a closely-fought second-half, which unusually featured several instances of kicking ping-pong, Argentina were the first to score after almost six minutes of play through Gonzalo Camacho.
But Thomas had the last word, showing a fine turn of speed to skip out of desperate cover tackle and cross for the decisive try, which he also converted.
The knockout stage of the competition had heralded a day of upsets at the Sevens Stadium.
• Australia beat New Zealand 15-10 to claim the inaugural women's title.
Australia, who had beaten New Zealand twice in the qualifiers for the women's RWC Sevens, outscored their antipodean neighbors three unconverted tries to two in a sudden death finale.
Nicole Beck opened the scoring for Australia, junking around Carla Hohepa to touch down in the corner. Debby Hodgkinson then showed great power and determination to step inside one defender and ride Victoria Grant's covering tackle to ground the ball over the Kiwi line to hand the Australians a 10-0 lead. New Zealand, however, took immediate advantage of the sin-binning of Rebecca Tavo to hit back either side of half-time with tries from Justine Lavea and Hohepa - her ninth of the competition. Selica Winiata went close to a third Kiwi try but was foiled in her bid to latch onto her grubber kick through by Tricia Brown. Lavea was then called back after Tobie McGann was adjudged to have impeded Hohepa in her attempt to get back for a tackle. After 40 seconds of sudden death with the score tied at 10 points apiece, Australia forced a turnover deep in Kiwi territory and Shelly Matcham rode two tackles to crash over in the corner. England, who lost 17-10 to Australia in the quarterfinals, beat Canada 12-0 to claim the Plate trophy, while China beat Brazil 10-7 to win the Bowl.
Earlier in the men’s semifinals, for the second time Wales beat New Zealand who were out to revenge humiliation delivered by Wales when they won on the Kiwis home turf in the Wellington sevens earlier this year.
One minute into the game, New Zealand ran in a try and a few seconds later converted it. Wales with tremendous character slammed in a master-class in choreographed passing and just half a minute later scored but failed to convert.
Just after the half time siren, they put another try on the scoresheet and led New Zealand 10-7.
A second minute try in the second half with a conversion put them ahead and three and a half minutes later their dogged and physical challenges paid off with a final try, giving them a final tally of 15-14.
The Samoans, never easy to beat sprinted a try into an unready England goal line just a minute into their encounter and converted it to give them seven valuable points. Thirty five seconds later, England responded with a straight-line blur of speed from winger Tom Varndell that left the Samoans standing bar one bold pursuer. A conversion brought the teams level. Then it all fell apart for England as the Samoans ratcheted up a gear and gave the favorites a demonstration of sevens rugby and rugged determination that saw two more converted tries before half time.
With their 21-7 half time lead, possession was everything for the Samoans. It took England until half way through the second half to run in a corner try that remained unconverted. A second followed a couple of minutes later but was disallowed to the jeers of the crowd as the video screen showed what seemed to be a clean touch down.
However, consultations with the assistant referee who was extremely close by resulted in a five yard scrum that resulted in a converted try a few seconds later. Another unconverted try from Samoa and one converted from England put the teams level at full time. Sudden death playoff in the first two minutes of extra time brought a winning try from Samoa, sending England home defeated by 31 points to 26.
Aside from England, Kenya sensationally beat defending champions Fiji in the quarterfinals but could not continue their giant-killing against the rugged Argentina side. South Africa, currently joint leaders of the IRB World Series Sevens with England, exited in the quarterfinals at the hands of Argentina, winners of the most recent leg of the global circuit in San Diego last month. Scotland trumped Australia 21-17 to win the Plate, while Zimbabwe made sure of some African silverware in beating Ireland 17-14 for the Bowl title.
— With input from agencies
