Springbok Sevens win the Plate in Dubai
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The Springbok Sevens shrugged off a heartbreaking loss to Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals to beat Australia 19-12 in the Plate Final of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens on Saturday.
Cecil Afrika scored three tries to help his side avenged their 19-14 loss against Australia in Friday’s Pool C match.
In the Plate decider, Australia led 12-7 at halftime. South Africa played the final without playmaker Renfred Dazel who as injured in the semi-final win against the USA.
The young Aussies denied South Africa possession and they used this advantage to score two quick tries through Hamish Angus and Daniel Yakabo.
After finally getting their hands on the ball, Frankie Horne made a telling break to send Cecil Afrika over for first try. South Africa made a good start after the break and when Branco du Preez raced through and was stopped, he passed inside to Afrika for his second try.
Du Preez and Afrika then combined again which allowed the slightly built flyer to complete his hat trick of tries (19-12).
Kyle Brown, the SA Sevens captain said afterwards his side won because of their strong defence in the second half.
“We had to show some character after they quickly raced in to a 12-0 lead. We knew we had to make the tackles and use our scoring opportunities, which we did. Now we are looking forward to George next week,” said Brown.
Scorers: South Africa: Tries: Afrika (3); Conversions: Afrika (2). Australia: Tries: Hamish Angus, Daniel Yakabo. Conversion: Angus
In their two earlier matches of the day, the Springbok Sevens beat the USA 24-10 to book a place in the Plate Final after their narrow 21-19 loss in the Cup quarterfinals against Fiji.
Against the USA, Cecil Afrika scored a try before and after halftime to give his team a 12-0 lead. Skipper Kyle Brown then added a third to take the match into relative safe territory for South Africa at 19-0. Although the USA scored two late tries, newcomer Mark Richards crossed the line to make the final score 24-10.
Scorers: Springbok Sevens 24 (12): Tries: Cecil Afrika (2), Kyle Brown, Mark Richards. Conversions: Afrika (2). United States: 10 (0) Tries: Miles Craigwell, Roland Saniula.
The Springbok Sevens started the day with a 21-19 loss against Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals. After racing to a 19-7 lead though tries by Cecil Afrika, Boom Prinsloo and Bernado Botha, the South Africans looked set for victory, but instead they had to watch the Fijians score the winning try after the siren for full time.
Scorers: Springbok Sevens 19 (14): Tries: Cecil Afrika, Boom Prinsloo, Bernado Botha. Conversions: Afrika (2). Fiji 21 (7) Tries: Seremaia Buroto (2), Nasoni Roko. Conversions: Emosi Vucago (2), Roko.
The 16 teams arrive late on Sunday evening in George via Cape Town from Dubai for the Emirates Airline SA Sevens, the second tournament in the HSBC Sevens World Series.
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