Story highlights
Host South Africa wins title
Beats Argentina 29-14 in final
France edges Kenya for third
Kenya beat South Africa in pool
Host and defending champion South Africa claimed the Cape Town round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series with a five-try 29-14 win over Argentina in the final Sunday.
The pace of Seabelo Senatla and Rosko Speckman, who grabbed two tries apiece, combined with the guile of man of the final Justin Geduld undid the brave challenge of the Pumas in front of a vociferous 55,000 capacity home crowd.
It completed a turnaround for the Springboks after losing to Kenya in the pool stage Saturday and needing to beat England 10-0 in a decider to make the quarterfinals.
“The guys decided after yesterday to pull together and start playing rugby. I’m really proud of them today,” coach Neil Powell told the official World Rugby Sevens website.
“You have to work for everything, nothing is given to us and Argentina put us under lots of pressure,” he added.
Read: Kenya triumphs on opening day
Kenya, so impressive on both days, agonizingly lost out by two points in its semifinal match against Argentina, then missed out in similar heartbreaking fashion to France in the third-place playoff.
The French had stunned Fiji, winner of the opening round in Dubai, in the quarterfinals.
Consolation for Fiji, who jointly top the overall standings with South Africa after two of the 10 rounds of the series, was a 29-19 win over the United States in the consolation Plate final.
All the teams are gearing up for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio, where rugby sevens makes its debut.
