South Africa thumped reigning Olympic champions Fiji to win the men’s sevens gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday.
The Blitzboks, current World Rugby Sevens Series leaders, outscored the Fijians five-tries-to-one in a 31-7 victory to finish the tournament unbeaten and repeat the gold medal-winning feat of Team SA in Glasgow in 2014.
A clever kick by Selvyn Davids put Muller du Plessis over in the corner for a converted try in the fourth minute, before JC Pretorius and Shaun Williams dotted down for a 17-0 lead at half time.
Du Plessis was in for his second after the break following quick wide play by the Blitzboks from a midfield scrum. Ronald Brown added the extras to make it 24-0 for the South Africans.
Fiji finally got on the scoreboard with a well-worked try from a lost SA lineout deep in their own half, but a second converted try for the Blitzboks, this time after a powerful finish by Mfundo Ndhlovu, put the game beyond doubt and secured another gold medal for head coach Neil Powell.
Earlier, New Zealand took bronze after a 26-12 win against Australia, while the SA women’s team finished the Games in seventh with a 52-0 victory over Sri Lanka.
🥇 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐛𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 🥇
They defeat Fiji 31-7 to win the Men’s Rugby Sevens event at the Commonwealth Games. Angelo Davids (10) finishes with the most tries. pic.twitter.com/3Bx6KMIhu6
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 31, 2022
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
