South Africa completed a sweep of the Canada Sevens leg adding the Edmonton Sevens to the Vancouver Sevens crown they won last week by defeating Great Britain 24-12 in the final in Vancouver on Sunday.
The Blitzboks ran in four tries courtesy of a brace from Muller du Plessis and captain Siviwe Soyizwapi meaning both players finished the tournament with 11 and 10 tries respectively. More significantly for Soyizwapi, his haul saw him reach the milestone of 100 career tries in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Great Britain scored twice through Robbie Fergusson and Tom Bowen, with Bowen scoring his 99th World Series try.
South Africa came into the final having already secured the 2021 HSBC Sevens title on account of defeating Kenya 33-7 in the semifinal. The Blitzboks were favourites for both tournaments as Olympic champions Fiji and other Series powerhouses New Zealand and Australia were notable absentees because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Blitzboks coach Neil Powell said he was very happy with his team’s showing even with the loss of some experienced players and the incorporation of new faces.
“We normally have one game in the tournament where we make too many mistakes and probably this last one was this game for us but, again, with the new guys we have in the team, I am very happy with the performance over the two weeks,” Powell said.
Meanwhile, Kenya completed a successful Series leg by finishing third in the tournament following a five-try 33-14 victory against Canada in the third/fourth place playoff match.
Kenya’s tries came through Nelson Oyoo, Alvin Otieno (2), Willy Ambaka and Billy Odhiambo. Alex Russell and Jake Thiel replied for the Canadians with Brennig Prevost kicking their conversions.
Kenya came second in the Edmonton Sevens after falling to a 38-5 loss to South Africa in the final.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)
