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 Dubai Rugby 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 was injured and stretchered off 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.
Hat trick for Afrika
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
Here are some images from the tournament sent to us by Susan Van Der Riet:
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