Led on by a passionate crowd at the 7he Sevens Stadium Osea Kolinisau, Pio Tuwai, Benito Masilevu and player of the tournament Samisoni Viriviri inspired the islanders to a memorable victory at round two of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

It justified Fiji's decision to hire former England coach Ben Ryan to guide them as the sport prepares to make its debut on the Olympic programme at Rio 2016.

"This group of 12 players that have been with me for the last two days have just been outstanding in everything they have done, and they are learning really quickly," said Ryan,  leading Fiji in only his second world series event since his appointment in September.

"That semi-final was flawless sevens against the best side in the world and we gave them their heaviest defeat ever. I was speechless.

"I've always had a plan of how we can perhaps play well against New Zealand, but we don't always execute it.

"But we played the way we had in our heads and that took us onto the final.

"It wasn't a picture postcard of a final but we were always in control and we scored some nice tries."

Fiji's Benito Masilevu was in fine form against South Africa, scoring a try to help his side lift the trophy for the first time since 1998 ©IRB/Martin Seras Lima



New Zealand, who were unbeaten in the competition prior to the heavy semi-final defeat to Fiji, beat England 17-14 in the third place play-off.

New Zealand led the match 12-0 coming up to the half time break, however tries either side of the halfway mark by Sam Edgerley and Phil Burgess pulled England back into contention.

The game was clinched just 20 seconds from time when New Zealand's Tim Mikkleson broke through England's defensive line to seal third place for New Zealand and ensure they stayed top of the World Series standings.

The defeat dropped England down to fourth in the standings with South Africa leap-frogging them into third.

"There were some real positives - a lot of our tackling was the best I've seen – but some of our decision making was not great and that can punish you at the highest level of sevens," said England's head coach Simon Amor on his team's performance throughout the tournament.

"Now the foundations are in place in our defence, though, we've got a lot of other good stuff to work on.

"South Africa was a very frustrating game.

"We did a lot of good stuff but we didn't play the breakdown particularly well and South Africa are very good there.

"It's the next part of our game to look at."

Branco de Preez put in a good display to help South Africa on their way to the final ©IRB/Martin Seras Lima

The teams will now head to South Africa's Port Elizabeth for round three of the World Series on December 7.

Following the draw for this next round it was confirmed that Dubai winners Fiji will head Pool A and face Scotland, Australia and France.

Dubai runners-up, and hosts, South Africa will face Kenya, Canada and Spain in Pool B, whilst New Zealand play Wales, Portugal and USA in Pool C, and England play Argentina, Samoa and Zimbabwe in Pool D.

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