By Tom Degun

South Africa sevensFebruary 10 - South Africa produced a stunning performance in the final of the 2013 USA Sevens in Las Vegas as they crushed New Zealand 40-21 in round five of the HSBC Sevens World Series.


With a record crowd of 67,341 in attendance in Las Vegas across the three days of competition, South Africa's recalled playmaker Branco du Preez put in a sparkling performance to help his team score six tries and build up a huge 40-7 lead.

New Zealand, who are the current HSBC Sevens World Series leaders, did manage to respond with a late rally to reduce the deficit but the day belonged to South Africa, who picked up their first HSBC Sevens World Series title since 2011.

"We haven't had this feeling for a while now," said South Africa's head coach Paul Treu.

"It's a while since we last won a Cup so this is well deserved.

"We put all the hard work in back in Stellenbosch and every win gives you more confidence

"Hopefully we can build on this to use as a platform for the rest of the season.

"The team must enjoy every moment of this win."

In winning the USA Sevens title, South Africa become the fifth different nation to win the HSBC Sevens World Series title this season from five events played, as the nine-round competition edges past the halfway stage.

Heading into round six in Hong Kong later this month, South Africa have climbed to second in the Series standings on 73 points although they still remain someway behind New Zealand who lead on 96 points.

Meanwhile Samoa stands in third on 71 points after they beat Fiji 36-31 in extra time in the 3rd/4th play-off in Las Vegas.

In the other trophies, Canada beat Scotland 22-5 to claim the Plate, France edged Argentina 17-12 to take the Bowl and Australia were far too strong for Uruguay in the Shield as they ran out 41-0 winners.

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