South Africa overcame a 19-0 half time deficit to come back to win an electrifying, nail-biting and remarkable Cup final 20-19, at the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens 2019, which had been witnessed by almost 57,000 spectators over the course of the weekend.

Fiji leading at half-time

In the first half, Fiji had scored three tries, of which two had been converted successfully. And by the halfway mark, it had seemed as though the title was headed in Fiji’s direction.

Fiji had improved tremendously from their slow start yesterday and had looked completely dominant in the first half of the match.

Said Fiji coach Gareth Baber, “But then, you cannot have one hand on the trophy at half time. You have got to see it out all the way through.”

The comeback

Indeed, about two minutes into the second half, Angelo Davids and Ryan Oosthuizen scored tries for the Blitzboks and one was successfully converted too.

But with two minutes to play, Fiji was still leading in the cup final, by 19-17.

However, in the final minute of the game, South Africa had been awarded a penalty and Selvyn Davids grabbed this opportunity to put the Blitzboks in the lead… for the first time in the final.

Another twist… or not

But there might just still have been another twist in the tale…

This is because when Fiji gained the restart after the Blitzboks went ahead, they quickly charged down the right flank… but Aminiasi Tuimaba kicked the ball ahead, and the Blitzboks won the chase… to secure their first Cup victory at Singapore’s air-conditioned National Stadium.

Blitzboks were crying

Said Justin Geduld, the South Africa captain, “At the end after we converted the penalty, we were still chasing back and I was a bit worried because they had the ball and they kicked it back onto their wing. That happened so fast. But luckily Selvyn (Davids) was there and he picked up the ball and kicked it out and it was just joy from there.”

He continued, “At that point, I just had tears in my eyes. For a rugby player, we do not say that very often, but it was very emotional and all the boys were crying. It was an amazing feeling.”

Doubt and disbelief in the Blitzboks’ camp

Added South Africa coach, Neil Powell, “To be honest, there was a bit of doubt and disbelief over what happened. We put ourselves in a tough situation in the first half due to our own faults and the mistakes that we made on the field. We did not manage to hang onto the ball and if you give Fiji pole position, they are always going to score as they are a really good attacking team.”

And Powell continued, “Our second half, actually, was not a great start as we only scored our first try two minutes in. But the defining moment was when Fiji got their yellow card. Then we started to believe that we maybe we could actually win this game, after all.”

Still work to do

But South Africa are also aware that while they may be celebrating now, there is still work to do in terms of the HSBC World Rugby Series.

Said Geduld, “We are just going to enjoy the win for the time being, but when we get back, we’re going to look at the video clips to see where we can improve and work very hard on these, so that we can become even better next time.”

And the captain continued, “After all, as we found out today, it is not over till the final whistle. You saw what happened in the first half, but we stuck in there and never stopped working when we were down. We didn’t give up till the very end.”

Fiji admit that South Africa deserve the win

On the other hand, Baber, though disappointed, admitted that South Africa had thoroughly deserved their win. 

The Fiji coach explained, “We knew that we were up against a good side, and that they would come back against us and create some momentum in the second half. We did not deal with that well. They fought hard for the win and they got it.”

Baber continued, “But I am still absolutely proud of our boys. They worked very hard to get to the final. They showed a lot of resilience and character and pushed the South Africans all the way. They were just beaten by a very strong South African side.”

Sevens rugby can be anyone’s game

The Fiji captain Paula Dranisinukula also shared his coach’s feelings. 

He explained, “The Blitzboks Sevens gave everything they had to win the game and I congratulate them for that. They did everything right in the second half and played from their hearts. I am just proud that we managed to hold them all the way to the end, to the very last whistle. We were beaten by a tough opponent.”

Dranisinukula also added, “A game of sevens, after all, is anyone’s game. If your heart is willing, you will get where you want to go. But we will continue our hard work going into London and Paris. Our main focus is to end this season on top of the Series table. So we will be going back to regroup, rest up and train well and go for broke during the final two legs.”

Blitzboks to remain humble, heading into London and Paris

South Africa will not be making things easy for the Fijians, though. Explained Powell, “It is always good to come back to Singapore. We really love the city and the National Stadium here and there’s always a lot of South African fans making the trip here, too.” 

He added, “So we want to thank them for all their support here and we are happy to get the win here for them – but we will make sure that the boys stay humble and not arrogant going into London and then Paris, and we will work even harder, whilst playing with optimism and confident too.”

Bronze Final

In the other matches in Singapore, England won the Bronze Final against the United States 28-7, though their fourth place finish in Singapore had still been enough for the United States to remain top of the overall Series standings, three points clear of Fiji.

Fifth Place

And in the Fifth Place play-off, Samoa beat New Zealand 19-17. In the Series standings, this keeps the All Blacks Sevens in third position on 130 points, ahead of South Africa (121 points) and England (107 points).

Challenge Trophy and 13th Place

As well, France also won the Challenge Trophy 22-19 against Scotland and with Kenya taking 13th place by beating Spain 21-5.

Singapore Schools U14 Final

The Singapore Schools U14 Sevens Series Final also took place at the National Stadium with St. Andrews walking away with the title by beating Anglo-Chinese School 19-17.