Rampant Fiji blank Blitzboks

Fiji claimed their third straight Hong Kong Sevens title after beating the Blitzboks 22-0 in the Cup final on Sunday.

The defending champions came into this contest on an 18-match winning streak in Hong Kong, but had not won a Cup final since the corresponding fixture last year. In stark contrast, the Blitzboks were playing in their seventh final in as many events this season, of which they'd won four tournaments.

However, on Sunday the Blitzboks looked characteristically disjointed and failed to impose themselves on the game, with multiple handling errors and missed tackles the aggravating factors in their downfall.

All the early momentum was with South Africa, but Fiji struck the first blow with a try against the run of play when Sevuloni Mocenacagi dotted down. The Pacific Islanders weren’t done yet and crossed for a second try before the break to extend their lead to 10-0.

There was to be no respite for Neil Powell’s men at the resumption as Fiji maintained their stranglehold on the contest.

Kalione Nasoko burst through the Blitzboks defence to score under the posts before running in another towards the end to seal the victory.

Photo: World Rugby

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