24/05/2010
Australia Wins London Sevens Title
Australia have toppled defending champions South Africa 19-14 in a thrilling final at Twickenham to win the London Sevens on Sundayand claim their first Cup title on the IRB Sevens World Series since Brisbane in 2002.
New skipper James Stannard raced the length of the Twickenham pitch in the dying seconds of the decider to make a match-winning tackle which secured Australia a memorable victory at the ‘Home of Rugby’ in front of over 40,000 fans.
Australia took an early lead in the Cup final when a brilliant try to Brackin-Karauria Henry in the fifth-minute opened their account before South Africa drew level through a converted chip and chase Fabian Juries try to go the break with scored deadlocked at 7-all.
Stannard broke the South African defence two minutes after halftime and crashed over for his fifth try of the tournament to swing the match back in Australia’s favour.
The defending champions hit back again through Juries to regain a 14-12advantage before forward Henry Vanderglas swooped on a chance offload to power over for a 19-14 Australia lead.
Cecil Afrika then looked certain to snatch South Africa a famous victory but Stannard cut him down with a spectacular match-winning tackle which cleaned up the corner post.
Australian coach Michael O’Connor said he was sure South Africa were going to sneak homeright on the siren.
“The game was seesawing, then right on full time when had a 19-14 lead, one of the South Africans made a break and took off down the field and I was sure he was going to score,” O’Connor said.
“James Stannard made this unbelievable tackle, he chased him the length of the field, put an unbelievable tackle on him and sent him into touch.
“I thought James had no chance of getting him, I have no idea where he pulled that pace from. He’s got to be the player of the tournament.
“The boys are absolutely thrilled, I am incredibly proud of them. Only three of the boys have played here at Twickenham before, and we lost Clinton Sills, (concussion) Bernard Foley (ankle) and Ed Jenkins (virus) before the final, but the guys just handled the pressure well and held their composure to pull off a great victory.”
Stannard said he was ecstatic with his team’s undefeated performance at the London Sevens which sees them move into equal third with Fiji on the overall standings.
The Australian skipper was also crowed as the highest-point scorer at the penultimate leg of the IRB Series with 67 pointswhile teammate Clinton Sills announced his return to the circuit with nine tries.
“We have worked so hard as a group over the last year, everyone who has been a part of the side and it has paid off today,” Stannard said.
“Australia hasn’t won a Cup Final in over eight years and that’s something that we’ve been using as motivation.
“We won the Plate in Dubai and the next step up was getting that Cup. We have come close a couple of times with Samoa edging us out.
“Now we have to get back into our recovery, get over to Scotland and really do Australia proud again."
Meanwhile, Samoa have taken a giant stride towards a first ever IRB Sevens World Series title and take a seven-point lead from the second-placed New Zealanders to Edinburgh for the season climax next weekend.
Australia were the first side through to the London Cup final after beating Argentina 26-14 to reach their first IRB Sevens Cup final since February 2002 in Brisbane.
Sills and Watisoni Votu of Fiji both crossed for hat-tricks in the earlier nail biting quarter-final which the Australians won 29-28 in the final minute.
On day one of competition, Australia showed signs of what was to come with a clinical 38-5 defeat of highly-favoured Englandto finish top of their pool.