@dubai7s Champions at last! Fantastic Fiji triumph in Dubai

Fiji are this year’s Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens champions.

They won round two of the HSBC Sevens World Series with an exhilarating performance throughout two days, that climaxed with a 29-17 victory over South Africa in the final.

For Fiji, it ends a Dubai jinx: five times since the Emirate became an IRB World Series venue in 1999 they have reached the final here, only to lose in all of them.

For coach Ben Ryan it is a stunning triumph. Twice a winner in Dubai as England’s coach, in 2010 and 2011, he has guided Fiji to a World Series victory in only his second tournament since taking over as Head Coach.

It might have been hard to follow their stunning 44-0 semi-final victory over New Zealand, but there was no complacency, as they raced into a 19-0 lead at half time – an advantage that became 24 points early in the second half.

South Africa tried to claw their way back into the match, and two unconverted tries cropped the lead back to 14 points. But Fiji put the issue beyond doubt with a fifth try, and and though Chris Dry scored a converted try in the closing seconds, the triumph was Fijis.

New Zealand bounced back from suffering their heaviest ever IRB World Series defeat – that 44-0 semi-final hammering by the Fijians– by pipping England to third place in Round 2.

Mind you, they made hard work of it. Leading 12-nil after 6 minutes, England scored converted tries either side of half-time to edge ahead by two points, and with the clocking ticking down, it looked like they were going to claim a second successive third place this season.

But with 16 seconds to go Tim Mikkelson scored a match winning try, with the New Zealanders taking third place thanks to a 17-14 victory. It means that after the first two rounds of the season, the defending Series champions, and Gold Coast winners last month, lead the overall standings.

For England it is a second successive semi-final under new coach Simon Amor, who continues to love coming to Dubai, having been a regular at this event as a player.

“The Sevens in Dubai is a wonderful event, and it just gets better,” he said. “It’s fantastic, with the two World Series tournaments, and all the Invitation events going on around and about – there’s a really special atmosphere here.”

Argentina beat Wales 21-5 to take fifth place in Dubai, and with it win the Plate. Australia – runners up in round one last month – defeated Portugal to secure ninth place, and with it they take home the Bowl. And France won the Shield for 13th place, fighting back to defeat Spain 28-17.

The final between Fiji and South Africa was transmitted live in 20 countries – which means an estimated 230 million homes in 140 countries could watch the action. A new record of 260 hours of live broadcast will have been seen from the event worldwide.

Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens, 2013

HSBC Sevens World Series, Roll of Honour:

Cup Winners: Fiji
Runners Up: South Africa
Third Place: New Zealand
Fourth Place: England
Plate Winners: Argentina
Plate Runners Up: Wales
Bowl Winners: Australia
Bowl Runners Up: Portugal
Shield Winners: France

Shield Runners Up: Spain

Victorious coach Ben Ryan has described his team’s performance in Dubai as ‘phenomenal’, after watching his Fiji triumph here for the first time.

Five times runners-up since Dubai became an IRB World Series venue, Fiji were outstanding on the third and final day of the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens. Beating South Africa in the final was the icing on the cake, but the Tour de Force was a remarkable 44-0 victory over New Zealand in the semi-finals.

“What can I say other than outstanding; phenomenal,” said an immensely proud Ryan after watching his players lift the trophy. “I hope it sets us up now for the rest of the season, but there’s still some hard work to do.

“But here in Dubai the players have been outstanding; excellent at every level. It’s been brilliant, and the semi-final performance against New Zealand was flawless – one of those games when all our plans were executed to perfection, and we were outstanding.”

While Fiji celebrated their first World Series success in Dubai at the 15h attempt, for Ryan it was his third victory at 7he Sevens in four years. He coached England to victory here in 2010 and 2011.

“The secret? I just love it here in Dubai,” he said. “It’s a fast pitch, which suits my style. We had a few hiccups during the Pool games on Friday, but beating England in the third and final Pool game gave us confidence, and then we cranked up the gears today.

“They’ll be ecstatic back in Fiji, so I will have to keep everyone’s feet on the ground, but we’ll enjoy ourselves tonight, then start thinking about Port Elizabeth (Round 3, in South Africa) next weekend.

“So a hard week ahead, no time for resting on laurels, but this is a fantastic boost, and lets hope it sets us up for the rest of the season.”

South Africa’s coach Neil Powell – like Ryan, appointed on weeks ago – admitted that Fiji deserved their triumph, and hopes his team can go one better at next weekend’s HSBC Sevens World Series third round in Port Elizabeth.

He said: “It was a great performance by Fiji, not only in the final, but in that remarkable semi-final, too. It needed a great effort to beat them, and we fell short.

“So now it’s up to us to come out fighting next weekend, and go one better at our home event. We now have a solid platform to build on for that, and the guys have to come out and make it happen.”