NAIROBI, Kenya, May 5- There was scant consolation for the national rugby sevens team when their tour of Scotland ended with defeat to Australia in the final of the Bowl competition on Sunday.
Michael O’Connor’s side beat Kenya 12-5 to claim the title in Scotland with Lewis Holland and Pama Fou giving them the victory and ensuring they maintained a 100 per cent record on day two in Glasgow.
In the semis Cameron Clark scored his 10th World Series try as Australia snatched a 17-12 victory against Samoa and Nick Malouf scored twice in their 36-0 win against Portugal in the quarter finals.
Mike Friday’s Kenya defeated France 22-7 to reach the Bowl semi finals with Oscar Ouma crossing twice and then proved too strong for hosts Scotland with Felix Ayange scoring two tries in the 24-19 win.
That is as good as it got for Friday’s side who surrendered the intiative on Saturday after crashing out of the Main Cup quarters by finishing bottom of a group that featured eventual champions, South Africa, Canada and Samoa.
The team still holds on to fifth position in the IRB Sevens Series standings on 84 points ahead of the season finale in London next weekend as New Zealand, the losing Main Cup finalists clinched the series by virture of reaching the semis of that competition.
South Africa won their third Cup final of the 2012/13 HSBC Sevens World Series, beating New Zealand 28-21 in the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens title decider.
Paul Treu’s side recorded a third Cup final victory over New Zealand, who had earlier claimed an 11th World Series title by reaching the Cup semi finals.
Having lost to the eventual champions South Africa in the semi finals, next week’s hosts England finished third after beating Wales while USA, Australia and France all lifted silverware at Scotstoun Stadium.
Seabelo Senatla scored two tries for Paul Treu’s side in the semi final, continuing his recent fine form, while Gillies Kaka touched down twice for Gordon Tietjens’ side in their victory against Wales.
“I think looking back at the season we had our highs and our lows, but it is just good for us to come back and finish the season on a high.
“We are almost going to be the only team to win three tournaments up and until now. We had some bad moments, but those bad moments were needed to make up for our results towards the end of the season and to give credit to our guys and those back home for having the faith and the belief in the team that we could stay the distance,” Treu said after the triumph.
Earlier, New Zealand beat Argentina to progress to the semi finals and in doing so claimed their 11th World Series title by gaining enough Series points (151) to ensure they have an unassailable lead in the standings.
For Kenya though, Scotland did not go according to plan and they will face New Zealand, Wales and once again, Canada in Pool B of the London 7s in a bid to end a season they have achieved so much on a high.
-Additional reporting irb.com
LONDON SEVENS POOLS
Pool A: South Africa, USA, Australia, France
Pool B: New Zealand, Wales, Canada, Kenya
Pool C: England, Argentina, Fiji, Samoa
QUALIFIERS POOLS
Pool A: Scotland, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Georgia
Pool B: Portugal, Spain, Tonga, Russia