South Africa made a winning start to the new IRB Sevens World Series, rattling up 31 unanswered points to defeat New Zealand in treacherous conditions in the Dubai final.
The tournament is typically played in warm winter weather but torrential rain turned the pitch into a quagmire.
New Zealand made the better start, surging 12-0 in front with tries from Edwin Cocker and Nigel Hunt, and even survived the yellow carding of Hunt for back chat to referee David Keane without conceding a point.
PHOTO: AP
But the tables were turned in dramatic style after the break as Tobela Mdaka launched the comeback by rounding off a long break by Philip Burger before Kabamba Floors surged over wide on the left for his side's second try.
South Africa, now level at 12-12, claimed the restart and recycled possession to go in front through Mdaka, and further tries from Danwel Demas and Stefan Basson rounded off a startling recovery.
Coach Paul Treu admitted he was pleased with his side's efforts in difficult conditions.
"But we did not play anywhere near our full potential," he said. "We can do better, and hopefully we can show that next week when we have better weather in George [South Africa] for the next leg."
New Zealand counterpart Gordon Tietjens admitted he was happy to leave Dubai with 16 points after failing to reach one final in last season's world series.
"This has been a great couple of days for us," he said. "We can only get better and improve."
Tietjens has been coach of the New Zealand sevens squad for 12 years. But his contract expires at the end of the current series and he admitted he was not yet sure whether he would continue in the role.
"I'm still considering my options," he said.
New Zealand, who lost four semi-finals last season to Fiji, this time qualified with a 17-12 success over their great rivals with tries from Cocker, Lote Raikabula and Zar Lawrence.
South Africa had earlier won 19-0 over England who were unhappy that a high tackle on Dave Strettle at a crucial stage went unpunished.
Coach Mike Friday said: "It was late with intent and at the minimum deserved a yellow card, maybe even a red."
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but