New Zealand pounced on numerous errors by South Africa to take the George leg of the IRB World Sevens series, downing the hosts 24-17 in the final on Saturday.
It was a reversal of last weekend's final -- when South Africa got the better of the All Blacks in Dubai -- and represented sweet revenge for Gordon Tietjens' side.
Once again South Africa failed to win their home competition after cruising through to the final by winning all their other games. They qualified by downing England 10-7, while New Zealand beat Fiji 29-12 in the semi-finals.
It was far from a classic final encounter between the two best teams in the competition, with handling errors and poor tackling scuppering the chances of the hosts.
None of the home team's strike runners -- such as Kabamba Floors, Stefan Basson, Philip Burger or Danwel Demas -- were allowed space or time to put any pressure on their opponents, while New Zealand enjoyed a majority of possession and won the battle at the breakdowns.
Although a second half try by Schalk van der Merwe narrowed the gap and gave the big home crowd a glimmer of hope of back-to-back wins, New Zealand held on for the victory and their first title of the new season.
Portugal were the surprise winners of the Plate competition when they defeated Zimbabwe 14-12 in a close final, while Australia got the better of Kenya 41-7 in the Bowl final.
Wales, who held England to a 14-all draw on day one of the competition, took the Plate competition after defeating the surprise package of the tournament, Tunisia, 26-5 in the final.
There were again a number of upsets on the final day, with Kenya's 19-17 win over Argentina the most significant.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two