South Africa claimed their fourth HSBC World Sevens Series title of the year by beating Fiji 19-12 in a controversial Cup final in Las Vegas, which saw Fijian Sevuloni Mocenacagi sent off late in the game.
Eager to regather the restart in the final play of the match, Mocenacagi carelessly took out Werner Kok in the air, with the South African landing dangerously on his shoulder/head.
Kok understandably wasn’t best pleased and reacted accordingly. His actions towards Mocenacagi were a little over the top, but were not deemed serious enough to warrant a card.
Mocenacagi however, was not so lucky as by the letter of the law, he was shown a straight red card by the referee.
It was an ugly end to an otherwise entertaining final. Fiji, having just scored in the previous play to keep their chances of victory alive, desperately needed to get their hands on the ball from the restart, hence the clumsy challenge on Kok.
For the Blitzbokke, a fourth triumph in five tournaments cements their status as the best 7s team in the world right now, with England the only other team to win a round of the World Sevens Series.
Their domination thus far suggests they are not in the mood to change that and after being runner’s up for the last four years, few would bet on the South Africans securing a first overall title since the 2008/9 season.
HIGHLIGHTS: Full Highlights from the final and knockout stages
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