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BUSINESS NEWS - South Africa romped to Commonwealth Games gold in the Rugby Sevens as they beat Olympic champions Fiji in a 31-7 hammering in Coventry.
How did they achieve the golden moment at the 2022 Birmingham Games?
Tries in the first-half from Muller du Plessis, JC Pretorius and Shaun Williams saw South Africa sprint into a 17-0 lead. Du Plessis added his second before Mfundo Ndhlovu rounded off the scoring for the new Commonwealth champions.
The match itself saw South Africa in stunning form in the game as they well and truly hammered their opponents, something that was expected according to the pre-match odds from Stake.
What was perhaps most surprising was the manner in which Fiji fell away. The best side in the Sevens game, Fiji were not given a second to breathe in the final. Everyone knows how good they can be when they are given even the smallest amount of space, but South Africa was all over them.
This saw handling errors and a lack of that Fijian flair we have come to expect. The work of the Boks at the breakdown was huge too. The champions secured several turnovers to continually disrupt Fiji, while the physicality of the South African side was enormous as their defence was incredible.
Importantly for South Africa, they were able to score 17 points without reply. Going into the break with a lead is huge, but the size of the advantage was always going to prove to be a tall order to overturn.
On top of this, South Africa kept their opponents to nil. The psychological impact of being kept without a score would have been massive, with South Africa and Fiji going opposite ways in terms of confidence.
Ultimately, South Africa’s ability to stop Fiji in their tracks told on both the pitch and the scoreboard. Few sides beat Fiji, but to do so in such a one-sided game and in a final no less is a huge statement of intent from the Springboks.
The ability to combine brutish defending with accurate finishing is something that will see any team give themselves a real chance of beating the opposition. Of course, it felt like almost everything went right for the Boks on the day, but they were fully deserving of their triumph and medal.
This was only the second time that the South African side have been able to secure gold at the event, with the side claiming the top medal back in 2014. Gold in the Sevens was South Africa’s fourth medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
With the World Cup in September fast approaching, this was the perfect way for South Africa to begin their preparations, with Commonwealth gold and a big win over Fiji giving the players, staff and fans a huge boost as the showpiece event in Rugby Sevens nears.
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