The Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens team has gone down to Fiji 21-15 in the Las Vegas Sevens Cup final.
Featuring in their first back-to-back Cup finals in almost six years, the Australians showed a commitment to keeping their momentum going after a strong Sydney 7s.
Three unanswered first-half tries set the tone early in the match, with the Australians stepping up to the physical contest from the get go.
The Australian Sevens matched the Fijians’ trademark physicality early on and it was their forwards that caused the damage on the scoreboard.
Sam Myers drew first blood in the Cup final in the fourth, finishing off a strong attacking play from the Australian side.
Myers was the star of the first half for the Aussies, with that try and also a critical turnover, stopping a certain fiji try just short of the Aussie line.
A yellow card to Fiji gave Australia a one-man advantage midway through the opening half.
Aussie captain Ed Jenkins made the most of the extra player advantage, beating the Fiijian line to run away for Australia’s second try of the final.
Cameron Clark made it three in a row just a minute later, giving the Aussies a 15-0 lead.
Fiji were the first to score in the opening half, with a 12th minute try narrowing the margin to just eight points.
Quade Cooper went just centimetres short of scoring but a strip on the Aussie playmaker turned into a Fiji try at the opposite end, giving the Island nation an ultimately decisive six-point lead with two minutes left.
Australia hadn’t featured in consecutive Cup finals since 2010, when they played in London and Edinburgh, winning London
