Scotland takes historic win as Aussies falter in London

Sun, May 22, 2016, 5:30 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
Fiji have defended their World Series crown in London with Jarryd Hayne on hand to lift the trophy.

On a day of upsets, Scotland took out the London Sevens to end the World Series on a remarkable note.

The Scots won their first Sevens Cup Final, beating South Africa 27-26 with a try after full-time at Twickenham.

"Absolutely over the moon...and pleased to see the guys get the rewards," Scotland head coach Calum Macrae said.

After trailing by 11 points in the dying minutes, Scotland showed their grit to snatch back the remarkable and historic win.

While Scotland had plenty to celebrate, Fiji will take out the overall World Series for a second straight year, after finishing fourth in London.

The Flying Fijians lost the London third, going down  26-19 to the USA, though their position was overshadowed by the scrutiny of whirlwind addition Jarryd Hayne.

Hayne showed some glimpses of potential, but was given just 15 minutes of game time through  the tournament, his only chance at a World Series outing before the Rio Olympics.

The former NRL star didn’t feature at all in the side’s thrilling Cup semi-final against the Blitzboks, playing the final two minutes of their quarter-final and third place playoff.

Australia finished 10th overall in London, after losing the Bowl final to Wales, 24-19.

The Aussies drew first blood in the final, through John Porch before a yellow card to Frank Winterstein helped Wales to a one-man advantage and their first try.

Three Welsh tries to one put Australia 10 points down, with Pama Fou clawing back the margin to five points just on full-time.

While the 10th place finish was Australia’s worst of the 2015-16 season, they finished fourth in the overall World Series standings.

Fourth is the best finish by any Australian Men’s Sevens team since the 2009-10 season.

The Aussie Sevens will be looking for a better performance in Rio. Photo: Getty ImagesAussie Sevens coach Andy Friend said there were positives to take from the tournament, despite the disappointing finish.

"Obviously the Bowl competition is not where we want to be though there were some positives to come out from the weekend.

"To get Pama back on the field doing what he does well - taking restarts and scoring tries - was a plus. He had a solid tournament and Henry Hutchison proved himself once again to be a world-class talent. It was also good for Jesse [Parahi] to get another tournament under his belt," he said.

"I was really disappointed with the game against Portugal.

"We didn't play smart and we weren't physical enough even though we managed to get the win. I was happier with the display against Samoa and we were certainly more clinical with the ball but we simply couldn't hold of the footy against Wales which, in the sixth game of a tough weekend, really hurt us."

Fiji claimed back-to-back World Series titles with their fourth placing, as London winners South Africa ran second, with New Zealand third.

All teams now look to the Rio Olympics, with the inaugural tournament kicking off on August 6 in Brazil

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