Two tries from Savenaca Rawaca secured Fiji's 19-7 win over South Africa in the quarter-finals to guarantee their second world title and although they lost to Australia in the semis they beat England 26-12 in the third-place playoff to end on a high.
"I can’t really put it into words, we were just focusing on the South Africa game, but deservedly won and took the title," Fiji coach Ben Ryan told the tournament website.
"The boys were very overly emotional in the changing room and I had to control them a bit and remind them to start smiling and that this is supposed to be fun. It was certainly a topsy- turvy weekend."
The U.S. team overpowered Australia 45-22 in the final, Danny Barrett and Maka Unufe scoring two tries each.
“It is amazing, credit to those boys, the 12 of them have been absolutely fantastic and their work effort has been fantastic," U.S. coach Mike Friday said.
"I've said to them if you work hard in life then you get the rewards and they've been a credit to their country and their families and I’m proud of every one of them.”
Fiji's first win since 2006, and their second since the series began in 1999, broke 12-times winners New Zealand's stranglehold on the trophy they had won for the last four years.
England confirmed they will be the team to represent Britain in the inaugural rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after guaranteeing a top-four finish with two pool wins on Saturday.
(Reporting by Sam Holden, editing by Ed Osmond)
Share
