England break South African hearts in Cape Town
England broke South African hearts with a 19-17 win to take gold at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens.
Despite Werner Kok scoring in the last seconds with England down to six men, a missed conversion from Justin Geduld ensured Simon Amor’s side won their first Cup since Tokyo 2015.
England captain Tom Mitchell said: “It was a tough tournament, to back up last weekend in Dubai, but I am so proud of the boys. We trained all summer and this makes it all worth it. We were a bit disappointed last weekend and we wanted to put it right. It’s been a bumpy road, but it always is. It was a pleasure to play in this stadium.”
In an enthralling final, Chris Dry showed incredible pace to beat Tom Mitchell to the try line with the first try of the match before Richard de Carpentier hit back immediately to give England a 7-5 lead.
Dan Norton added another to his weekend tally after an impressive pass from Dan Bibby to make the scores 12-5 at half-time, with South Africa losing Branco du Preez to injury.
Du Preez’s replacement, Rosko Specman, scored another wonder try early in second-half, chipping over the England defence and dotting down under the posts to draw the scores level. But, soon afterwards, HSBC player of the final Ruaridh McConochie stepped inside Philip Snyman to give England another lead.
Norton was then sent to the sin bin with less than a minute remaining for a nervy finish, allowing South Africa and Werner Kok to score in the corner but Geduld missed the conversion to give England the win.
England closed the gap on series leaders South Africa, finishing the first two rounds on 39, two behind South Africa but ahead of Fiji (32), Scotland and New Zeland (both 27).
Ruaridh McConnochie, HSBC player of the final said: “There was not a big difference, it was a two-point game. If the kick goes over it could be a different result, but the win helps massively. It shows the work we did off the pitch pays off and we are good enough to win a tournament.”