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Green and Gold Rugby brings you live updates from day 2 of the 2012 Oceania Sevens Championships at North Sydney Oval.
Final
Australia have defeated Samoa 12-7 in a tough encounter to run out winners of the 2012 Oceania Sevens Championship.
Samoa got off to a great start and opened the scoring with a converted try but the Aussies responded shortly after through Pama Fou, who was having a great day out.
Samoa looked likely to score but Luke Morahan made a try-saving tackle in the corner to keep the score at 7-5 to Samoa. A series of penalties then allowed Australia to get great field position but ruined the chance with a lineout that wasn’t straight.
Both sides started to lose focus on the game and got involved in some rubbish that needed the referee to calm down and at half-time the score remained 7-5 to Samoa.
The second half started with both sides still fired up and Samoa were down to six men for two minutes with a yellow card given for a high shot that both teams needed to discuss again.
Australia weren’t able to make the advantage count but they soon got back in front with a brilliant individual runaway try to Allan Faalavavau. Matt Lucas converted to make the score 12-7.
Samoa had another great chance to score but great defence by Australia held them out only five metres short as players were starting to feel the effects of the bruising encounter.
With the crowd on the edge of their seats in the dying moments, Australia were able to gain a turnover and held onto the ball and kick it into touch and secure the win.
The result also means that Australia have qualified for the 2013 Sevens World Cup to be held in Moscow next year.
Australia 12 – Pama Fou, Allan Faalavavau tries; Matt Lucas con def Samoa 7 – Robert Lilomaiava try; Tulolo Tulolo con.
Semi-Final 2
Australia came up against Tonga in the second of the semi-finals for a chance to play defending champions Samoa in the final.
The Aussies didn’t have it all their way against Tonga and found themselves trailing 7-5 early on. They regained their composure and started to play some good rugby and Pama Fou was again one of the Aussies’ best.
A try to Thunderbolts captain Ed Jenkins right on half-time got the Aussies back in front and they didn’t look back from there.
Reds fullback Luke Morahan was in everything. He helped score one try and even scored one himself as the Aussies ran away with the match towards the end to finish 24-7 winners and progress to the final.
Australia 24 – Pama Fou 2, Ed Jenkins, Luke Morahan tries; Matt Lucas 2 cons def Tonga 7 – Kilioni try; Halaifonua con.
Pama Fou tearing up the defence
The Australian Thunderbolts got their second day of the Oceania Sevens championships off to a great start with a 55-0 win over Tahiti in the quarter-finals.
Pama Fou, who was returning from a long layoff with injury, crossed the try-line four times as the home side ran riot over the hapless Tahitians who have failed to score a point throughout the whole tournament.
Jacob Taylor also showed some great skills with two tries of his own to go with five conversions for a haul of 20 points.
The Thunderbolts barely got out of second gear as they warmed up for the semi-finals and a chance at securing their ticket to the 2013 Sevens World Cup to be held in Moscow.
Australia 55 – Pama Fou 4, Dan Yakopo, Con Foley, Matt Blain, Jacob Taylor tries; Jacob Taylor 5 cons def Tahiti 0.
Other results from day 2
Quarter-Finals:
Samoa 62 Def Solomon Islands 0
Tonga 17 def Papua New Guinea 15
Cook Islands 19 def American Samoa 0
American Samoa 24 def Solomon Islands 7
Papua New Guinea 47 def Tahiti 0
SF1 Samoa 52 def Cook Islands 5
7 v 8 playoff – Solomon Islands 52 def Tahiti 0
5 v 6 playoff – Papua New Guinea 24 def American Samoa 21
3 v 4 playoff – Tonga 19 def Cook Islands 17
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