Boks and All Blacks heading for 7s showdown
November 18, 2001

South Africa and the All Blacks of New Zealand have set themselves up for a semi-final meeting on the final day of the Emirates IRB World Sevens Rugby Series at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Sunday.

Last week in Dubai they were the finalists where the All Blacks ran away from their opponents in a 45-7 triumph. So the uppermost thought on Springbok coach Chester Williams' mind is one of
revenge.

But it is going to be a tough task considering that so far in four matches the New Zealanders have yet to concede a point.

Their latest victims Sunday were France who were beaten by four tries to nil with Amasio Valance dotting down twice and Justin Wilson and Nick Collins getting the others as the scoreline mounted to one of 26-0.

The Springboks also produced the goods by beating Fiji 12-0 with a try on the hooter in each half.

In the opening few minutes it looked as though Fiji would outstrip the Boks as they found any number of gaps.

But resolute defending kept the Islanders at bay and then in a stunning move Egon Seconds (pictured) broke away down the right for the Boks and a one-handed flip pass had Fabian Juries take the ball at speed and score in the corner .

With time running out and the Fijians forced onto the backfoot skipper Paul Treu beat the final whistle to score South Africa's second try amidst great excitement with Brent Russell adding the
conversion points.

The Argentina-Samoa game was deadlocked at fulltime at 14-14 and went into extra time before Samoa got the deciding `golden try' to separate the sides at 19-14. They will meet England in the second semi-final.

England scored five tries to one to beat Australia in their quarter-final by a staggering 27-7 margin to complete an intriguing afternoon semi-final lineup.

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