Fijians put England 7s to the sword
December 10, 2005

England's Ben Gollings has become the top try scorer in IRB Sevens history, but he was unable to stop Fiji from making the final of the Emirates Airline George Sevens.

Waisale Serevi's side beat England 28-22 in the semi-final, gaining revenge for their defeat in Dubai in last weekend's final, to set up a showdown with Argentina.

The Pumas shocked South Africa 28-19 in the other semi-final.

But for England, it was a disappointing end to the tournament, with captain Simon Amor pushing his luck too far and being yellow carded for dissent late in the first half.

Gollings backed his pace and opened the scoring in the second minute, beating two defenders on the way to the line. The score took his all-time try-tally to 122, one more than Argentinian Santiago Gomez Cora, and made the world record his own.

England's lead was short-lived however, as the Fijians clicked into gear.

First, William Ryder danced his way through the defence before Jone Daunivucu finished off a move that split England's defence.

Mathew Tait scored probably the try of England's campaign as he turned on the pace and tiptoed down the touchline for an outstanding try.

Ryder goose-stepped Gollings, then shifted gear and left the England defence for dead to put Fiji 21-10 up.

England kept on fighting with Andrew Vilk mimicking Tait's heroics to keep them in contention.

But then Sireli Naqelevuki took a beautiful pass at speed from Daunivucu, and sped through the gap to score the match-winning try under the posts.

Luke Narraway scored a late consolation try for England, but it was not enough to stop the Fijians from going through.

Fiji emerged victorious in the final, defeating Argentina 21-19 to secure their first IRB Sevens Cup title for three years.

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