South Africa beat New Zealand 17-12 in the final of the rugby sevens at Ibrox Stadium to end the All Blacks’ 30-match unbeaten run at the Commonwealth Games.New Zealand had won gold at all Games since the sport made its debut in 1998.

But the Springboks had too much pace and class for the defending champions, outscoring them by three tries to two.

Australia beat Samoa 24-0 to win the bronze medal, while Scotland, England and Wales all failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals.

With the sport making its Olympic debut in Rio in 2016, the tournament in Glasgow was always going to be about more than the action on the pitch.

And with International Olympic Committee bigwigs and Rio’s organising officials no doubt paying close attention, sevens did not disappoint, packing out a 50,000 capacity stadium on both days and providing a carnival atmosphere.

There were mass singalongs, there was “kiss-cam”, there was Gangnam Style dancing on an industrial scale.

There was even an on-pitch proposal, as well as some compelling stories provided by some of the less-established rugby nations.

The side which was expected to lift the trophy after the party had stopped were the All Blacks, winner of 12 IRB World Series titles and two World Cups.

However, a South Africa side full of searing pace and no little skill trumped them in the final, even managing to match the All Blacks physically.

Sherwin Stowers scored New Zealand’s first try after a cute pass from his captain DJ Forbes.

But the Springboks were giving as good as they got, especially after Bryce Heem was yellow-carded for kicking the ball away.

Seabelo Senatla went over for his 10th and 11th tries of the tournament on either side of half-time to give South Africa a 12-7 lead, before Cecil Afrika raced in from the halfway line to extend the Springboks’ lead to 10 points.

Joe Webber hit back with a close-range try after a screaming break by Declan O’Donnell but when Akira Ioane knocked the ball on with seconds remaining, the game was up for New Zealand. — BBC Sport

 

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