Five in a row for fantastic Fiji

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Fiji beat France 21-7 in the Hong Kong Sevens Cup final to win the title for a record fifth successive time. DYLAN JACK reports.

The win allows the Fijians to put a bit of pressure on World Rugby Sevens Series leaders the USA, who finished third at the tournament.

In an exhilarating match, Fiji were largely secondary in terms of both possession and territory but showed their championship quality by taking their opportunities when it mattered.

After piling on the pressure in the first half and looking the most likely to score, France were handed a hammer blow when Fiji countered and opened the scoring through Vilimoni Botitu after a breakout by Jerry Tuwai.

To make matters worse, France lost playmaker Stephen Parez to a concussion he suffered in the build-up to Fiji’s try.

After sustaining another France attack, Fiji won a penalty on the brink of half-time and decided to counter-attack again and doubled their lead when Aminiasi Tuimaba was on hand to score under the poles.

There was controversy at the start of the second half as referee James Doleman awarded France a penalty try and yellow-carded Josua Vakurunabili after a TMO review for a potential try by Marvin O’Connor. It was decided that O’Connor was high tackled in the process of going down to ground the ball.

However, the numbers were levelled when France’s Tavite Veredamu was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle. Fiji capitalised when Tuimaba stepped past his tackler and dotted down under the posts.

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Dylan Jack