South Africa won the gold medal at this year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games courtesy of a 31-7 triumph against Fiji in the final at Coventry Stadium on Sunday evening.

It is the second time that the Blitzboks have won the competition after also being crowned champions at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Muller du Plessis leads the way

South Africa outscored Fiji five tries to one in the final with Muller du Plessis leading the way with a deserved brace. JC Pretorius, Shaun Williams and Mfundo Ndhlovu also crossed the whitewash while Williams slotted two conversions and Dewald Human also added a two-pointer.

Fiji battled to get their hands on the ball, especially during the opening half and were trailing 17-0 at half-time. For the Pacific Islanders their captain Waisea Nacuqu scored a consolation try in the second half.

The victory was extra special for the Blitzboks as they were without the services of their skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi and star playmaker Ronald Brown, who were both ruled out through injury.

Soyizwapi was sidelined on Saturday and Brown sustained his injury in South Africa’s semi-final triumph over Australia on Sunday afternoon.

The Blitzboks were trailing during the early stages of that encounter after Mark Nawaqanitawase crossed for an early try but Angelo Davids, who finished as the tournament’s top try-scorer with 10 tries, struck back when he crossed the whitewash.

The rest of the opening half was a tight affair as Matthew Gonzalez as Davids scored further tries which meant the sides were deadlocked at 12-12 at half-time.

It was all South Africa after the interval and they clinched their spot in the final after Selvyn Davids went over and his namesake, Angelo, sealed his hat-trick and his team’s victory in the game’s closing stages.

The other semi-final, was a tense affair which went into extra-time with a golden point try from Nacuqu helping Fiji to a 19-14 victory over New Zealand.

Australia take gold in Women’s final

In the Women’s final, a brace of tries from Faith Nathan helped Australia to a 22-12 triumph over Fiji.

The result was a significant one as it was the first time that Australia’s women won a Commonwealth Sevens gold medal after they had to settle for silver on home soil on the Gold Coast in 2018.

New Zealand won both Men’s and Women’s bronze medals, after beating Australia and Canada in their respective third/fourth play-off matches.