South Africa’s men claimed their second title of this season’s SVNS series after a tense victory over arch-rivals Fiji in the Perth final. South Africa backed up their win in Cape Town in December with a 21-19 win over the islanders and the performance was especially satisfying after having lost 20-14 in the pool stage on Saturday.
The South Africans had reached the final after beating hosts Australia 28-12 in the semi-final. Philip Snyman’s men scored four tries to win 28-12 after leading 14-5 at half-time.
In the final, South Africa struck first after capitalising on an early Fijian error. Tristan Leyds pounced on a loose ball and surged down the left before feeding Ryan Oosthuizen, who finished off the move for a converted try and a 7-0 lead.
The men in green doubled their advantage moments later, through a converted Sebastiaan Jobb try. Fiji responded through Viwa Naduvalo, before Jeremaia Matana crossed after the half-time hooter for 14-12.
Oosthuizen then produced a moment of individual brilliance, beating four defenders to score and level matters at 19-19. Dewald Human kept his composure to slot a difficult conversion, handing South Africa a 21-19 lead with four minutes remaining. From there, South Africa’s defence stood firm. .
