Samoa were crowned HSBC Cape Town Sevens champions on Sunday as they defeated New Zealand 12-7 in torrential rain and slippery underfoot conditions in the final.

Coach Brian Lima’s men completed the job at Cape Town Stadium having earlier stunned the host Blitzboks.

Samoa, who came into the Cape Town leg seeded eighth, made a mockery of their low ranking as they claimed the title in difficult playing conditions. After losing to the Blitzboks in the Dubai quarterfinals, the pacific islanders displayed an enviable resilient spirit to bounce back from earlier adversity and claim the silverware in the cup format.

Earlier in the evening, the Blitzboks brought the curtain down on their home campaign in disappointing fashion with a 14-22 loss to the USA, who claimed the bronze medal.

Blitzboks supporters, who came out hoping to witness the men in green and gold win their first home tournament since 2015, were left disappointed. It was not to be as the Blitzboks saved their worst performances for the final two matches of the tournament.

Deep inside the bowels of the impressive 2010 Fifa World Cup venue JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis cut disconsolate figures as it was the duo’s final Sevens tournament, with the former linking up with the Lions and the latter joining Neil Powell’s regime at the Sharks.

Mike Friday’s charges shut down the Blitzboks in every aspect of play and scored two well-worked first-half tries to South Africa’s solitary first half five-pointer. The Blitzboks scored after Shilton van Wyk grubbered through for captain Soviwe Soyizwapi, who timed his run to perfection and dotted down for the South Africa’ first try.

After taking a 15-7 lead into the break the Eagles extended their advantage in the second half courtesy of a try from Faitala Talapusi and claimed the win, which consigned the Blitzboks to fourth place.

Sandile Ngcobo’s Blitzboks are a young side yet to find consistency over six tournament matches and hard lessons were learnt in the home leg.

However, it was not all doom and gloom for South Africa. Dalvon Blood, who hails from Grabouw and scored against the USA, was one of the finds of the tournament along with Ricardo Duarttee, who was a constant threat with his belligerent approach informed by his Ultimate Fight Championship background.

Blood, too is a multi-skilled athlete, having excelled in athletics as a hurdler before choosing rugby as a full-time career. The 21-year-old, who is tipped for a bright future in the game, is set to grow in stature as the season unfolds.

The next leg of the HSBC Sevens, which takes place in 40 days’ time to accommodate the festive season break, will be played in Hamilton, New Zealand from January 21 to 22.