Philip Burger's try helped beat England in the semi-final
New Zealand beat hosts South Africa 24-19 in a pulsating final to win the George Sevens on Saturday.
England could not give coach Mike Friday a winning send-off as they were edged out 10-7 by South Africa in a bad-tempered semi-final.

Meanwhile, Wales beat Tunisia 26-5 in the plate final after a 29-24 win over France in the last four.

And Scotland's miserable tournament ended in another defeat to Zimbabwe, this time by 26-19.

New Zealand's win leaves them tied with South Africa on 36 points at the top of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Shalk van der Merwe put the home side ahead but Alfred Pelenise and then Nigel Hunt hit back for the Kiwis.

Zar Lawrence crossed for another New Zealand try before Pelenise's second made the game safe.

Brave effort

England coach Friday has left his post to take up a job in the city, but his final match in charge ended in defeat despite a brave effort from his players.

Buoyed by the strong support of the home crowd, South Africa took the lead when Kabamba Floors escaped down the flank to outpace the England cover.

Michael Hills' try levelled the scores, and Ben Gollings' skilful conversion edged England ahead

Burger crossed to put South Africa ahead after the break, but a brawl erupted after a late tackle from Dusty Noble sent England's Charles Amesbury crashing into the advertising hoardings.

Noble was yellow-carded, but England - who were incensed by the incident - could not find a way through.

In the other semi-final, New Zealand prevailed 29-12 over Fiji.

England reached the last four courtesy of a 24-0 win over Samoa in the quarter-finals, while Wales lost 33-7 to Fiji at the same stage.

Scotland, who lost all three pool games on Friday, continued to struggle - losing 15-10 to Kenya and then to Zimbabwe.

This article was posted on 9-Dec-2006, 23:44 by Hugh Barrow.