The Blizboks beat Scotland 15-5 in a tense final at the Stade Jean Bouin on Sunday evening, but had earlier wrapped up the series after England’s semi-final loss to Scotland meant that they could not overtake the South Africans on the series standings. Fiji, second in the standings before the tournament, exited at the quarter-final stage.
A remarkable season saw South Africa appear in eight of the nine finals to date, as they clinched the title for the first time since 2009.
Head coach Neil Powell was relieved to finally secure the series: “It’s been an incredible season so far. We wanted to finish strongly in this tournament and in London next week. This is for all the people in the system, not just the players but the management back at home as well, for really working hard to make it happen.
“Everytime we put our jerseys on our backs we play for South Africa, for our family and our people back home that support us. It’s special for us. We want to say thanks to them for supporting us all year.”
Elsewhere, New Zealand claimed bronze in Paris, beating England 12-5, while Argentina won the Challenge Trophy after they beat Australia, 33-12. With just one tournament left, Wales captain Sam Cross leads the DHL Impact Player tracker ahead of England’s Dan Norton and USA’s Perry Baker, who scored eight tries in Paris this weekend.
The action moves to London for the final round of this season’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Twickenham next weekend.