7 Feb 2010

Fiji wins all-Pacific final at the rugby sevens

9:15 am on 7 February 2010

Fiji beat Samoa 19-14 on Saturday night to win the Wellington leg of the IRB rugby sevens series.

Samoa had eliminated the favourite, New Zealand, 24-14 in the semi-finals, with captain Uale Mai scoring three tries, while Fiji had beaten England 29-19 to get through.

New Zealand won the opening two legs of the sevens season, in Dubai and South Africa.

Coach Gordon Tietjens says the team was far too error-prone against a Samoan side, which made them pay for their mistakes.

Wellington police made 63 arrests in the central city on Saturday night following the end of the tournament. On Friday, officers made 28 arrests and ejected 82 people from the stadium.

Police say excessive alcohol led to the arrests, no serious incidents were reported and overall they were very pleased with the behaviour of the crowd at the tournament.

Intoxicated fans kept the 20 paramedics at the stadium busy, though a spokesperson for Wellington Free Ambulance said there had been no serious incidents.