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A second half rally from SX10 saw them defeat the Ohio Aviators 21-14 in the Grand Final of the inaugural World Tens Series event in Bermuda on Saturday. The knock-out rounds brought the three-week tournament to an exciting conclusion in front of a limited but appreciative local crowd who were permitted to attend.
Ohio’s strength up front dominated the opening period with tries to Riekert Hattingh and Brad Tucker. At one point they opted for seven forwards to drive in a rolling maul. SX10 stuck to a more sevens-like style and it was Collins Injera who brought them back into the game just before halftime.
A second Injera try tied the game and then Craig Hunt broke through to score what would be the game winner. The Aviators had one last chance at the death but knocked on the in the tackle to bring on the final whistle from referee JP Doyle.
An enormous upset caused a stir in the play-off round. The heavily-favored Rhinos were knocked out by the Phoenix, a team who had won only a single game prior to the last day. Remarkably it was 49-year-old Braam van Straaten, the Phoenix coach and former Springbok flyhalf, who took to the field to land a critical conversion and then the game-winning penalty on full-time. It would be the only penalty goal kicked in the entire tournament.
In the Semi Finals the top seeded London Royals were beaten by the Aviators. Two tries from Kyle Baillie did the damage with the Royals falling short of the form that had pushed them to the top of the table. SX10, meanwhile, proved a class apart against both the Asia Pacific Dragons and Phoenix.
It’s not clear when the next event might be but the popularity of the tournament suggests an expansion of the format in 2021 is likely. In the short term it has provided meaningful competition in particular to off-season Major League Rugby and World Sevens Series players.
PLAY-OFFS
OHIO AVIATORS 26
Tries – D. Fawsitt, T. Blewett 2, P. O’Toole
Cons – B. Cima 3/4 (6)
MIAMI SUN 5
Tries – M. Satavu
Cons – J. Stokes 0/1
PHOENIX 9
Tries – D. Coulson
Cons – B. van Straaten 1/1 (2)
Pens – B. van Straaten 1/1
RHINOS 7
Tries – E. Naposki
Cons – C. Meyer 1/1 (2)
ASIA PACIFIC DRAGONS 0
SX10 19
Tries – C. Afrika 2, C. Injera
Cons – J. Jackson 2/3 (4)
SEMI FINALS
LONDON ROYALS 7
Tries – D. Norton
Cons – T. Emery 1/1 (2)
OHIO AVIATORS 12
Tries – K. Baillie 2
Cons – B. Cima 1/2 (2)
Red cards – T. Loots
PHOENIX 0
SX10 12
Tries – C. Hunt, O. Ouma
Cons – J. Jackson 1/2 (2)
GRAND FINAL
OHIO AVIATORS 14
Tries – R. Hattingh, B. Tucker
Cons – B. Cima 2/2 (4)
SX10 21
Tries – C. Injera 2, C. Hunt
Cons – J. Jackson 3/3 (6)
