Samoa power to USA Sevens title

Samoa produced a superb display to beat New Zealand 33-12 and win the first USA Sevens Cup title to be contested in Las Vegas.

The Cup victory was only their fourth in the 11-year history of the IRB Sevens World Series and moved them up to second behind New Zealand in the 2009/10 World Series standings, just ahead of Fiji in third.

Mikaele Pesamino was again at his try-poaching best, scoring two tries in the final to take his personal tally to 11 for the tournament, while outstanding forward Alafoti Fa'osiliva crossed seven times over the two days and was also named Player of the Tournament.

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Video: Samoa's crowning glory



Earlier, New Zealand beat Kenya 21-7 to reach their third Cup final of the season in Vegas and Samoa came from behind to beat inspired Australia 14-12 and book a place in their second consecutive Cup final.

Australia had produced the first upset of the day by beating Wellington champions Fiji to reach their first Cup semi final for two years. New Zealand won through to the Cup semis with a tight 12-5 victory against reigning World Series champions South Africa.

Kenya also did their 1,500 travelling fans proud by scoring first in sudden-death to beat England in the Cup quarters extra time to win through.

South Africa take Plate title

Reigning World Series champions South Africa enjoyed their best return from a tournament this season, beating Fiji 12-7 to take the Las Vegas Plate title.

Cecil Afrika and Frankie Horne both scored tries in the first half and, although the Fijians pulled one back, the Boks' new-found confidence told as they held on.

Earlier, South Africa were too strong for England, Kyle Brown and Steven Hunt scoring tries in their semi final win, and Fiji beat Wales.

USA win Bowl

The USA side delighted their home fans by winning the Bowl final against France. Matt Hawkins was again outstanding, scoring two more tries to add to his brace in the semi final.

Earlier, the Americans won a physical semi final against last year's USA Sevens Cup champions Argentina. France overwhelmed Chile in the other.

Scotland win Shield

Scotland finished a disappointing tournament on a high note, beating Japan to win the Shield trophy.

IRB Sevens World Series: How it works

So far this season New Zealand and Fiji have been the two teams to beat. The kiwis won the first two tournaments of the World Series in Dubai and George before Christmas to open up a lead and then in Wellington last weekend Fiji hit back to take their first title of the season and close the gap on the men in black at the top of the table.

There are eight tournaments in the IRB Sevens World Series. Three have been played in Dubai, South Africa and New Zealand and this is the fourth. After this the teams will go to Adelaide and Hong Kong in March and London and Edinburgh in May.

Depending on how well they do, teams take a certain number of World Series points from each event, and those points have been increased this season as follows: