The Blitzboks were without the dynamic playmaker Ronald Brown, who was injured in the semi-final win over Australia earlier in the day, in the final, while regular skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi was also out injured and didn’t play at all on Sunday.
The South Africans made a great start and scored three well-worked tries in the opening half while keeping the dangerous Fijian runners in check with excellent tackling and great counter-attacking play.
They deservingly led 17-0 at the break in the Coventry Stadium, while in the second half they combined their heroic defensive effort with equally great finishing performances. Muller du Plessis opened the scoring from a pinpoint Selvyn Davids cross-kick, an early sign of things to come.
JC Pretorius scored the second in the same corner after a sustained passage of attacking play, with South Africa looking well after the ball in contact. That put them 12-0 ahead.
Shaun Williams scored the third try as the menacing Pretorius stole another crucial turnover to put the little speedster away, the try handing South Africa a 17-0 half-time advantage.
After the break, Du Plessis then ran in for his second off an excellent cut-out pass from Selvyn Davids. Williams nailed the angled conversion to stretch the lead to 24-0 and left Fiji with a mountain to climb.
Fiji eventually got on the scoreboard when Nacuqu went over for converted try to reduce the deficit to 27-7.
But the Blitzboks were not to be denied. Mfundo Ndhlovu scored the final try with seconds remaining to seal a brilliant gold medal performance, denying Fiji the remaining major title that have escaped them at previous Commonwealth Games.
South Africa also won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games staged in Glasgow.
Scorers:
South Africa 31 (17) – Tries: Muller du Plessis (2), JC Pretorius, Shaun Williams, Mfundo Ndhlovu. Conversions: Shaun Williams (2), Dewald Human.
Fiji 7 (0) – Try: Waisea Nacuqu. Conversion: Nacuqu.
A complete list of detailed results can be seen here.
