KEY POINTS:
Eight years and 62 tournaments of sevens heartache ended for Samoa when they toppled Fiji to clutch their first world series tournament title.
Perennial quarter and semifinalists in the International Rugby Board series which began in 1999, Samoa at last had a moment to savour when they upset their near neighbours 17-14 in an intense final at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.
The result was a huge surprise, given that everything pointed towards a win to Fiji.
Legendary coach Waisale Serevi said in the leadup that victory was his team's only target in Wellington to bring smiles to the people of his coup-stricken country.
They sought vengeance on New Zealand for two semifinal losses in the opening IRB tournaments in December and duly delivered with an astonishing 31-0 trouncing of the hosts.
Yet they didn't count on a Samoan team who had their own longstanding reason to win, as beaming coach Titimaea Tafua explained.
"It's very important for Samoan rugby and I'm very proud. It's important that we've done it for the first time and with our home-based players," Tafua said.
"We also won without our captain Uale Mai, a very important player who was injured."
For the first time in the tournament Fiji were shocked and shaken by their opponents' approach on defence, with those in white jerseys routinely knocked to the ground, even if they weren't holding the ball.
A raft of mistakes ensued, most notably from the previously-untouchable playmaker William Ryder, and the Samoans pounced, setting up their greatest day in sevens since they won the 1993 Hong Kong final, also pipping Fiji.
Samoa had reached five finals in the previous 62 IRB tournaments, losing them all.
But Serevi had noticed the Samoan stocks improving so wasn't surprised by their breakthrough win.
"I'm disappointed at the result but when you lose a lot of ball that's what you have to expect," he said.
The New Zealand side and their coach, Gordon Tietjens, were left to reflect on their semifinal whitewash.
"That's the nature of sevens rugby really. They played with a lot of hunger and passion out there, it was an error-free game just about," said Tietjens, eyeing redemption in a week's time at the IRB tournament in San Diego.
"We've been in situations before where we've been hammered by Fiji and bounced back the following week to beat them."
Loosening the eligibility rules to allow selected Super 14 players to compete was not the answer, Tietjens said.
"To be good at sevens you've got to be playing it all the time."
- NZPA
