The Fiji men's team continues to lead the world sevens competition points table, despite their 21-19 loss to South Africa in the Perth Sevens final on Sunday night.

Osea Kolinisau's players were chasing back-to-back titles, following their title win in Singapore the previous weekend.

That did not eventuate, as South Africa scored two early tries, with Ryan Oosthuizen and Sebastiaan Jobb getting across the line early.

But the difference in the final clash was a single conversion, with South Africa claiming three converted tries in the game, while Fiji managed two converted tries and one try that was unconverted.

Oosthuizen claimed a second try in the second spell, with Ricardo Duarttee converting the team's three tries.

However, the Fijians continue to enjoy a lead on the overall points table with 70 points, and South Africa, who have now won two tournament titles so far in the 2025/2026 series, are on 66 points, four more than New Zealand in third place.

The Fijians scored through Viwa Naduvalo, Jeremaia Matana and Terio Veilawa, with Velawa and Iowane Teba converting two tries.

Fiji had thrashed New Zealand 35-0 in the semifinals, with South Africa beating Australia 28-12.

South Africa's win was also sweet revenge for the side, after they lost to Fiji 20-14 in their last pool clash on Saturday night.

In the women's competition, New Zealand continued their dominance, beating Australia 29-7 in the final.

It was the third consecutive final win for the Kiwis, who also defeated Australia in the finals in Cape Town and Singapore.

Sunday night's win in Perth gave them 78 points on the table, four more than Australia.

The Fijiana managed to get a win over Great Britain in the seventh place play-off, claiming their only win in the tournament.

They recorded a big 41-5 win over the British side.

They had lost 26-19 to Canada in the fifth place playoff.

The series has two more tournaments to go, with teams heading to Vancouver on 7-8 March and New York on 14-15 March, before the three-round world championships.

Meanwhile, the second-tier competition, SVNS 2, will be held in the coming weekend in Nairobi, Kenya.

That will be followed by tournaments in Montevido on 21-22 March and Sao Paulo on 28-29 March.

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