New Zealand and Australia will compete for the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games after beating England and South Africa in their respective semifinals.

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The final is a repeat of the 2006 medal semifinal, when New Zealand won 21-19, and although Michael O’Connor’s side are guaranteed to record their best ever finish since the sport made its inception in 1998, they will have to make history to win gold, becoming the first ever side to beat New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games.

Gold medal match:
New Zealand v Australia

Bronze medal match:
England v South Africa

Plate final:
Samoa v Scotland

Bowl final:
Canada v Papua New Guinea

Paul Treu’s South Africa will now face England for the bronze medal, looking to win their first medal since 2002.

Samoa and Scotland will compete in the Plate final at 15:50 which will follow Canada’s match with Papua New Guinea in the Bowl final at the Delhi University stadium.

Medal competition

New Zealand became the first side to reach the gold medal final, beating England 33-12 in a repeat of the 2006 gold medal match.

DJ Forbes (two) and Tomasi Cama got the defending gold medallists off to a flying start before Isoa Damudamu hit back for England. But Lote Raikabula and Cama cemented the victory for Gordon Tietjens’ men, who now face Australia in the final.

Dan Caprice added a further consolation try with the final play of the match, which will give Ben Ryan’s men some momentum heading into the bronze medal match against South Africa.

The second semifinal between Australia and South Africa was a closer affair and although Ryno Benjamin put Treu’s men on the front foot after two minutes, Wallaby Lachie Turner, Liam Gill and the influential James Stannard ensured O’Connor’s side were guaranteed their first medal since 1998.

New Zealand had earlier beaten Wales 33-10 in the quarter finals despite conceding the opening try to Ifan Evans, with Kurt Baker (two), Ben Smith, Hosea Gear and Toby Arnold securing victory for Gordon Tietjens’ side.

England set up a repeat of the 2006 final after a hard-fought victory over Samoa, a side they lost 15-12 to in one of the most dramatic matches of this year’s World Series in Edinburgh, edging a tough encounter 7-5.

Alatasi Tupou gave Stephen Betham’s men a 5-0 lead after a period of possession and territory on the England try line before Greg Barden drew the scores level and Ben Gollings added the conversion to give England a crucial two-point lead in a very tight affair. It is the second successive time England have beaten Samoa at this stage of the competition, having won 17-14 in Melbourne.

Kenya caused the biggest upset in the final pool match of the opening day, beating Samoa 12-10, but Australia proved a step to far in the quarterfinals, with the 2010 London Sevens champions reaching the semi finals with a 27-5 victory thanks to two tries from James Stannard.

South Africa and Scotland completed the quarter final line-up, and it was Paul Treu’s side who reached the semi finals with a 10-7 victory thanks to a decisive try from Ryno Benjamin. Scotland had scored one of the tries of the tournament through Mike Adamson with the last play of the opening half, but their hearts were broken early in the second.

Plate

Samoa and Scotland will compete for the Plate at the Commonwealth Games after beating Wales and Kenya 38-12 and 22-17 respectively. Scotland head coach Stephen Gemmell will be looking for one further victory in what is his final Sevens hurrah.

Kenya were unable build on their 100% record and dramatic victory over Samoa, losing both of their two matches on day two. A 27-5 loss to Australia saw them enter the Plate competition, where they fell to a dramatic sudden death extra time try from Scotland’s Lee Jones.

The losers of the four medal quarter finals moved into the semi finals of the Plate competition with Samoa’s victory avenging a 26-17 defeat to Wales in the 2006 Games Plate semifinal.

Stephen Betham’s men scored six tries as the reigning World Series champions proved too strong for the current RWC Sevens holders.

Bowl

Canada will face Papua New Guinea in the final after two thrilling semi finals in the Bowl competition. Geraint John’s side beat Uganda 22-17 despite trailing 12-5 at half time before PNG were too strong for Tonga, winning 24-5.

Henry Liliket gave a Sevens master class in the opening half, showing great strength and speed to score the first two tries before turning provider for PNG’s third through Shadrach Ghabiliha. John Cocker crossed for Tonga to give them a riposte, but 18-year-old Eugene Tokavai sealed the victory for PNG.

In the first semi final Uganda had opened up a 12-0 lead after Lawerence Wakabi, picking up where he left off earlier in the day, and Ambrose Kamanyire scored the opening two tries of the match.

Canada hit back with the next four tries, however, with Nathan Hirayama and Conor Trainor both scoring twice – the former taking his tournament tally to seven. At 22-12 Uganda kept fighting and Kamanyire scored his second of the match, although Canada held on to reach the Bowl final.

Canada had begun proceedings on day two against India and a hat-trick from Hirayama helped them through to the semi final. The home crowd were delighted, however, when Puneeth Krishnamurthy and Rohaan Sethna scored the host’s points, whilst Wakabi scored two tries for Uganda in their 26-14 victory over Malaysia.

PNG followed up a strong performance on day one, which saw them score three tries against Samoa and narrowly miss out on a huge upset with a 17-12 defeat to Pool C winners Kenya, by beating Sri Lanka 26-12. Albert Levi added to his tournament try-tally with two more against the Asian side before Tonga scored three times against Guyana to secure their position in the Bowl semi finals.

Results:
Medal semifinals:
New Zealand 33-12 England
Australia 17-7 South Africa

Plate semifinals:
Wales 12-38 Samoa
Kenya 17-22 Scotland

Bowl semifinals:
Canada 22-17 Uganda
Tonga 5-24 Papua New Guinea

Medal quarterfinals:
New Zealand 33-10 Wales
England 7-5 Samoa
Kenya 5-27 Australia
South Africa 10-7 Scotland

Bowl quarterfinals:
Canada 43-10 India
Uganda 26-14 Malaysia
Papua New Guinea 26-12 Sri Lanka
Tonga 21-14 Guyana