Blitzboks claim gold medal in Commonwealth games, Australia take honours in women's game

South Africa went on to clinch the gold medal as they defeated Fiji 31-7 in the final at the Commonwealth games in Coventry.

Fiji also missed another chance of a gold medal as Australia went on to edge them out with a 22-12 victory in the final of the women's game.

South Africa were without playmaker Ronald Brown and regular skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi due to injuries sustained on Saturday but they still made a bright start to the game with three first half tries.

Muller du Plessis started the proceedings with an early try and JC Pretorius dived in the corner to make it 12-0. Just before the break Shaun Williams sped past the Fiji defence for their third try as the Blitzboks scored 17 unanswered points in the opening half.

An excellent pass from Selvyn Davids allowed South Africa to get off the block early in the second half with Du Plessis completing his second before the first response from Fiji came through Nacuqu as the scoreline became 24-7.

With seconds left in the game, Mfundo Ndhlovu scored the final as South Africa went on to secure a gold medal with a 31-7 victory.

Meanwhile, New Zealand went on to win the Bronze medal after beating Australia 26-12 while Samoa finished fifth after edging out Scotland 24-19.

For Australia Women, Faith Nathan scored two tries while Madison Ashby and Maddison Levi touched down apiece as they completed a 22-12 win to win the gold medal against their Fiji counterparts.