With this win the South Africans also took the lead in the World Rugby Sevens Series and will be firm favourites to bag the next tournament, to be played in Edmonton next weekend.

The final proved to be a thrilling affair, with Kenya keen on running the ball at the South Africans, only to be knocked back in the tackle time and time again. That defensive pressure soon resulted in a try for Angelo Davids, and he added another after intercepting a Kenyan pass. That pushed his try tally to 10 for the tournament – a new record in Vancouver.

The lead was soon extended when Sako Makata rounded off a lovely move before Christie Grobbelaar raced away for his first try in a final. The half-time lead of 24-0 was good value for the Blitzboks’ dominance.

The second half brought no drop in standards from the SA side, as they kept up the pressure on Kenya. Ronald Brown, who was named Player of the Final, scored a delightful try after a delayed pass from Dewald Human, who was soon after sin-binned. Kenya did manage to get one try back via Daniel Taabu, but a late Darren Adonis try – also a first for the centre – sealed the dominant win by the Blitzboks.

Coach Neil Powell said: “It was amazing just to be out there playing again especially in front of a great crowd. It was great to have two African teams in the final and it’s always a fierce encounter with Kenya. I’m really proud of the boys, there’s a lot of youngsters who are the next generation of Springbok Sevens and they’ve done really well.”

South Africa scored 19 unanswered points against Great Britain in the second half of their semi-final match to record a 26-12 win and secure their place in the final.

“The GB team used their experience well when presented with the opportunity of a numerical advantage,” assistant coach Renfred Dazel said afterwards.

“It just shows what an impact a yellow card has in the game. They scored two well-worked tries with Dewald off the field, but we could pull it back in the second half. This squad of ours are a determined bunch and the new guys are proving their worth. It also shows the value of having good depth coming off the bench. The guys had to work hard when Dewald was in the sin bin, and we could bring on fresh legs in the second half with obvious results.”

Scoring summary:

South Africa 38 (24), Kenya 5 (0)

South Africa – Tries: Angelo Davids (2), Sakoyisa Makata, Christie Grobbelaar, Ronald Brown, Darren Adonis. Conversions: Dewald Human (2), Brown, Adonis.

Kenya – Try: Daniel Taabu

South Africa 26 (7), Great Britain 12 (12)

South Africa – Tries: Angelo Davids, Christie Grobbelaar, Zain Davids (2). Conversions: Dewald Human (2), Ronald Brown.

Great Britain – Tries: Alex Davis, Jamie Farndale. Conversion: Tom Emery.

Photo: Getty Images