Brink got South Africa to within three points when he converted his own try in the

Brink got South Africa to within three points when he converted his own try in the last minute but it was not enough to deny Fiji the title.Organisers of the event defended the its format, which has been branded "ridiculous" by the New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens. Several coaches were unhappy at the system used to decide the seeds, which resulted in seven of the opening day's 24 games being repeated on Saturday, including one whole group.Leo Williams, of Rugby World Cup, said the first-day seeding system was the best available, but admitted that the decision to hold the event over three days instead of two was also based on commercial grounds.Supporters of the system said that when England won the inaugural competition in 1993 they had to play 10 games, while this year's champions only had seven matches. Critics pointed out that England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all faced one same team on both days, while New Zealand were grouped with Tonga and Japan twice.. With a smile as broad as the oceans he has crossed, and to the cheers of more than 50,000 Frenchmen more than ready to make a British singlehanded sailor a heroic member of their hall of fame, Pete Goss yesterday became the first Englishman to complete the Vendee Globe singlehanded non-stop round the world race.

Waiting for the 35-year-old Cornishman on the dockside, as well as wife Tracey and his parents, was an invitation to receive from President Chirac membership of the exclusive Legion d'Honneur, about as rare as hen's teeth for Saxons. The former marine has already been given an award for outstanding seamanship by the Royal Ocean Racing Club after his rescue, deep in the hostile southern ocean from his sinking yacht, of one of those tens of thousands in the harbour of Les Sables d'Olonne, his fellow competitor and "kindred spirit" Raphael Dinelli.In typically laid-back fashion and after just one hour's sleep in the last 48, he said "Yeah, I've had a holiday. There was lots of mental anxiety but the result is from teamwork and I was just lucky enough to be the driver."Officially Goss has recorded a creditable fifth out of 15 starters in a British designed and built yacht, Aqua Quorum, the only 50-footer in a race for Open 60s. His time of 140 days is a British record, although there are quibbles about whether he was singlehanded, because he picked up an injured Dinelli, or whether it was non-stop, because he transferred him to another boat off Hobart, Tasmania.Goss also managed to perform surgery on himself, taking a scalpel to a ruptured elbow hernia using a faxed medical instructions, a head torch, and a mirror strapped to his knee.He returns to debts incurred in paying for "something I was meant to do", but will be given in Plymouth later this week a welcome fit for heroes. But he may do the Vendee again, this time in a 60-footer, though he said he will take three months to make any decisions about the future.Tom O'Connor's Pause to Remember, one of the 14 yachts in the BT Challenge on its fourth leg from Sydney to Cape Town, has broken its boom, one of the latest in a series of gear failures due to heavy conditions.Mike Golding's Group 4 still leads by 23 miles from Chris Tibbs, in Concert, and Andy Hindley, in Save the Children, as the halfway mark is passed with less than 3,000 miles to go.. A new name will have to be inscribed on the Tennents Scottish Cup after the holders Hawick surrendered tamely to a clinically efficient Boroughmuir side at Mansfield Park on Saturday.

Given first use of the wind, Boroughmuir scored 19 points with tries by the Scotland Under-21 winger Ally McLean (2) and second-row Darren Burns. Directing operations from stand-off, Dougie Wyllie, the 33-year-old former international, continually kept Hawick turning. Another veteran ex-international, Sean Lineen, put up the barriers in midfield forcing on Hawick an expansive approach always likely to founder in the gale.By the time Hawick roused themselves the damage had been done to a side whose spirit may well have been eroded by divisions which have opened up in the town since the trophy was brought back amid triumphant scenes last May. Many of the same townsfolk who formed the welcoming party are now at each others throats as a bitter feud over whether women should be allowed to take part in a centuries old festival shows no signs of abating.Hawick: Penalties Sharp 2. Boroughmuir: Tries McLean 2, Burns; Conversions Aitken 2.Hawick: G Sharp; W Coltman, A Stanger, C Murray, K Suddon; B Wear, K Read; B McDonnell, J Hay, M Landels, I Elliot, A Barnes, C Cottrill, J Parkes, B Cumming (M Johnston, 60).Boroughmuir: C Aitken; S Reed, D Laird, S Lineen, A McLean; D Wyllie, G Beveridge; S Paris, K Allan, S Penman, D Burns, P Jennings, A Cadzow, S Reid, R Kirkpatrick.Referee: I Ramage (Berwick).TENNENTS SCOTTISH CUP Fifth-round draw: Glasgow Southern v West of Scotland; Boroughmuir v Stirling County; Edinburgh University v Kirkcaldy; Heriot's FP v Berwick; Peebles v Kilmarnock; Dundee HSFP v Hawick Linden; Melrose v Kelso; Gala v Watsonians (Ties to be played Sunday 6 April).. Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent started their eighth season together with another win in the Tideway Head of the River Race for eights on Saturday.