'Faith key to win': Fijians end 22-title drought to take Dubai 7s

With the Dubai curse lifted following their victory over Spain in last weekend's final, the Fiji men's national sevens rugby team will head to Leg Two of the World Series in Cape Town, South Africa, as favourites.

The Fijians beat Spain 19-5 to clinch their first win and end their title drought after 22 tournaments.

Fiji and Australia win the men and women's titles at the Dubai 7s tournament.

Fiji earlier accounted for France, 19-17, and Argentina, 43-21, on their way to the final.

But the tournament's biggest surprise was undoubtedly Spain’s run to the men’s Cup Final.

The Spaniards beat the All Blacks Sevens twice in Dubai, charging towards their first decider in the series' history.

The Spanish players were in tears after their semi-final win over New Zealand, hoping to cap off their first Cup final with a win.

Spain take on New Zealand in Dubai. The Europe-based side beat the Kiwis twice in Dubai.

But the three-time Olympic champions Fiji ended Spain's fairytale run, with the Pacific islanders growing in confidence after their wins over the French in the quarterfinal and the Argentines in the semifinal.

Spanish captain Pol Pla opened the scoring in the final in the second minute, but Fiji regained possession to control the first half of the battle.

Filipe Sauturaga and Jeremaia Matana scored on either side of the half-time break to give the Fijians a 12-5 lead.

Viwa Naduvalo touched down for Fiji’s third try in the 11th minute, with Iowane Teba successful with the conversion to seal the victory.

Naduvalo copped a yellow card and was sent to the sin bin for two minutes.

However, his absence did not change the Fijians' course as they held on to clinch their first Cup final after 22 tournaments.

The Fiji team have been under intense scrutiny by their fans since their last win in Dubai in 2015.

But captain Vatemo Ravouvou says the players were told ahead of the final that they should not "underestimate" the Spaniards.

He says the team stayed faithful to the belief that anything is possible through God.

“Our faith was the key to the win," Ravouvou told a post-match conference.

The Dubai 7s has become a party-like event on the World Series.

"You know God can use something you least expected to remind you that God is at work, and we can be embarrassed by Spain if we take them lightly, so we had to work hard like any other game.”

Ravouvou praised coach Osea Kolinisau for trusting him to lead the team and achieve success in Dubai. Kolinisau was captain when Fiji last won in Dubai.

Kolinisau was delighted his side had broken their long run without a title.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “ I’m so happy for the boys. I’m so happy that we’ve got the monkey off our back now."

Sauturaga was named Player of the Final.

Australia won the women's final, defeating New Zealand 28-24, while France beat Great Britain 15-12 to win bronze.

The Fiji women's sevens side, Fijiana, finished 12th place in Dubai and is pooled again with Great Britain and the USA in the Cape Town 7s tournament.

Fiji is the only Pacific island nation competing in the World Sevens Series.

The series heads to South Africa next weekend. Fiji is the top seed in pool A, which includes Great Britain and Uruguay.

Spain heads pool B with Australia and Canada, while Argentina, South Africa, and Ireland comprise group C. New Zealand, France, and the USA are in pool D.