HONG KONG: The small South Pacific nation Samoa re-established itself as a rugby sevens power by stunning reigning World Cup champion Fiji 27-22 to win the prestigious Hong Kong sevens tournament.

Samoa hasn't won a sevens title since 1993, and hasn't made a mark on the International Rugby Board sevens circuit that debuted in 1999 until this year.

The Samoans won their first-ever IRB title in Wellington in February, and they cemented their stature by defeating Fiji late yesterday, led by sevens legend Waisale Serevi.

Mikaele Pesamino's hat trick of tries propelled Samoa to a seemingly unassailable 27-0 lead at half time. Uale Mai and Jerry Meafou also crossed.

But Fiji, the most successful team in Hong Kong history with 11 titles, rallied in the second half with tries by William Ryder, Setefano Cakau, Emosi Vucago and Simione Saravanua to score 22 unanswered points.

But Samoa held off repeated attacks in the closing seconds of the game to secure the win.

"We made a lot of mistakes. We didn't take our chances in the first half. We lost a lot of balls," Fiji's Serevi said.

Fiji was also hurt by Ryder's three missed conversion kicks in the second half.

After the win, Samoan coach Dicky Tafua was still sweating over the near-comeback by the Fijians.