By Clare Gabriel
BBC Sport in Dubai |
English disappointment was palpable after the euphoria of the 15's World Cup success, but despite a valiant effort they emerged as nearly men from a nail-biting contest.
In the second semi-final, the crowd saw a much more one-sided affair as holders New Zealand cruised home 33-0 against Samoa.
South Africa and New Zealand will meet in the final later on Friday.
South Africa opened their account against England in the first two minutes when Rose crossed in the left-hand corner.
England, seeded one for the sevens but without captian Simon Amor who fractured a rib in the 14-5 quarter-final win over Argentina, responded.
A break from forward Geoff Appleford gave them a scoring position and Saracens' Richard Haughton went over the line.
The tournament's joint top scorer Ben Gollings made good the conversion and England had a 7-5 half-time lead.
Solo effort
After the break South Africa responded through Fabien Juries, who conjured a score from virtually nothing and relied on his searing pace to take him home.
Ugo Monye replaced Appleford - who had an excellent tournament - in the final minutes in a bid to inject some pace out wide.
Rob Thirlby lifted English spirits with a brilliant solo effort from halfway and it looked as if they were home and dry.
But it was not to be.
After an England turnover under their own posts, South Africa elected to kick the penalty - much to the disappointment of the largely English crowd - and Rose made no mistake.
The second semi-final saw a dominant New Zealand, who had scraped past France with a sudden-death try in their quarter-final, crush a spirited Samoan side.
The Samoans scarcely left the shadow of their posts for most of the second half and had only a couple of probing runs by David Lemi.
New Zealand captain Karl Te Nana led by example, crossing for his 108th try in IRB sevens - a new record.
Other tries came from Craig De Goldi, two from Brad Fleming and one from Tafai Iosa as New Zealand roamed with freedom in opposition territory.
Friday's results:
Semi-finals
England 12 - 13 South Africa
Samoa 0 - 33 New Zealand
Quarter-finals
England 14 - 5 Argentina
South Africa 19 - 17 Fiji
Samoa 14 - 10 Australia
New Zealand 15 - 10 France
Plate semi-finals
Fiji 10 - 21 Argentina
Australia 19-7 France
Bowl semi-finals
Morocco 17 - 19 Kenya
Canada 36 - 5 Uganada
Bowl quarter-finals
Morocco 43 - 12 Arabian Gulf
Kenya 36 - 14 Zimbabwe
Canada 27 - 12 Zambia
Uganda 38 - 14 Sri Lanka
Shield semi-finals
Zimbabwe 12 - 17 Arabian Gulf
Zambia 17 - 12 Sri Lanka
MMIX
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