Rugby: Fiji win thrilling sevens final

New Zealand surrendered their perfect start to the International Rugby Board sevens season and watched Fiji close the gap considerably after a classic Pacific island final in Wellington tonight.

Fiji emerged deserved champions by beating Samoa 19-14 in a tense final, only securing victory with some desperate defence on the final hooter. It closed them to within four points of leaders New Zealand on the IRB standings after three legs of the eight-stop series.

There is no denying Fiji were the best team over the two days and deserved to win their third Wellington title. They were convincing 28-19 semifinal winners over England and avenged their 2007 final loss to Samoa.

It was also fitting their final score of the night went to winger Osea Kolinisau, a firm bet as player of the tournament, to follow tries either side of halftime to Jiuta Lutumailaga and captain Emosi Vucago.

However, it nearly went pear-shaped courtesy of Samoa's premium flyer, Mikaele Pesamino, who scorched over for a double to keep his country in the hunt.

The very best of Samoa was on display in their 24-14 semifinal dumping of New Zealand, the tournament hosts unable to continue on from their series-opening wins in Dubai and South Africa two months ago.

The semi was a triumph for Samoan sevens great Uale Mai, the captain crossing for three tries, including two in succession to seal proceedings in the second spell. The team's other playmaker, Lolo Lui, was cited for an incident in the semi and he was a crucial absentee in the final.

The New Zealand match was won up front by the Samoans, who were stronger at the tackle and the breakdown, allowing few opportunities for the likes of star New Zealand winger Sherwin Stowers.

In one of Stowers' few touches, he threw a gift intercept to opposite Pesamino 50m out. It turned around a 5-7 halftime deficit for Samoa, handing them a lead they weren't to relinquish.

Experienced New Zealand forwards such as captain DJ Forbes and Lote Raikabula were uncharacteristically poor on defence, something acknowledged by the skipper.

"There were too many crucial errors, two clear ones (missed tackles) by myself were very disappointing," Forbes told Sky Sport.

"Obviously the boys are shattered.

"Well done to the Samoans, they really stuck to their guns and punished us." New Zealand scored a try in each half. The first was an opportunistic 60m effort by Tim Mikkelson, who was a surprise starter ahead of veteran Zar Lawrence. The second was a last-minute consolation to Kurt Baker.

Forbes said there would be some soul-searching carried out before next weekend's tournament in Las Vegas.

"We'll just have to sit down and have a look at the video. We had a few personnel changes and maybe the boys weren't ready," Forbes said.

"There's no excuses, it's a heart-breaking feeling in front of our family and friends." Gaps had started to appear in New Zealand's game earlier today during their 24-12 quarterfinal defeat of Australia.

New Zealand relied on the scoring foundation set by Stowers, whose blistering speed set up the first try to Lawrence and created the second for himself inside four minutes.

The try of the match was scored on the stroke of halftime by Raikabula, off some coherent team interplay which was too often missing during a stuttering New Zealand effort.

Other quarterfinal results saw Samoa beat Kenya 14-12, England thump first-day surprise packets Canada 31-0 and Fiji overrun South Africa 21-5.

Later, Australia completed a surprisingly impressive tournament by beating South Africa 26-22 to win the Plate championship final. Wales won the Bowl final, 7-5 over France, while the United States claimed the Shield with a 17-14 defeat of Tonga.