New Zealand were defeated 26-17 in the Cup final against South Africa yesterday but progressively got better during the third leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series until they struck their recent nemesis, the Blitzbokke, who played strongly before their home crowd at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
New Zealand opened the scoring through Sherwin Stowers and Joe Webber grabbed a double, the first capitalising on South African player Cecil Afrika's stint in the bin, the second to pull the margin back to 19-17.
New Zealand defended stoutly during the tournament, allowing just two tries before the final, with the likes of Scott Curry and Sam Dickson industrious in the middle of the ruck.
However, it was the bruising South African defence and effective work in contact that was the difference, not to mention the searing pace of Seabelo Senatla, who scored the third, decisive, try.
Webber was New Zealand's spark, his pace and footwork producing seven tries over the two days, while Tim Mikkelson extended his world series tryscoring record to 155. Gillies Kaka and Stowers also had their moments.
On day one, New Zealand topped Pool D with victories over Samoa, Japan and England before accounting for USA (28-7) and Argentina (29-0) in the Cup quarters and semis respectively.
It was a terrible tournament for Samoa, winless on day one, who lost the Shield final to Portugal.
Tietjens' team are now third on the table, with 47 points, 12 points behind leaders South Africa and one ahead of the big improvers Australia. Fiji are second on 51 points, who could have lowered the hosts in the Cup semifinal. New Zealand's effort keeps them in the top four, all of whom qualify for the Rio Olympics at the end of this series.
- Campbell Burnes of the New Zealand Herald
