New Zealand take Wellington Crown

The Americas came away empty handed in Wellington, with all three sides failing to capture silverware in a weekend of mixed fortunes. Tournament hosts New Zealand were unstoppable as they blasted their way to a trio of victories on day two, including a classic Cup final against South Africa that went right down to the wire.

Kenya were obliterated in the quarter final, and even England proved a minor obstacle as the men in black outscored the two sides by a combined 11 tries to one. The strategy of playing giant strike runners Akira Ioane and Ben Lam in the wide out channels worked like a charm, with their power and pace proving too much to contain for nearly everyone.

The Blitzbokke had different ideas in the final, throwing everything at New Zealand in defense and flooding the breakdown. Rosko Specman lit up the field with his footwork, while Kwagga Smith’s relentless pressure and the blazing speed of Seabelo Senatla had the home team under the pump early and down by a score of 21-7 just after the break.

Specman’s yellow card for a professional foul cost his side 12 points courtesy of two Rieko Ioane tries, and the killer blow came on full time. A thumping tackle from replacement Regan Ware on Senatla caused a knock-on, and from the ensuing scrum it was Ware again with the line break, and soon after a try for Joe Webber at the other end of the pitch.

Argentina fared the best of the Americas teams, though they will be dissatisfied with their tournament overall. They were routed in the Cup quarter final by England, and after redeeming themselves with a comprehensive victory over Kenya in the semi, they dropped the Plate final to an energetic Australian side, losing three tries to one.

The Eagles were competitive but ultimately outclassed by Fiji in their Cup quarter-final, and then themselves fell to Australia in a lackluster performance that also saw them concede three tries while scoring only one. Meanwhile Canada took out some frustrations against Russia in the Bowl quarter final, but had little to show against Samoa, whose four tries in the semi-final were more than enough to get the job done before taking home the Bowl title.

With the win, New Zealand leap-frog England, Argentina, and the USA to take 3rd spot on the log, and South Africa edge ahead of Fiji by two points despite the final letdown. Argentina now site in 5th, with the USA just behind in 6th. A dismal tournament from Wales sees them concede one spot with Canada now in 12th. The HSBC World Sevens Series continues in Sydney next weekend.

DAY 2 RESULTS

BOWL QUARTER FINALS
Scotland 29 – 12 Portugal
France 14 – 19 Japan
Canada 35 – 12 Russia
Wales 24 – 29 Samoa

CUP QUARTER FINALS
New Zealand 36 – 0 Kenya
England 33 – 7 Argentina
Australia 14 – 26 South Africa
Fiji 21 – 12 USA

SHIELD SEMI FINALS
Portugal 17 – 22 France
Russia 17 – 0 Wales

BOWL SEMI FINALS
Scotland 31 – 26 Japan
Canada 7 – 26 Samoa

PLATE SEMI FINALS
Kenya 14 – 35 Argentina
Australia 17 – 5 USA

CUP SEMI FINALS
New Zealand 25 – 5 England
South Africa 31 – 0 Fiji

SHIELD FINAL
France 14 – 7 Russia

BOWL FINAL
Scotland 7 – 19 Samoa

PLATE FINAL
Argentina 5 – 21 Australia

BRONZE FINAL
England 12 – 24 Fiji

CUP FINAL
New Zealand 24 – 21 South Africa