Fiji win island night 7s

BY DUNCAN JOHNSTONE

Resurgent Fiji have claimed the Wellington international sevens title after a pulsating final against Samoa on Saturday night.

Fiji struck early in both halves and held off a determined Samoan side to win 19-14 and claim their third Wellington title.

A try to Osea Kolinisau, arguably the player of the tournament, two minutes from the end gave Fiji the buffer for victory as Samoa fought to the final whistle.

Waitangi Day quickly turned into island night in the capital as some heavyweight were tossed out.

That included New Zealand losing a one-sided semifinal to Samoa 12-24 and defending champions England being bundled out of the other semi by the rampant Fijians 28-19.

The results have tightened the world title race which New Zealand had led after winning the opening two tournaments of the circuit.

Now they must regroup for this busy period of four events with the circus moving on to Las Vegas next weekend.

Fiji looked like they meant business from the outset of this tournament and simply had too much firepower for Samoa.

The Samoans were stung by a two-match ban to their playmaker Lolo Lui for a dangerous tackle in the semifinal that ruled him out of the cup final.

So New Zealand's history of struggling at home continues despite their dominance of the abbreviated game over the past decade. But Gordon Tietjens' insistence that the field is getting increasingly even must surely be noted after another wonderful carnival in Wellington.

While frivolity ruled in the packed stands it is clear that there is a deadly seriousness about this sport as it heads towards its Olympic return.

Samoa, the 2007 Wellington champions and a side that New Zealand beat in the final of the season-opener in Dubai continue to punch above their weight. They certainly delivered a knockout to the Kiwis.

The Samoans were very aggressive with their rush defence, forcing New Zealand to play off the back foot for long periods.

And they took their chances with clinical finishing producing four tries with captain Uale Mai was ever-present for his hat-trick as Samoa ran rampant in the second half.

New Zealand failed to impose themselves at all and were behind from the opening minutes.

"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."

He suggested some personnel changes for the semifinal had backfired on the team.

Mai shrugged off a high tackle from Forbes to score an early try and signal the islanders' intent.

Tim Mikkelson, a starter at the expense of veteran Zar Lawrence, then dashed 60m down the right touchline with a stunning reply as New Zealand held on to lead 7-5 at halftime.

Disaster struck for New Zealand quickly in the second half when Mikaele Pesamino intercepted an overlap pass and dashed away to score between the posts.

The Samoans continued to hustle and forced errors out of the men in black.

From a quick tap penalty close to the line Mai crashed through for a 17-7 lead with four minutes left.

He scored from long range soon after that and all New Zealand could muster was a consolation try to Kurt Baker on the final whistle.

Earlier New Zealand had comfortably beaten Australia 24-12 in the quarter-finals with Sherwin Stowers heavily involved as four tries were scored.

NZI SEVENS RESULTS

CUP

Quarter-finals: New Zealand 24 Australia 12, Samoa 14 Kenya 12, England 31 Canada 0, Fiji 21 South Africa 5.

Semifinals: Samoa 24 New Zealand 12, Fijia 28 England 19

Final: Fiji 19 Samoa 14

PLATE

Semifinals: South Africa 29 Canada 5, Australia 26 Kenya 17

Final: Australia 26 South Africa 22

Bowl competition:

Quarter-finals: Niue 17 Scotland 12, France 21 US 10, Argentina 17 Tonga 7, Wales 31 Papua New Guinea 12.

Semifinals: Wales 17 Argentina 12, France 28 Niue 12

Final: Wales 7 France 5

SHIELD

Semifinals: US 19 Scotland 12, Tonga 26 PNG 10

Final: US 17 Tonga 14

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News