Related coverage
England scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to beat New Zealand 19-17 on Saturday and win the third leg of the International Rugby Board’s sevens series.
New Zealand took a 17-5 lead at halftime in the tournament final but England scored two second-half tries, converting the second in stoppage time, to win the New Zealand leg of the series for the first time in its 10-year history.
“What a fantastic game of football,” said captain Ollie Phillips, who was one of England’s three try scorers. “This is a massive, massive win for us and I’m sure the crowd enjoyed it.”
The crowd of 34,500 often reacted to the performance of Australian referee Andrew Lees, who seemed to ignore knock-ons and forward passes from both teams. During the second half, Lees simultaneously sin-binned a player from each side for no obvious reason.
New Zealand stumbled towards the final of their home tournament with wins in two of their three pool matches, losing to Wales, and with narrow wins in their quarter-final and semi-final matches on Saturday.
The Kiwis beat South Africa 7-0 in the quarters and Argentina 10-7 in the semis but seemed to have found form in the final as they raced to a 12-point halftime lead.
Paul Grant, Zar Lawrence and DJ Forbes scored first-half tries for New Zealand, which opened a 17-0 lead before Phillips’ try cut the margin to 17-5 at halftime.
England then closed the margin with an intercept try to Roger Vickerman and scored again close to fulltime, a converted try, which carried the side to a two-point victory as the final whistle sounded.
Australia went down in the semi-finals of the bowl, 28-10 to the Cook Islands, eventual winners of the final.
South Africa lead the overall standings with 48 points after three rounds of the seven-a-side series, ahead of New Zealand and England, both tied on 44. Fiji are next on 28 points after losing 31-10 to England in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
South Africa beat Wales to win the plate final and Scotland won the shield.
© AP 2012Recommend this story.
Jim Beam Devil's Cut
As bourbon ages, a portion of liquid is lost from the barrel due to evaporation. This is known as the Angel's Share. When the bourbon is taken from the barrel, a certain amount is left trapped within the wood. It's that extracted liquid, and the rich flavours from deep within the barrel that are in Jim Beam's Devil's Cut.
Click here to learn more about Jim Beam's wicked new bourbon.
February 8th 2009 @ 9:44am
Spiro said | February 8th 2009 @ 9:44am | Report comment
This was a terrific win for England which like South Africa and Nz has developed a Sevens squad of specialists. The standard of play was extremely high, more robust than expansive, with a lot of whistlle. But some of the play was exhilirating. The main issue is the continued failure of the Australian Sevens side, which is being coached and selected by Michael O’Connor. Losing the Bowl final to Kenya is a bit hard to take and a comment on the lack of young talent coming through the ranks.
February 8th 2009 @ 4:05pm
onside said | February 8th 2009 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
Perhaps Michael O’Connor should recruit some good 7′s DNA from Fiji.
If Australia took 7′s seriously, even to the point of respecting visiting nations
and supporters , the World Sevens tournament would never be held in Adelaide.
February 8th 2009 @ 5:03pm
Andrew Logan said | February 8th 2009 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
The Australian Sevens side continues to suffer from the same malaise that has dogged it for the last however many years and that is the lack of a professional program. Both Michael O’Connor and his immediate predecessor Bill Millard have been asked to compete against teams that are fully professional Sevens outfits, but they just don’t have the time with their players that they need to make an impact.
The huge misconception, among rugby adminsitrators and also among the rugby public, is that Sevens is pretty much a cut down version of 15′s and therefore you can cross from one to the other pretty easily. This is a fallacy.
Sevens is not even close to 15′s and in many cases a good 15′s player takes time to transition to Sevens. One of last years new players (a S14 Academy centre with a top line rep pedigree) joined the Sevens team last year as a raw, blockbusting centre who was a great prospect in the 15′s game with a strength-based, Mortlock-esque approach. When he began to play Sevens however, he was found out in his first few games by several players with excellent footwork and sound one on one tackling skills. As you’d expect from a quality player, he worked it out eventually and became a useful addition – but he is always going to be a better 15′s player than a 7′s exponent just because he spends 80% of his time in an elite 15′s environment.
Furthermore, and unfortunately for this player and other players like him – he played his first Sevens at IRB level and learned on the job. This is a little like a junior lawyer trying his first case in the Supreme Court, or a tennis player making his debut against the top seed on centre court at Wimbledon.
By contrast, New Zealand, South Africa and England have a hard core of players for whom Sevens is a career choice. Players like DJ Forbes, Ben Gollings, Fabian Juries and Zar Lawrence are all Sevens specialists who have been playing on the world circuit for years, and know how to play Sevens. Australia has only two players left from last years squad – Damon Murphy and Willie Bishop – but these two highly skilled players don’t yet have anywhere near the experience of a Forbes or a Gollings. 2008 was Bishop’s first year, and Murphy spent much of 2008 injured.
At the second tier, teams like Kenya and Portugal concentrate very hard on Sevens, putting equal or greater resources into Sevens than they do into 15′s. When Australia were beaten by Portugal in London last year, the scoffing from Australian fans could be heard all the way to Twickenham. Australia did not play well that day, but few spectators realised that almost all of the Portugal side played in the 2007 World Cup the year before, and had over 100 Tests between them. The Australian team had one Wallaby in Andrew Walker (who at that stage was not even starting for the Reds) and perhaps 3 players on the fringe of regular Super 14 selection. James O’Connor did not tour to the UK. Portugal were then, and are now, a quality side, as are Kenya.
Michael O’Connor has been brave in his selections this year, and why not? Until he has the luxury of a professional Sevens program filled with players who can make Sevens a career, Australia will often come a valiant second unless they can uncover some diamonds.
That doesn’t stop the fans from bagging the team when they lose, which is sad, since there are few forms of football where players come off the field as shattered as they do in Sevens. These kids give their all tournament after tournament against sides who have the luxury of months of specialist training and conditioning, and deserve more support then they get, both from fans and administrators.
As for Adelaide as a venue, the Sevens tournaments are like any other event, and they go to the city who is prepared to give the most financial support, which takes the pressure off the host union. Hence the Australian leg being held in Adelaide, and the South African leg being held in the less-than-salubrious town of George.
February 8th 2009 @ 9:10pm
sledgeandhammer said | February 8th 2009 @ 9:10pm | Report comment
Fantastic results for Kenya who also beat Tonga, Wales and South Africa. In fact there were a number of upsets, The USA beat Fiji and Niue beat Samoa. Great results and augur well for World Cup.
February 8th 2009 @ 9:12pm
onside said | February 8th 2009 @ 9:12pm | Report comment
Fair enough about Adelaide Andrew,but the likes of North Sydney oval or another boutique
Sydney ground would be better (Or say Ballymore).But Adelaide,thats the naughty corner.
Damming the game with faint praise.
February 9th 2009 @ 6:32am
Andrew Logan said | February 9th 2009 @ 6:32am | Report comment
Onside…….I couldn’t agree more. North Sydney Oval would be ideal for the Sevens and Sydney is without doubt the city of choice.
However, until either the ARU gets rich, or North Sydney Council/NSW Govt throws some cash at it – we’ll have to travel to SA….more’s the pity.
February 9th 2009 @ 7:56am
True Tah said | February 9th 2009 @ 7:56am | Report comment
Andrew
what is there that keeps the Sevens in Adelaide, which is pretty much a rugby backwater?
The SA Govt lost the F1 to Melbourne, are that they determined to keep the Sevens, when rugby means sweet FA to the vast majority of South Australians?