New Zealand have once again broken the hearts of Australian rugby fans and maintained a stranglehold over their trans-Tasman rivals by denying a cherished home triumph at the Sydney Sevens.
A gutsy Australia looked set to win their first world series tournament in four years when they led 24-17 with two minutes left at Allianz Stadium.
But the upset was snuffed out by Rieko Ioane who crossed for two tries in the dying moments for a 27-24 escape act in front of a sell-out crowd.
Ioane finished with a hat-trick in a superb man-of-the-match performance, but the Aussies were kicking themselves after some late errors.
The most telling was when Henry Speight was caught high in contact when Australia had the ball, and a two-point lead, with five seconds left.
The ensuing scrum from the maul gave NZ the chance to steal the match.
Australia started brightly with 18-year-old speedster Henry Hutchison opening the scoring after a Cameron Clark bust.
But the All Black Sevens showed their power with a 90m counter-attacking try where Akira Ioane gave Hutchison a vicious fend before handing off to brother Rieko.
Sonny Bill Williams started the final but did his side no favours with a high tackle which he was yellow-carded for, allowing the Thunderbolts to strike with a second to Hutchison just before the break.
New Zealand still managed to tie the scores at halftime thanks to a sideline burst by Kurt Baker from the kickoff.
Australia’s painful defeat still didn’t detract from the overall success of the inaugural Sydney tournament which reaped a total attendance of 73,313 over the weekend.
Australia, showing themselves to be genuine medal contenders at this year’s Rio Olympics, progressed to the decider thanks to two gutsy wins over top-four rivals England and South Africa.
Young gun Hutchison was the hero in the most gripping of quarter-finals when he sped over late to force the game into extra-time before again breaking English hearts with his second in the corner.
Australia then outsmarted the Blitzboks in the semi-final when they held on 12-7 against the world series leaders.
Fiji beat South Africa 26-12 in the third-place play-off while Argentina finished fifth overall after beating Kenya 24-0 in the Plate final.
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CUW
Guest
LOL Read and Kaino (when fit!) are among the first names on the team sheet .... DUH And Sam Whitelock will skipper the mib before Retallick. And Savea jr. will most likely be the Matt Todd of his generation (unless Cane is not fit). Untill 2017 there will be minimal changes to the team. Once Hansen goes who knows....
Not Bothered
Guest
I am not sure he will ever be an All Black in 15s. He could but Id like to see him play well at Super Rugby level first. Akira yes and possibly this year on the eoyt. Im not sure if he can but I cant see why not. He could play 6 whilst Read plays 8. If there are better options at 6 & 8 Read will need to rely on his captaincy to remain in the 15. I hope that doesnt happen and I can only see Cruden as the other strong captaincy candidate, perhaps Rettalick. I imagine A.Savea will challenge Cane for the 7 jumper as soon as 2017 and Sapoaga, Barrett and D.McKenzie will be putting pressure on Crudens position before long, if not already. The ABs are not going to skip a beat imo and will dominate rugby for the next 4 years. We could do with a bit more propping talent but in most other positions its a case of not knowing who will get the spot because there is too much talent.
CUW
Guest
so is sonny bill :D
Die hard
Roar Rookie
It might be a few years till we see him at that level and really the team doesn't need him. It usually the aussies that ruin a player by blooding them too early. I am concerned for Read after last year.
ebop
Guest
Nup, no free to air coverage in NZ. It's on SkyTV. Worse still, it's on the Rugby Channel that's an extra $10 a month to subscribe to so most people in NZ wouldn't have even watched it. SkyTV are crooks.
PeterK
Roar Guru
I thought their tactics against a lot quicker but smaller boks team was right. No way could they score length of the field, so force penalties at the ruck and then advance by kicking for touch. Slows the game down and allows oz to have set defensive lines to counter the speed of the boks.
ben
Guest
Pulu is still part of the chiefs squad. News said he could be out for 8 weeks.
Sandy
Guest
You have to pay, just like the rest of the world. Did NZ get free to air matches? South Africa definitely don't.
Taylorman
Guest
Thought Mikkelsons effort at the end of the Fiji match was huge. He was nearly out on his feet in trying to get across in cover. Was watching him struggle to stay up just to get across. Then he had to take the final tackle, bounce to his feet then win the turnover. Massive effort.
ThugbyFan
Guest
Some shoddy tackle attempts by the Thunderbolts, aka the Wucking Wombats and awesome defence and ruck play by the Kiwi's won it. On another matter I do hope the powers to be deduct the 22 points that the Kiwi team got for winning the Sydney leg, considering they played with 8 blokes on the field in the round robin match against the T'bolts. It will be interesting to see if WR have the conjones.
DaniE
Roar Guru
The Aussie mens did well in the final, but their tactics in the semi were a little confusing... felt there was a high number of rucks and the kicks for touch made it feel more of a 15s event. But if that was a deliberate approach to confuse the Blitzboks... well the result speaks for itself. But overall, I'd like to see the ruck stats for the Aussies, I wonder if they were the highest in the comp.
Lara
Guest
This NZ team just will no give up, still learning and T has still has time to change the team personal , but the core is there . If they can improve their restarts and retain possession they will be even harder to beat.
ethan
Guest
But didn't you realise Not Bothered, everyone is a 7's expert when they Sydney tournament rolls around in an olympic year!
ethan
Guest
Unfortunate for NZ 7's and Pulu, but Chiefs are overflowing with good halves anyway. With TKB and Weber there Pulu might have been hard pressed for regular game time.
ethan
Guest
I think if you use more caps they might get the message.
Not Bothered
Guest
Its a NSW conspiracy.
Not Bothered
Guest
I knew Australia wouldnt do any good without Quade!
wardad
Guest
I am glad to hear that ,did wonders for me too... But anyway commiserations to the T-bolts ,and well done half blacks ! As they say it aint over till singing and stuff eh ?
Rugger
Guest
Con Foley has to go. No speed, ex-factor. So too Stannard. Tim Mickelson (NZ captain) in the team for speed. Where is speed man in Australian side. Need some muscle in forwards as well.
BluesMan
Guest
Well done boys looking sharp especially the Ioane brothers and Captain Tim. Australia played well and the fans have made this part of the leg something to look forward to now.