New Zealand continued their domination at the World Sevens series by beating South Africa 27-12 in Sunday’s cup final, extending their record wining streak to 36 matches.
New Zealand also won their fourth straight tournament in the current World Sevens series.
But it was their 35th-straight Sevens win in the semifinals that enabled them to surpass the accomplishments of the 2001/02 New Zealand team. They beat Kenya 50-10 in the semis at Petco Park.
Eric Rush, Amasio Valence and Karl Te Nana led the Kiwi’s on a dynamic 34-match win streak at the time.
Sunday’s fourth-leg championship moves them to 32 points ahead of South Africa in the overall standings with 80 points. New Zealand started the 2007/08 season by winning in Dubai in December. They registered equally impressive victories in George and Wellington.
New Zealand have now won seven of eight titles since the series was created in 1999.
Fiji, who are third in overall standings with 44 points, won the plate final in extra-time.
Samoa had their second straight strong showing in as many weeks and now have 38 points to move into fourth spot.
In Sunday’s cup final, New Zealand Edwin Cocker opened the scoring with his first try of the tournament.
At one point in the contest the referee had to stop play and warn both captains to settle their players down as tempers flared between the two rivals.
South Africa’s Frankie Horne received a yellow card for a spear tackle on a Kiwi player.
Soon after Victor Vito scored to make it 12-0 for New Zealand against the under-manned South Africans. DJ Forbes added another try.
Mzwandile Stick and Vuyo Zangqa scored tries for South Africa before New Zealand’s Cocker grabbed a loose ball and passed to Zar Lawrence for a try.
The next stage in the International Rugby Board’s fixture series takes place in Hong Kong from March 28 to 30. — AFP
