New Zealand celebrate after beating Australia in the final of the Gold Coast Sevens
Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

by Brendan Bradford on the Gold Coast –

Australia made the perfect start to the Cup final but couldn’t stave off a fresher New Zealand side who ran away 40-19 winners in the opening tournament of the World Sevens Series on the Gold Coast.

Backing up after an epic extra-time semi-final with South Africa and playing two men short because of injury, Australia scored two early tries but faded towards halftime as a rampant New Zealand side who had only conceded one try all tournament turned the screws.

“We were a bit short-staffed in the end with a few injuries, but we tried our best but in the end they were just too good,” said Australian debutant Alex Gibbon.

“We can build on this though and do better when we get everyone on the paddock. It wasn’t until the second half when they got two quick tries that it felt like it was slipping – we still tried hard and didn’t give up – but when they’re up by two tries, it’s pretty hard to come back from.”

Veteran James Stannard crossed for Australia’s second but it wasn’t enough to stop the Kiwis from claiming the title – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

Tournament top try-scorer, Tim Mikkelson said the New Zealand side refused to panic even when trailing by 12-points early in the match.

“We talked about it before the game that they were going to come out strong and they did that,” Mikkelson said after the match.

“We just needed the ball and once we did that we just wanted to hold onto it and the points would come, and that’s what happened.”

Although the result didn’t go the home side’s way, captain Ed Jenkins was rewarded for a great weekend by being named Player of the Tournament.

Australia kicked an early penalty to touch and after spreading the ball back and forth across the pitch Jenkins brushed off two tacklers and barrelled over in the corner for a 5-0 lead.

Captain courageous Jenkins set up the second with another strong run, in midfield this time, which created space on the left for James Stannard to step through to the line for a perfect start and a 12-0 advantage.

New Zealand used the pace of debutant Ambrose Curtis on the right wing to hit back while Tomasi Cama hit his umpteenth conversion from out wide. Curtis scored in the corner again in the fifth minute and Cama once more converted for a 14-12 score at the break.

Cama scored a try of his own under the posts off the back of a clever off-load from Sam Dickson after the resumption and from there the game slipped out of Australia’s grasp.

A superman dive by Waisake Naholo took the score to 26-12 before Joe Webber finished off the side’s fifth try.

Australia fought to the end with Cameron Clark sliding through the line and running 50-metres to score but he was outdone by a 90-metre runaway to David Raikuna in the dying seconds for the final 40-19 scoreline.

Third/Fourth Place Play-Off –

England were never in doubt against a South African side visibly fatigued after playing 10-minutes of extra time against Australia in the semi-final. Having beaten them 22-14 in the Pool stages on Saturday, the BlitzBokke were no match for a fresher England side who ran in seven tries on the  way to a 47-0 hiding and third place.

Plate Final –

Fiji fumbled a certain try early in the game but made up for it with a dazzling display of free-flowing, attacking rugby to beat Kenya 34-0.

France won the Bowl in extra time over Canada – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

Bowl and Shield Final –

France needed extra-time to beat Canada 19-14 after Canadian Connor Braid kicked a sideline conversion after the fulltime siren to lock the scores 14-14. France made the most of their chances in extra-time with Julien Saubade crawling over the line to win the Bowl.

Earlier, the USA capped off their weekend by picking up the Shield with a four try to none 22-0 win over Portugal.

The next round of the IRB World Series takes place in Dubai on the weekend of 29/30 October.

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