All Blacks magic as Kiwis retain world crown

NEW Zealand became the first team in history to win back-to-back World Cup Sevens crowns on Sunday, completing a clean sweep of titles with a 33-12 defeat of England in the final at AT&T Park.

The New Zealanders – who beat England to win the last tournament in 2013 in Moscow – once again proved too strong for the English, outscoring their opponents by five tries to two.

The victory completed a golden weekend in San Francisco for New Zealand after their women successfully defended their own sevens title on Saturday.

New Zealand’s men and women now hold world titles in both seven-a-side and 15-a-side versions of the game.

New Zealand co-captain Scott Curry, who missed the 2013 victory breaking his hand shortly before the tournament, was ecstatic following the win.

“It was real disappointing for me last time, so to come to San Francisco and play the way we did, I’m just really proud,” Curry said.

Curry said the New Zealand men had taken inspiration from the women’s victory 24 hours earlier.

“We were really proud of the girls. It’s awesome to emulate what they did and go back-to-back for the first time ever,” he said. “It’s good to go home with two World Cups.”

The New Zealanders had earlier reached the final after a clinical 22-17 defeat of Olympic champions Fiji in the semifinals.

England, meanwhile, had reached the final after a surprisingly one-sided 29-7 win over South Africa in the last four.

England captain Tom Mitchell said defeat in the final was bittersweet.

“Right now I am pretty sore, and pretty gutted,” he said.

“We came here expecting to be amongst it and really wanting to be World Champions – that is the stuff you dream about. We were in the final after a lot of ups and downs this season.

“I am super proud to get to that point, but it means that it hurts more because we worked so hard to get there.”

New Zealand’s win brought the curtain down on a successful first ever Rugby World Cup event on US soil, with more than 102,000 spectators attending the three days of tournament.

Samoa’s campaign ended in disgrace on Sunday, with player Gordon Langkilde thrown out of the tournament for his part in a tunnel bust-up following Saturday’s defeat to Wales.

Wales player Tom Williams suffered a tournament-ending injury in the attack, which Welsh players described as “unprovoked”.

World Rugby said they were investigating the incident.