Kiwis celebrate 7s triumph with new haka

The New Zealand men’s sevens team celebrated their first Cup final win in 21 months with a new haka.

New Zealand outclassed Argentina 38-14 in the Cup final in Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday for an overdue tournament win, their first since March 2016 in Vancouver, a run of 15 tournaments without a title win. They celebrated the triumph with a customary post-tournament winning haka, performing T -Te Toa o Te Riri for the first time on the World Series circuit.

The New Zealand men’s team unveiled the haka at the 2016 Olympic Games when they were welcomed into the Olympic village. The victory ensured the Clark Laidlawcoached side will enter 2018 on top of the standings after two rounds of the IRB world sevens series, holding a two point edge over South Africa. Sydney hosts the next tournament from January 26-28.

After being embarrassed 22-0 by the United States in their opening pool match on Sunday New Zealand were able to turn it around, winning five straight matches on their way to the silverware.

New Zealand captain Scott Curry saluted his side’s tenacity throughout the tournament, having recovered from a Cup final loss to South Africa in the series opener in Dubai last week.

“Just over the moon really. So proud of how the boys played, not only this weekend, but last weekend as well.

“It could’ve gone either way after we lost the first game against USA, but the boys have bounced back and played like we did the rest of the weekend - massively proud.”