NZ edge England to win bronze in Paris

The New Zealand men’s sevens side has taken the bronze medal at the latest leg of the World Series competition in Paris, beating England in a playoff for third.

The Kiwi side fought back from 5-0 down at halftime to win 12-5, with tries to Sam Dickson and Sherwin Stowers sealing the win.

Dickson took a crossfield kick to cancel out Will Edwards’ opener, with Joe Webber’s conversion from wide out nudging the All Blacks Sevens side ahead. Stowers then showed his speed to put the icing on the result a minute from fulltime.

Earlier, New Zealand had crashed out of contention after being thrashed by eventual champions South Africa in the semifinals.

Veteran DJ Forbes opened the scoring for New Zealand against France when he barged over on the blindside from close range and Joe Webber converted.

Sione Molia crossed next when cutting inside Tim Mikkelson and Webber again added the extras to give the Kiwis a 14-0 lead at halftime. France’s hopes of a comeback evaporated when they had a player yellow-carded in the middle of the second spell.

They opened the tournament with a 26-7 win against Wales, while a late try to Sam Dickson was all that separated New Zealand from Argentina in their second match of the day, lifting the side to a 21-14 win.

In their final pool match against the United States, Regan Ware scored two tries in as many minutes late off the bench to guide his side to victory.