Sevens forced to settle for fifth in Hong Kong

There is a fine line in sevens between a good and bad tournament.

The All Blacks Sevens know that better than most after again failing to reach the Cup semifinals, this time in their traditionally happy hunting ground of Hong Kong.

The tournament started badly even before kickoff on Friday when captain Scott Curry was laid low by flu, and the situation worsened when Tim Mikkelson injured his shoulder in the scratchy 19-7 pool win over Wales. After dispatching Japan 40-14, New Zealand pushed Fiji hard but fell 17-14 and lost Iopu Iopu-Aso to suspension for a dangerous tackle.

In yesterday’s Cup quarter-final against series leaders South Africa, New Zealand led 12-7 at the break but succumbed to second half pressure. South Africa won 21-19, and then advanced to a seventh straight Cup final, where they were beaten 22-0 by Fiji, who won their first title of 2016-17 and third straight in Hong Kong.

Scott Waldrom’s charges did at least produce some good sevens in the fifth-place semifinal, downing England 21-7, before edging Argentina 10-7 to confirm a fifth-place finish.

Debutant Joe Ravouvou, who used his size and pace to good effect over the three days, scored six tries to lead New Zealand try scorers. Stand-in captain DJ Forbes was consistency personified in his record-extending 86th World Series tournament, but he needed more of his teammates to follow his example. Sam Dickson, Trael Joass and Beaudein Waaka all enjoyed useful moments.

New Zealand will hold fourth position but have made up ground only on England ahead of them. They will need to reassess their strategy for this weekend’s eighth leg of the series in Singapore.