Waldrom: We let ourselves down
Sevens co-coach Scott Waldrom was left bemoaning a lack of consistency when New Zealand stumbled in Singapore, a tournament he considered ‘‘probably there for the taking’’.
New Zealand Sevens finished fifth by beating series leaders South Africa in a playoff match, after being knocked out of the title race by Canada, who beat the United States in the final.
Waldrom was a picture of frustration after a tournament he described as ‘‘a bit of a mixed bag’’.
He said the team was ‘‘still hurting from the quarterfinals, we didn’t front, we let ourselves down.’’
While he was proud the side scraped themselves off the ground to beat Kenya, then South Africa that meant little overall.
‘‘In the end it still goes back to the quarterfinal and the hurt of losing that to Canada,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s been some great stuff there in terms of the way the guys are playing, but we obviously didn’t get the results in a tournament that was probably there for the taking.’’
‘‘It’s the same old story, it’s consistency. We get up when we know it’s a big game and we don’t quite front in games we think we should win.’’
New Zealand beat Kenya 24-21 on day two before coming from behind for a 17-12 win over the Springboks Sevens.
New Zealand are fourth in the world standings on 110 points, trailing South Africa (157); Fiji (132) and England (130).
The All Blacks sevens side trailed at halftime against South Africa, with Joe Ravouvou’s try sending them to the break down 12-7. Sione Molia levelled the scores upon the resumption before Vilimoni Koroi scored in the corner to seal the win.
Earlier, in the quarterfinals, an abysmal effort in defence from New Zealand meant the Canadians were able to run rings around them, in an unexpected 26-14 result after the Kiwis were left unbeaten on day one of the tournament on Saturday.
Canada went on to record their first World Rugby Sevens title, beating the US 26-19 in the final.
Joe Webber was expected to be back from a groin niggle to play in Paris in May, with Scott Curry and Tim Mikkelson also expected to be fit.
‘‘It’s another opportunity for us to get things right, and I’m looking forward to it,’’ Waldrom said.