Sevens heaven hopes slim for New Zealand

New Zealand are going to need a little help from their rivals if they are to win their 13th World Rugby Sevens crown in London this weekend.

Heading into the final round of the world series, New Zealand sit eight points behind leaders Fiji and three points back from secondplaced South Africa.

To leapfrog both Fiji and South Africa, New Zealand would need to win the London tournament with Fiji knocked out at the quarterfinal stage, and South Africa knocked out in the semifinals. That would mean, most likely, the United States would have to upset Fiji, and home side England would need to defeat South Africa.

Scott Curry said the focus was on completing their part of the bargain, and hoping they get some help where matters are out of their control.

‘‘We will go out there and con- trol what we can, focus hard on our pool games and try and get through that,’’ Curry said. ‘‘We’ve got Wales first, so we’re focused on that. Once we get through our pool we’ll go from there and whatever happens, happens.

‘‘Hopefully we can make the final again and give that a real shot.’’

It won’t be easy. In Glasgow, New Zealand suffered three injuries to their 12-man squad, with each of those having to be replaced. That means two of the starting seven are out in Tim Mikkelson and Joe Webber, and improving winger Ambrose Curtis is also on the sidelines with a concussion.

Lote Raikabula and Declan O’Donnell flew out on Monday to link up with the squad, and were joined a day later by Waikato firstfive Isaac Te Tamaki, a standout in the national championshipwinning side in January.

Curry said the injury issues New Zealand have suffered this year had been crazy and appeared to come out of nowhere.

‘‘In Vegas we had a similar situation to what we had in Glasgow. I’m not sure why that is, to be honest. I think some of it comes down to luck, and this year certainly hasn’t been our year on the injury front.’’

New Zealand plays Wales, Japan and Australia in Pool B at the London Sevens and a pool victory would set up a likely tie against Scotland in the quarterfinals.

There is plenty on the line for the teams in New Zealand’s pool, with Australia’s early Rio qualification looking unlikely and Japan fighting to stay in the world series for the 2015-16 season. They will bring plenty of desire into the matches against New Zealand.

New Zealand will also be provided with added inspiration in London, with the women’s team also playing in the city in the fifth leg of their world series.

They are unbeaten this season, and should line up in the women’s final on Saturday night at a packed-out Twickenham.