The All Blacks sevens were unbeaten after five matches and hammered Australia in Sunday’s first clash.
The All Blacks sevens hit Australia for six with a clean sweep in matches against their trans-Tasman rivals across three days of their Auckland warm-up tournament for the Tokyo Olympics.
They emphatically won 36-5 in match five to kick off Sunday morning at Orākei Domain – their biggest victory of the weekend – and finished day three with a 31-14 triumph to make it six wins from six in a contest played as though it was an Olympic final.
The tournament’s format with the two teams was similar to July’s Tokyo Games and both had their strongest line-ups for the sixth match in their first international fixtures since the Vancouver Sevens in March 2020.
“It’s been great to play rugby. It’s been a long time between drinks since Vancouver,” All Blacks sevens coach Clark Laidlaw said post-match on Sky Sport.
“We’ve loved the weekend. It’s been hugely valuable on and off the field. It will take us time to reflect on our own game. They stretched us a little bit with the type of attack they’ve got because they like to keep the ball away from us and not contest with us at the breakdown.
“That tested us, our senior players got a lot of rugby, and you saw the next generation that can take the team forward over the next couple of years.”
Regan Ware’s double in the opening minutes got New Zealand off to a flyer, but Nick Chapman kicked off the Australian fightback in the first half and the scores were tied at half-time, 14-14.
The All Blacks sevens started the second half like the first and retook the lead after great feet from Etene Nanai-Seturo led to a break down the left, Scott Curry drew in defenders and offloaded to the influential Andrew Knewstubb, who scored the third New Zealand try.
Another lung-busting attack then stretched Australia’s tired defence and Vilimoni Koroi strolled in as three days of sevens was taking its toll on shattered players.
Both teams were backing up after their dramatic late match at Eden Park on Saturday night and the Kiwis were full of confidence after coming back from 19-0 down to steal a 26-19 victory in the final minute.
William Warbrick, who was Saturday night’s hero, wrapped up the sixth Kiwi win after a sweeping attack from right to left.
New Zealand, who are reigning Sevens World Cup and Commonwealth Games champions, are among the favourites for the gold medal in Tokyo and were leading the World Series before its shutdown last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so returning to the international arena is a massive boost ahead of chasing Olympic gold after finishing a disappointing fifth at the 2016 Rio Games.
In Sunday’s first match, the All Blacks sevens, who won both matches on Friday and Saturday respectively, were on top from the kick-off and Warbrick pierced through a gaping hole in Australia’s defence for the opening try to set the tone.
New Zealand were rampant for long periods on Sunday morning and finished with six tries after pulling Australia’s defence apart.
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black left Australia’s scrambling defenders for dead with another superb sprint for the line and the Kiwis were three tries ahead when veteran Curry went over on half-time.
McGarvey-Black claimed his double in the second half after New Zealand travelled quickly across the park, after Caleb Clarke’s break, they kept the ball alive, and he scored from Tim Mikkelson’s overhead pass.
Australia were finally on the board when speedster Trae Williams converted their first chance with three minutes left, but Nanai-Seturo extended New Zealand’s lead after twice skipping through Australian defence in the final minutes.
Clarke and Nanai-Seturo have converted to sevens after playing in Super Rugby Aotearoa and seem comfortable with the transition back to the shorter game in recent weeks.
- Stuff
Fiji Rugby Blog 