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Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Dubai Sevens: New Zealand wins first title since 2009

New Zealand players perform the haka after winning the Dubai Sevens title by defeating USA.

New Zealand won the opening tournament of the men's World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai after beating the USA 21-5 in the final.

The victory, New Zealand's first in Dubai since 2009, backed up July's World Cup win in San Fransisco. The omens for this season are good, too, as for the past three seasons the winner of the season's first tournament has also gone on to lift the overall title.
Dan Norton surpassed 300 tries at the Dubai Sevens

Tone Ng Shiu's try gave the Kiwis a 7-0 lead heading into halftime, but they were reduced to six men at the start of the second period and Stephen Tomasin mustered a repsonse for the USA.
 
Scores from Dylan Collier and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, however, ensured New Zealand wrapped up its sixth title in Dubai.
 
"I'm incredibly proud of how the boys played in those last two games," said captain Scott Curry, who was one of four injured New Zealand players sidelined during the final.
 
"We'll take a lot out of how we played in those last two games. We were down to nine men and we were rotating our subs. The guys defended their hearts out."
 
New Zealand reached the final by way of wins over Wales, Spain, Scotland, England and two victories against the USA.
For the Eagles, this year's tournament was a vast improvement on the 2018 edition when they lost all five games and placed joint-last overall. A dramatic late try from Danny Barrett saw them oust Australia 22-17 in the semifinal.
England avenged a pool-stage defeat to claim the bronze medal with victory over Australia in the third-place playoff. The tournament saw star player Dan Norton become the first man ever to score 300 World Series tries.
This year has the added incentive of Olympic qualification on the line. The top four teams in the overall standings at the end of the season will all book spots at Tokyo 2020. Remaining teams will have to fight it out in continental qualifier events.