PORT ELIZABETH — New Zealand made it a fourth Sevens title in South Africa on Sunday as they strengthened their grip on the HSBC Sevens Series with a comprehensive 47-12 thrashing of France in the final of the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth.
Report by Reuters
The French can be forgiven for their performance though, as they had to endure an epic 25-minute semi-final to beat Argentina which sucked most of their energy before they reached the final.
In the end they didn’t have an answer for Gordon Tietjens’ team, who have been the most consistent this season and proved again why they love playing in South Africa.
Unlike the behaviour of the small group of local All Black supporters, Tietjens’ team were all class as they massacred the French after earlier breaking the Springbok Sevens team’s hearts with a 12-5 win in the semi-final.
It was then when any interest in this tournament effectively ended for the home crowd, which although sparse, was very vocal.
The semi-final turned out to be an epic clash, as the Blitzbokke scored first through Paul Delport, but then made several crucial errors on attack and were beaten at the breakdown, and when they replaced players to put on speed, lost the physical battle.
But considering they came from a poor performance in Dubai, the Blitzbokke lost only one game the entire weekend and can be proud of bouncing back and getting so close.
