All Blacks Sevens humiliated in London

Australia's Liam McNamara and New Zealand's Joe Webber jump up for the ball. Photo / AP

One bad half can ruin a sevens tournament.

The All Blacks Sevens found that to their cost in London on the final leg of the World Series.

After recording a clean sheet on day one, they led Scotland 21-0 at halftime in their Cup quarter-final. Tries to Sam Dickson, Fa'asiu Fuatai and Andrew Knewstubb and almost mistake-free sevens saw them in total control.

Then it all unravelled in train-wreck fashion, as Scotland, unrecognisable from the first spell, rattled on four tries with doubles to Dougie Fife and Jamie Farndale as they monopolised possession and New Zealand' defence, hitherto accurate, fell apart.

With less than a minute to play, New Zealand were penalised for having eight men on the field, and Farndale ploughed over for his second, the winning score.

Clearly deflated, they fielded a second-string side for the fifth place semifinal, but were over-run 40-7 by a rampant Australia, whose every touch seemed to turn to gold.

Thus, a tournament which promised so much ended with a seventh equal placing, a jarring note after the promise shown in Paris last weekend. There were several injuries to overcome, but the capitulation in the second spell against Scotland will be hard to take for coach Scott Waldrom, who hands over the reins to Clark Laidlaw on June 1. New Zealand held fourth position, just eight ahead of USA, but could well have overtaken Fiji for third as the latter missed Cup qualification.

South Africa had already been declared World Series champions, but Scotland took the Cup title in London, defeating England 12-7 in the final to emulate their 2015-16 victory at this event.

Sir Gordon Tietjens' Samoan team finished 13th after a very challenging season.

Cup quarter-final
Scotland 24 (Dougie Fife 2, Jamie Farndale 2 tries; Scott Wight 2 con) New Zealand 21 (Sam Dickson, Fa'asiu Fuatai, Andrew Knewstubb tries; Joe Webber 3 con) HT: 21-0 Scotland

Fifth place semifinal
Australia 40 (Tim Anstee 2, Liam McNamara, James Stannard, Dylan Pietsch, Simon Kennewell tries; Stannard 4 con, McNamara con) New Zealand 7 (Tone Ng Shiu try; Joe Webber con) HT: 14-7