KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's battered sevens squad forced a smile at Twickenham yesterday but swiftly admitted the retention of their International Rugby Board title was bittersweet.
New Zealand defended their crown despite being eliminated in the cup quarter-finals in London - a rare blemish on an otherwise dominant campaign.
It appeared their demotion to the plate competition after a 12-17 defeat to hosts England would keep celebrations on ice, but when South Africa were upset by Argentina 12-0 in their quarter-final Gordon Tietjens' side had effectively claimed their eighth crown.
Despite conceding an early penalty try, New Zealand edged the South Africans 19-12 in the second-tier final with playmaker Nigel Hunt scoring the decisive touchdown with seconds remaining.
Toppling South Africa avenged New Zealand's loss in the Adelaide final but captain D.J. Forbes admitted it was scant consolation.
"It's a bittersweet victory for us, we knew after South Africa tripped up [in the quarters] we'd won the world series. It's hard to say we're really proud of it [winning the plate]."
Forbes said it was imperative to bounce back and win the final round of the series in Scotland this weekend as the side wanted to avoid collecting the silverware on a downer.
Samoa achieved their first win of the series by winning the cup final 19-14 over Fiji.
New Zealand's quest to end the circuit on a high at Edinburgh has been compromised by injuries with forwards Edwin Cocker and Tafai Ioasa ruled out with hamstring and ankle problems respectively.
North Harbour back Zar Lawrence is also flying home early to join his province's preparations for the Air New Zealand Cup.
Tim Mikkelson from Waikato has been dispatched to bolster the forward resources while Blues wing David Smith has been called up to replace Lawrence.
Tietjens was impressed with the performance in London, given the injury toll and the fact key players Victor Vito and Stephen Yates were also unavailable.
"Losing Victor and Stephen [to 15s] is a huge loss for us," Tietjens said.
New Zealand won the first five events of the season in Dubai, George (South Africa), Wellington, San Diego and Hong Kong before South Africa ended their 47-match winning streak in South Australia last month.
New Zealand now have 134 points from seven events, 36 clear of South Africa on 98, who lead the race for second place from Fiji (90) and Samoa (88).
- NZPA
