Rugby sevens: NZ win Adelaide title for first time

New Zealand celebrate with their trophy after winning the Adelaide Sevens. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's all-conquering sevens rugby team had double cause for celebration after a historic win in Adelaide also boosted their chances of regaining the world series trophy last night.

A peerless display over two days at the Adelaide Oval culminated in a tense 28-20 win over South Africa, who had beaten New Zealand in the 2007-08 final.

New Zealand had never won across the Tasman since the tournament was established in South Australia in 2005-06 but atoned for those previous lapses with a dominant performance which increased their lead in the overall standings to 13 points with stops at Twickenham and Murrayfield remaining next month.

They started the weekend with a slender five point advantage over England and benefited before the final kicked off after their closest rivals were eliminated by South Africa in the second semifinal.

New Zealand had not lost to South Africa - twice winners in Adelaide - for two years and maintained that record though the victory was not assured until Tomasi Cama conjured up a try while backtracking with two minutes remaining.

The player of the tournament surged under the posts from a scrum to end stout South African resistance.

Although Cama's guile with ball in hand was imperative as New Zealand added to victories in South Africa, Wellington and Hong Kong - his goal kicking proved the difference after both sides scored four tries in a fitting finale.

South African linchpin Cecil Afrika scored one try and set up another but could not nail a single conversion.

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens paid tribute to Cama's contribution to a long sought after victory on Australian soil.

"There's some special players in this team, and I thought Tomasi Cama was simply outstanding in the final," he said.

"It could have gone either way for a while. South Africa were very quick and dangerous."

Tietjens was happy to add another achievement to his impressive coaching resume: "We've never won in Adelaide so it's real special for us," he said.

DJ Forbes, the New Zealand captain since 2006, was equally delighted before leading the haka on the Oval for the first time.

"Coming off a big win in Hong Kong (last weekend) we really wanted to front up.

"To come here, put in a big performance and guts it out is definitely a proud moment."

Lote Raikabula opened the scoring in the second minute when he and Cama exploited the blindside while South African captain Kyle Brown was being treated for an injury but the underdogs fought back quickly when Chris Dry scythed through two defenders to cross out wide.

Cama restored the buffer with a fine individual try but the South Africans then gained the ascendancy when Branco du Preez, Afrika and Paul Delport crossed in quick succession to build a 20-14 lead.

Cama trickery down the left hand touch set up Frank Halai on a run under the posts to regain the lead before the Fijian-born tactician had the final say.

New Zealand crushed Wales, the Cook Islands and Kenya in pool play Saturday and maintained their ruthless streak in the play-offs, thrashing Argentina and then defending Adelaide and series champions Samoa in the semifinals.

After experiencing six successive losses to the Pacific Islanders in the 2009-10 series, revenge was sweet as they coasted to a 33-17 triumph - a margin trimmed by the concession of two late consolation tries.

Cama overtook Amasio Valence as New Zealand's most prolific scorer in the abbreviated form of the code when he reached 1125 points yesterday and embossed his reputation as the game's premier playmaker by bamboozling the Samoan defence.

Halai was the chief beneficiary of Cama's vision, the 22-year-old completed a hattrick to continue a try-scoring spree that saw New Zealand rack up 34 tries in six matches.

In their first assignment of the day New Zealand thumped Argentina 47-7 in the opening quarterfinal, outscoring the South Americans seven tries to one.

The series continues in England on May 21-22 and ends north of the border in Edinburgh the following weekend.

- NZPA