Sevens: New Zealand win 10th world series

DJ Forbes dives over for a try in New Zealand's quarterfinal win over South Africa. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand have retained their Sevens World Series title, ending the season with a third place finish at the London Sevens to finish on 167 Series points, six ahead of closest rivals Fiji.

The Kiwis sealed a 10th series title with a ruthless 36-0 quarter final win against South Africa, but fell to a brilliant Fijian performance in the semifinal. However, New Zealand recovered to end the season on a high note, beating Argentina in the play-off for bronze.

The Fijians stormed to the London title to cap a season of achievement for them, matching New Zealand's three Cup titles and underlining just how tight things are at the top of the sevens game.

A record two-day sevens crowd of 103,027 attended Twickenham over the weekend.

"It's pretty special, we worked extremely hard to get this one and I think everyone knows how competitive the Sevens Series is now. We came here with an 11-point lead but still with an opportunity of blowing it,'' said New Zealand captain, DJ Forbes.

"The quarterfinal win [36-0 victory over South Africa] was probably our only complete game of rugby this weekend, but there was a lot of passion, a lot behind it to make sure we wrapped up the series.

"At the end of the day it comes down to consistency and that's where we were probably a little bit ahead, but taking nothing away from Fiji, they've done extremely well to win here.

"I guess for us you could see that we're used to playing under pressure, regardless of where we're playing. If you're wearing a black jersey everyone expects you to do well.''