Wheel Blacks hit top form to set up gold medal match against Americans

The two top seeds, the United States and New Zealand, will play for gold at the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Christchurch this afternoon.

Both teams won their matches yesterday by the same margin 25-23, the United States over Canada and New Zealand over Great Britain.

The Wheel Blacks brought their A game to the semifinal, producing their most comprehensive performance of the tournament.

Captain Tim Johnson said the build-up had been very relaxed.

"We controlled the game from the start. It was a very mature performance, very composed and, as you would expect at a world championships, defensively tight."

In contrast to Thursday's 42-34 loss to the United States, where the Wheel Blacks used their entire bench, only six were needed yesterday.

New Zealand got an early turnover, led 5-4 at the end of the first quarter, retained that one-point lead through brilliant defence during the second and third quarters and maintained composure during the last 10 minutes.

"We have used our bench extensively all tournament which means we have been able to give everyone a rest and conserve energy. We all felt really good out there," Johnson said.

Dan Buckingham, a key player in the New Zealand line-up, said today's match would be entirely different to their last match against the US.

"Our strength is definitely our experience and maturity whereas they are a physical side that use the bench well to change the flow of the game. We will have to be very aware of this and react accordingly."

The team would look at video to develop a game plan for the final.

The US had control of their game from early on, leading by one at the end of the first quarter and extending this to two by halftime.

Canada and Great Britain will play off for the bronze medal at noon, followed by the final at 2pm.