Halai, King missed by Tietjens’ men
MARC HINTON
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New Zealand’s luck ran out in Las Vegas as injuries and a committed Samoan performance saw their sevens winning streak come to a shuddering halt.
Gordon Tietjens’ Kiwi side, seeking a third straight IRB series title, found Samoa too much to handle in a thrilling final, going down 26-19.
The New Zealanders missed power men Frank Halai and Solomon King who were both invalided out of the final and a lack of firepower eventually told.
Alafoti Faosiliva was the hero for the Samoans with a try double capped by the match-winner in the final seconds as he powered over in the corner to cue joyous celebrations.
Just seconds earlier Kiwi supersub Ardie Savea looked like he had forced extra time when he tied the game up at 19-19 with time almost up.
In front of a crowd of around 30,000 at Sam Boyd Stadium in subrurban Las Vegas, New Zealand trailed 12-5 at halftime and could not wriggle out of the tight spot they found themselves in.
The Kiwis had struggled to overcome the islanders in pool play, edging to a 12-5 victory that sealed top spot in the group.
Today the Samoans took their game up a level and had the big calls go their way en route to a deserved victory.
The Samoans picked up the all-important third try of the opening half when speedster Paul Perez swooped on loose ball to dash clear for a score that left the New Zealanders with plenty to do over the second 10-minute spell.
The Samoans had opened the scoring through Faosiliva, before Charlie Piutau had got the New Zealanders back on terms with a nice piece of power running wide on the right.
New Zealand’s prospects looked decidedly dim early in the second half when Fa’atoina Autagavaia finished a superb try to push the Samoans out to 19-5.
But the New Zealanders then came charging back over the last three minutes with a dazzling individual effort by Tomasi Cama and then Savea setting up a thrilling finale.
To their credit the Samoans made the big play when they had to, even though the final pass to Faosiliva must have been awfully close to forward.
But he took it well and had the strength to bump off the final tackler before unleashing a big dive in the corner, and sparking wild celebrations among the big contingent of Samoan fans.
Fiji had clinched third place today with a 21-15 victory over South Africa,
Earlier the Kiwis had shrugged off the absence of new sevens star Halai to run out 20-7 semifinal victors over South Africa.
Tietjens had called for a more accurate and disciplined performance from his men today after they had largely struggled through day two of the tournament.
And he got it against the dangerous South Africans, with Bryce Heem, Cama and Mark Jackman striking in the first half as the New Zealanders shot out to a 15-0 halftime lead.
Skipper DJ Forbes then put the issue beyond doubt when he crossed for the fourth try early in the second half before South Africa picked up a late consolation score.
The Kiwis missed just four tackles against eight by the Africans and made just two errors to seven by their opponents.
Samoa had stunned the favoured Fijians 14-12, after trailing 12-0 at the halftime break. Second-half tries to Paul Perez and Fa’atoina Autagavaia hauled in the Fijians and set up a second tournament matchup against the New Zealanders.
* Marc Hinton travelled to the Las Vegas Sevens courtesy of Air New Zealand.
– © Fairfax NZ News
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Article source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/sevens/6407378/New-Zealand-lose-Las-Vegas-final-to-Samoa
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