Hong Kong Sevens: New Zealand emerging from ruins of poor start to stand on cusp of immortality in sport’s spiritual home
- Having ousted crowd favourites and perennial finalists Fiji, All Blacks now face old foes Australia for place in the final
- Captain Dylan Collier says a lot of work went into turning around a disappointing start to world series year
New Zealand arrived at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens low on form and scrambling for confidence, but if any team had to shoot Bambi, it was always going to the dead-eyed All Blacks.
The Kiwis ousted crowd favourites Fiji, finalists in each of the past seven years, to set up a crackerjack semi-final meeting with Antipodean foes Australia on Sunday.
It seems almost cruel that the winners will have one more sizeable hurdle to mount, in the shape of either France or Ireland, to forever go down in history as reigning Hong Kong Stadium champions.
Neither of these teams would expect, nor want, any sympathy, however. New Zealand refused to feel sorry for themselves following a desperately disappointing tournament in Los Angeles last month.
Instead of navel-gazing, they rooted through every corner of their off-field methodology to try to revive a flagging aura.
“We had a good hard look at ourselves, and it [recovering form] was about discipline on and off the field,” Dylan Collier, the New Zealand captain, told the Post.
“We put the effort into doing our recoveries, and our preparation, and our previews and reviews, and made sure our nutrition was right.
“When you have that discipline off the field, it transfers to the matches. We wear a jersey that demands we win, so when you are not, there will always be questions marks.”
New Zealand went some way to answering those questions on day one, when they beat Great Britain, before going to town on series leaders Argentina to win 22-0. On Saturday, they completed a hat-trick of pool wins, against USA, then staged a daring comeback to break the hearts of Fiji and their ardent supporters.
“We felt we were playing well [before Hong Kong], but only in patches,” Collier said. “We needed to find consistency, and once we got there, we knew we could put teams away.”
Sometimes, our silly mistakes let the opposition back in, but you have to stay composed
Imposing forward Collier is playing his sixth Hong Kong Sevens, after injury kept him out of LA and the previous leg in Vancouver, where New Zealand were beaten finalists. His last appearance came in January, when the Kiwis limped home ninth in Perth.
After five world series tournament wins in 2022-23, the current campaign threatened to continue in barren fashion when Fiji led 12-7 entering the final three minutes.
New Zealand duly conjured an exhilarating spell of rugby, moving the ball speedily and accurately, and physically overpowering the sturdy Fijians. Explosive 19-year-old Xavier Tito-Harris crossed in the corner, after Fiji couldn’t keep pace with a passing sequence from left to right, laying the platform for Tone Ng Shiu to go behind the posts for the killer blow.
It was a passage of play illustrative of an indomitable spirit.
“We know if we get into our game, and we hold the ball and build phases, we can grind teams down,” Collier said. “Sometimes, our silly mistakes let the opposition back in, but [when trailing], you have to stay composed and move to the next job.”
Collier is anticipating an “epic battle” with Australia, who put away South Africa 15-0 in their quarter-final.
The outcome never looked in doubt following Nathan Lawson’s second-minute try, with the Blitzboks looking more like the Blitzed-boks in the face of an aggressive Australian defence.
Maurice Longbottom scored after 10 minutes, then defied a crowd chiding the Aussies for their negativity when he kicked a penalty soon after to leave South Africa hopelessly adrift.
“In sevens, you basically have to scrape through your pool,” Nick Malouf, the Australia captain, said. “This was the biggest game of the weekend, because if you win it you are playing for a medal. We were close to our best, and, hopefully, we will be at our best against New Zealand.”
They will need to be. Gary Lineker said football was a game where you play for 90 minutes, then the Germans win on penalties. For a long time, the Hong Kong Sevens was similar: play for three days and Fiji win the cup.
Defending champions New Zealand are aiming to emerge from the ruins of Los Angeles and build their own Hong Kong dynasty.
