Posted at 6:46 a.m., Saturday, February 2, 2008
Rugby: N. Zealand tops Samoa, wins Wellington IRB 7s
Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Victor Vito scored two tries, including the clincher 10 seconds from full-time as New Zealand beat defending champion Samoa 22-17 in today's final of the Wellington IRB rugby union sevens.New Zealand came from behind in both halves to win for the third time in three tournaments this season after its victories over Fiji in Dubai and South Africa.
The win gave New Zealand a commanding 24-point lead over Fiji in the series standings, after Fiji's shock 19-17 loss to Samoa in the Wellington quarterfinals.
Fiji was later beaten 26-19 by South Africa in the semifinals of the consolation plate and took only four championship points from the tournament.
Samoa stunned New Zealand with a length of the field try to Mikaele Pesamino in the first minute of Saturday's final for a 7-0 lead.
New Zealand hit back with Vito's first try in the seventh minute and a second try two minutes later to Zar Lawrence, which gave them a 12-7 lead at halftime.
Pesamino set up a try for Reupena Lavasa in the second minute of the second half and a dropped goal to Lolo Lui put Samoa ahead 17-12.
New Zealand again recovered to tie the scores with an unconverted try to Steven Yates. Vito, playing on his home ground, broke the defense with only seconds on the clock to score the try that gave New Zealand victory.
New Zealand and Samoa both emerged from Pool A in the four-pool tournament, which was notable for upset results. England and Argentina both failed to win a match in pool play while Tonga progressed to the semifinals of an IRB sevens tournament for the first time, before losing 24-21 to Samoa.
After beating Australia in the semifinals, New Zealand captured its home crown with the win over Samoa.
"We haven't been in a final in Wellington for a little while so it's definitely a special occasion," New Zealand captain D.J. Forbes said.
"We knew Samoa would definitely be tougher than last night (when New Zealand beat Samoa 19-7 in pool play).
"They're last year's champs and we knew they'd come out firing. But we knew we'd be fitter and in the last minutes tonight we really proved it."
South Africa beat Wales 26-19 to win the plate final Saturday while England beat Argentina 12-7 to win the bowl. The United States beat Kenya 19-17 in the Shield final.
The next round of the series begins in San Diego on Friday.
