New Zealand sevens stars excited for future after reaching Dubai Sevens final

Matt Jones - Editor 08:30 04/12/2017
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  • After a sobering year in which they failed to win a single final and bid farewell to symbolic coach Sir Gordon Tietjens – Scott Curry believes the future is once again bright for sevens rugby in New Zealand.

    Tietjens stood down from a role he had held for 22 years in August last year, following an unsuccessful Olympic bid in Rio where the All Blacks Sevens exited to eventual champions Fiji at the quarter-final stage.

    In their first HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series that followed without their legendary leader, New Zealand finished fourth, their worst finish in eight seasons. They also failed to win any of the 10 tournaments – something that had only happened twice in the previous 18 editions of the series since it was first introduced by the IRB (World Rugby) in the 1999/2000 campaign.

    A young squad with some fresh faces, put together by new coach Clark Laidlaw and his new management team, has been together a matter of months, whereas opponents have been building for years.

    Yet, despite all this, the All Blacks made the final in the 2017/18 series opener in Dubai on Saturday – where they eventually fell to South Africa, the new dominant force on the circuit who are aiming to emulate New Zealand’s majestic feat of 12 series crowns.

    New Zealand are in a rebuilding phase, but co-captain Curry claims that doesn’t count as an excuse for not winning.

    “We always put pressure on ourselves to win every game,” said Manawatu man Curry.

    “I wouldn’t say we’re surprised to be in a final. Every time we go out to play we expect to win. We’re disappointed we lost but we’re excited with what’s to come.

    “We were talking before the South Africa game, thinking we’ve still got a lot to work on, which we do, so to reach a final is pretty pleasing and I’m really proud of the boys’ effort over the weekend.

    “We’ve only been together a couple of months whereas most teams have been together for years. So for us it’s an exciting time.”

    Curry and Co were beaten 24-12 at The Sevens in the final game of the weekend, the Blitzbokke breezing into a 19-0 first half lead before Andrew Knewstubb and Curry saw the men in black reduce the gap to 19-12 with a quickfire double.

    But Tim Agaba powered over to win it for South Africa at the death. Curry felt his side let the opportunity to triumph slip through their grasp, but claims they will take the positives from defeat and use it to improve during the term.

    “The bounce of the ball, we were a little unlucky, it comes down to those little things in a final,” said 29-year-old Curry.

    “We needed to score in that first half and we didn’t finish our opportunities, which you need to do in a final. Some of our boys have never been in a final before, so we’ll learn from that.”
    And despite reaching the Dubai final, Curry said no goals for the season will be set.

    He added: “Not really. We just go out to win every game and do that black jersey and each other proud and not disappoint each other.”

    Teammate Sam Dickson was similarly encouraged by the team’s performance.

    “A young team, new coaching staff, first tournament so we’re pretty happy with that,” said Dickson, 28, who made his sevens bow in the 2012/13 campaign.

    “A few things to work on but against one of the best teams in the world and stacked with experience, to take it right to the end, we’re pretty stoked with that.

    “It’s hugely encouraging. We put in a lot of hard work over the pre-season, not just physically but in our culture so it’s good to see it’s paid off for today.”

    New Zealand results:

    Pool

    New Zealand 24-12 Samoa

    New Zealand 21-19 Argentina

    New Zealand 22-17 United States

    Quarter-final

    New Zealand 14-12 Kenya

    Semi-final

    New Zealand 14-5 England

    Final

    New Zealand 12-24 South Africa

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