All Blacks Sevens complete Dubai double

Monday, 3 December 2018, 2:08 pm
Article: RNZ

The New Zealand men's rugby sevens team has won the opening leg of the World Series in Dubai.

It completes a double for New Zealand after the women won their event yesterday.

The All Black Sevens beat the USA 21-5 in the final to claim their first title in Dubai since 2009.

In the quarter-finals New Zealand beat Scotland 21-7 and then held on to beat England 7-5 in the semi-finals.

Coach Clarke Laidlaw had just nine players to choose from for the final with injuries to Scott Curry, Sam Dickson, Akuila Rokolisoa and Regan Ware.

Stand-in captain Sione Molia reflected on the win.

"It was really unfortunate [the injuries] but we knew that we had to get our heads down and start working. We knew that we were coming into this final against a good USA team. The boys put in an unreal shift, I'm really happy."

The last three men's teams to win in Dubai have gone on to win the series.

The next round is in South Africa next weekend with New Zealand drawn against the hosts, Samoa and Zimbabwe.

The New Zealand men's and women's teams have also won Commonwealth Games gold and World Cup gold this year.

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