HSBC Sevens World Series - Dubai Sevens

New Zealand take the title in Dubai

Eight-times HSBC Sevens Series Champions New Zealand got their 09/10 campaign off to a winning start by seeing off Samoa in the final to take the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens title.

The 24-12 victory over the South Sea islanders was the Kiwi’s first IRB sevens event title for 18 months.

All Blacks Sevens stalwarts DJ Forbes, Zar Lawrence and Lote Raikabula led a strong defence over the two day tournament, while Sherwin Stowers left Dubai as the tournaments top try scorer – touching down nine times.

Following the win, Kiwi skipper, Forbes, summed up the determination of his side and sent a warning to their sevens rivals: “We made a few promises to each other.

“Perseverance is rewarded and to go through a year like we did last year and to bounce back like that as strong as we did was great and the boys can be proud of their performance, but we've got a long season to go and we've got to front up every week.”

After a trophy laden 08/09 pre-season and led by the tournament’s top point scorer Lolo Lui, Samoa advanced to the final, beating England and Australia along the way.

Defending Dubai Sevens and HSBC Sevens World Series champions South Africa fared less well than their Southern Hemisphere compatriots, losing to a young Australia side in the plate final.

New Zealand’s victory capped an afternoon of high-drama and high-octane sevens, where highlights included: a William Ryder inspired Fiji coming back to beat Kenya at the death; Ben Gollings’ sudden death extra-time try for England to beat Argentina; and captain Lolo Lui’s touchline conversion to give Samoa a solitary point win over Australia.

The full results of all matches at the Dubai Sevens are available on the IRB website.

England in Dubai

England enjoyed a solid start in Dubai, securing joint third with Fiji by reaching the semi finals.

Ben Ryan’s side will be ruing Samoa’s blistering start in the cup semi-final, when three converted tries in the first four minutes gave last year’s finalists too much to do.  Please see further match reports below.

Sevens star Ben Gollings – HSBC Sevens World Series all-time record points scorer with 2143 points – was in typically bullish form, securing 46 points in Dubai, which was bettered only by Samoa skipper Lolo Lui (49 points).

Gollings, Bristol’s Dan Norton and Flyde’s Nick Royle each bagged four tries as England spread their scoring around and the side head to South Africa with high-hopes of improving.

England match reports are available in RFU.com for each game of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens:

England 40-12 USA
England 28-0 Russia
England 27-10 Kenya
England 17-12 Argentina