New Zealand Wins Dubai Rugby Sevens

New Zealand were crowned the new champions of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens after a thrilling final against Samoa on Saturday. The Kiwi side reclaimed the title they last won in Dubai in 2007 after powering their way to a 24-12 victory over the Samoans.

The New Zealanders had notched up a 10-0 lead by half time thanks to tries from Tomasi Cama and captain DJ Forbes. Two tries in quick succession early in the second half, however, saw the Samoans briefly taking the lead. But the New Zealanders weren't going to let this one get away and came back with a try, courtesy of Kurt Baker soon afterwards, with another one from Cama just before full time to seal the win.

"It's great to have won this. I thought we were a bit underdone coming into this tournament not having played in any warm-up tournaments like a lot of the other teams had done so I am really surprised how well the team came together," said a thrilled New Zealand coach, Gordon Tietjens, afterwards. "We played some really tough matches so I'm really happy to have come through and to have won this one."

This victory also marked a return to the top after a rather disappointing last season where they could only manage fourth place in the overall IRB Sevens World Series standings.

New Zealand had booked their spot in the final with an impressive 19-0 victory over Fiji while Samoa defeated England 28-19 in their Cup semifinal.

A little earlier in the evening, there was plenty of celebration in the Australian camp after they got the better of defending champions South Africa in the Plate final. The Australians were the only side to put points on the board in that match, claiming a 7-0 victory over the South Africans who had been relegated to the Plate competition after losing out to Fiji earlier in the day in the Cup quarterfinal.

Wales beat Zimbabwe, 38-7 to take the Bowl while Russia defeated Portugal, 17-14 to claim the Shield.

- Tickets for the 2010 Hong Kong Sevens go on Sale in January 2010 -

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