Belief, mongrel and fire - that's what the All Blacks Sevens will take to Singapore to make up for their sixth-place finish in Hong Kong.
The national men's sevens side have dropped to third place on the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series Standings after last weekend's Hong Kong Sevens, where they lost to Argentina 21-14 in their fifth-place play-off on Monday morning.
The tournament started well for the Kiwis, securing wins against Australia and Kenya before going down to Fiji in pool play, and then to France in their Cup quarterfinal. After a win against England in the fifth-place semifinal, the All Blacks Sevens' Hong Kong campaign ended with a sixth-place finish following their loss to Argentina.
Tim Mikkelson said the team did not get the results they were after and despite playing some good footy over the weekend, "we just didn't quite execute".
"That's sevens footy, if you give quality teams possession they can put you to the sword," Mikkelson says.
Fiji took their fifth consecutive title in Hong Kong with a 21-7 victory over France in the Cup final. The win meant they took the Kiwis' former spot on the overall standings, moving into second place.
Heading into this weekend's Singapore Sevens tournament - the eighth leg on the 2018/2019 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series schedule - USA remain at the top of the standings, seven points ahead of Fiji, followed by New Zealand five points behind the Pacific nation.
Sam Dickson is looking for redemption in Singapore.
"It's been pretty special having all the nations really support us through this week and show their love for Christchurch and New Zealand. Unfortunately we weren't able to put that on to the field but luckily there's another week next week in Singapore," Dickson says.
A special @ULdialogue Mark of Excellence Award is awarded here in Hong Kong, after a number of teams showed solidarity for New Zealand and the recent events that affected the country #EmpoweringTrust UL pic.twitter.com/a2hQAz2Pce
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 7, 2019
"I think everyone's just got to look at each other and as long as everyone can improve at least 2 per cent for next week then that's a big gain for overall in the team," he says.
"We're going to bring a lot of mongrel and fire next week to make up for this weekend but yeah, we've got belief in our systems."
Andrew Knewstubb said while their result was a credit to the other teams in the tournament he acknowledged their own actions during the weekend.
"We've got to be better and yeah, we just weren't good enough."
New Zealand will play in Pool D and face Samoa, Japan and Spain in pool play. The Singapore Sevens has been won by Fiji (2018), Canada (2017), and Kenya (2016).
Singapore Sevens New Zealand's fixtures:
New Zealand vs Japan: Saturday, April 13, 10pm (NZT).
New Zealand vs Spain: Sunday, April 14, 1.28am (NZT).
New Zealand vs Samoa: Sunday, April 14, 5.16am (NZT).
2018/2019 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series schedule:
Dubai: December 1 - 1st.
Cape Town, December 8-9 - 4th.
Hamilton: January 26-27 - 3rd.
Sydney: February 2-3 - 1st.
Las Vegas: March 1-3 - 3rd.
Vancouver: March 9-10 - 5th.
Hong Kong: April 5-7 - 6th.
Singapore: April 13-14.
London: May 25-26.
Paris: June 1-2.