KEY POINTS:
DUBAI - New Zealand will face Canada in tonight's quarterfinal at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens after suffering a shock loss to Samoa in their final pool game this morning.
An impressive first up win 31-12 over Wales was followed by a crushing 54-0 demolition of hosts the Arabian Gulf before a 10-7 defeat by Samoa.
It hardly ever rains in Dubai but for the first time at the sevens the heavens opened up late in the day and made conditions greasy.
The Samoans had New Zealand under pressure for most of the first half and opened the scoring with a brilliant try through Lolo Lui a minute before the break. He chipped the ball ahead before re gathering to score out wide.
The Kiwis started the second half well and got on the board with some sharp work from Nigel Hunt. From a quick tap penalty he caught the Samoan defence off guard and scored under the posts.
But the Samoans hit back with another brilliant chip and chase try from Lui and they held on despite being reduced to 6 men with a player in the sin bin for the final couple of minutes.
New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens was livid after the loss to Samoa and said his team really blew it.
"We played all the rugby and defended so well in the first half. Then we created all the opportunities and we blew them. It was not so much Samoa won it but we lost it," Tietjens lamented.
"Especially when it came down to the very end we had to be smart but we played dumb football when they had a player sin binned." Tietjens said.
The win for Samoa put them in the quarterfinals at the expense of Wales on point's differential, which they had lost to in pool play.
Canada booked its place in the Cup quarterfinals with a last gasp 19-14 win over Tunisia.
Tietjens admitted the shock loss to Samoa would ensure they wouldn't be underestimating the Canadians.
"If we play like we did in the last game against Samoa then we will really struggle."
However despite the loss, New Zealand still topped the pool and Tietjens felt his side would still be in contention to win the tournament.
"I honestly do, I think if we play to our potential and do the basics well then we are in with a shot, but today in that last game for whatever reason we tried to attack them on our own at times and we paid the penalty for that. But if we play as a team then we can go through the tournament."
Earlier Alfred Pelenise was the star of the show in the opening win over Wales, setting up four of the five New Zealand tries.
Lachie Munro bagged a hat-trick and landed seven conversions in the eight try romp over the Arabian Gulf.
Australia caused the upset of day one by stunning reigning IRB Sevens champions Fiji 17-14 with a last gasp try, to edge into the quarter finals on point's differential over Portugal, despite losing 12-10 to the Portuguese in pool play.
South Africa was the most impressive team on day one, along with England going through their pool unbeaten and finishing with a 40-5 win over Argentina.
The quarter final lineup has Fiji against France, New Zealand against Canada, South Africa against Samoa and England playing Australia.
If New Zealand beats Canada it would most likely face arch rivals Fiji in the semi finals.
NZ RESULTS DAY ONE:
NZ 31 Tries: Zar Lawrence (2) Nigel Hunt (2) Lachie Munroe Con: Hunt (3)
Wales 12 Tries: Rhodri McAtee, Tom James Con: McAtee (1)
NZ 54 Tries: Lachie Munroe (3), Solomon King, Nick Thomson, Willie Rickards, Nigel Hunt, Rene Ranger Con: Munro 7
Arabian Gulf 0
NZ 7 Try: Nigel Hunt Con: Hunt S
Samoa 10 Tries: Lolo Lui (2)
- NZPA
