NZ to face Fiji in World Cup final

New Zealand scraped past Australia 24-20 in their World Cup rugby sevens semifinal in Honk Kong today, leaving them with a shot at defending their title later tonight.


There were strong hints of a repeat of the All Blacks' semifinal exit at the hands of the Wallabies in the 15-a-side World Cup two years ago, as six New Zealand players clung on defensively in the final minute.


Leading 24-15, Rudi Wulf was shown a yellow card and Australia capitalised when Anthony Sauer crossed for his second try.


The Australians swung straight back onto attack and came painfully close to pulling off an upset before conceding a penalty at a ruck on New Zealand's tryline. A relieved New Zealand team cleared for touch.


Both teams scored four tries but Australia failed to convert any while Amasio Valence made two for New Zealand.


For the second time today, New Zealand conceded the first try, scored by Sauer.


New Zealand struck back with tries to Josh Blackie and Valence, the latter from a super jink and acceleration but Australia narrowed the deficit to 10-12 when Keiran Massey dived over from a chip.


Valence was at it again early in the second half, slicing through a gap to score and captain Liam Messam powered over from the ensuing kick-off to make victory appear safe at 24-10.


However, some more uncharacteristic missed tackles saw Massey bag his second with two minutes remaining and set up the classic finish.


An unlikely starter in the final is Orene Ai'i who didn't strip for the match and left the 33-5 quarterfinal defeat of France at halftime with an injury.


Fellow-playmaker Valence left the France match clutching his shoulder, having re-injured the pinched nerve he has carried through the tournament.


However, his two outstanding tries, one involving a dive onto the injured shoulder to score, suggested he was still in good shape.


The inexperienced Australians were expected to struggle, having been thrashed by Fiji in pool play and barely scraping past South Africa 15-14 in their quarterfinal today.


However, new coach Glen Ella lifted them to another level for this game, much as Eddie Jones did for the Wallabies on that fateful Sydney night for New Zealand 16 months ago.


New Zealand did not resemble the team who powered through pool play and effortlessly cast aside France today.


New Zealand's opponents were to be Fiji, who beat England 24-19 in a nail-biting semifinal which went to extra time.


It was Fiji legend Waisale Serevi who broke the 19-19 deadlock, pouncing on a turnover and dashing 30m to score in the corner.


The scores were locked 7-7 at halftime. Fiji pulled clear 19-7 but frittered the lead away in an absorbing contest.


It set up a classic confrontation between the two most successful teams in sevens history.


New Zealand are defending champions but Fiji won the previous World Cup, when it was last held here in 1997.


- NZPA