Rugby sevens: Chase for series title heats up

Declan O'Donnell. Photo / Getty Images

Winning this weekend's Adelaide sevens rugby tournament will be key to New Zealand's hopes of regaining the world series crown for the first time since 2008, coach Gordon Tietjens said.

New Zealand broke a deadlock with England at the top of the table after four rounds by grabbing the Hong Kong title last weekend but Tietjens is certainly not getting ahead of himself.

England, beaten 29-17 in the Hong Kong final, trail New Zealand by just five points ahead of the final three rounds - Adelaide this weekend, London on May 21-22 and Edinburgh the following weekend.

New Zealand, having won three rounds, top the table after five rounds with 110 points followed by England on 105, Fiji and defending series champions Samoa both on 84 and the 2009 series winners, South Africa, on 72.

Tietjens anticipated England, led by veteran playmaker Ben Gollings, will be targeting a good result ahead of their home tournaments.

"For us, we hope to do well here and put some points on England ahead of final two legs," Tietjens told the International Rugby Board website.

Last weekend's win was a great confidence booster for a young New Zealand team but the world series title would now be the focus.

"We can't sit on the Hong Kong win. To kick on and win the world series, you have to do well here," he said.

"If you lose very early in this tournament and don't qualify for the Cups or get knocked out in a quarter-finals, all the other teams are on your heels.

"Adelaide is a tournament we haven't done particularly well at - we got beaten last year in the quarter-finals by the winning team, Samoa, who went on to win the world series, so we are certainly looking to turn that around."

New Zealand are in pool A and Tietjens rated their opponents.

"We got a tough pool - Cook Islands are always tough, Wales are a good side, and then there is Kenya so we know we have to get up for it, because there will be no easy games."

There is one change to Tietjens' team with Taranaki's Jackson Ormond getting the call-up to replace Waikato's Rory Grice who fractured his right index finger at Hong Kong.

Ormond played the first two legs of the world series at Dubai and George, South Africa.

New Zealand team for Adelaide: Toby Arnold, Tomasi Cama, Scott Curry, DJ Forbes (captain) Frank Halai, Bryce Heem, Solomon King, Tim Mikkelson, Declan O'Donnell, Jackson Ormond, Buxton Popoalii, Lote Raikabula.

- NZPA