Rugby sevens: Emotional Kiwis knocked out by Kenyans

An emotional New Zealand side bowed out in the quarter-finals of the International Rugby Board sevens tournament in Hong Kong yesterday, going down 10-7 to Kenya.

A campaign overshadowed by the death of New Zealand player Zar Lawrence's young brother ended at the hands of a Kenyan side who overcame a 7-0 deficit.

The New Zealanders slumped to the turf when the final whistle blew after Victor Vito was bundled into touch metres from the tryline.

It means they will go without success for a fifth time in the series, leaving them with a huge task to fight back and defend their title.

Three tournaments remain, in Adelaide, London and Edinburgh and New Zealand will probably require victory in all three.

Fiji beat South Africa 26-24 in a gruelling final. In the last kick of the game, South Africa narrowly missed a conversion to tie. In the semifinals, the South Africans scored four tries in a 29-3 win over Samoa while Fiji were 24-7 winners over Kenya.

New Zealand, who were so dominant last year, once again paid for errors and a lack of cutting edge against a Kenyan side who have risen to become a consistent danger team. The speedy Africans also beat the more-fancied New Zealanders in pool play at the San Diego tournament last month.

Lawrence opened the scoring after just 50 seconds when he barged over for a try but his team rarely looked threatening from then as Kenya dominated the ball and possessed more pace around the park. Simiyu crossed in the fourth minute to have his side trailing 7-5 at halftime and scored the matchwinner with three minutes remaining.

On Saturday New Zealand completed pool play unbeaten with a 17-5 defeat of Australia, highlighted by two tries to Lawrence.

He has played on bravely at the tournament after learning of the death of his brother, Wiremu, in a car crash only hours before the second day's play.

"It's very hard. It's all emotional at the moment," Lawrence said last night. "But my thoughts are back with my family and theirs are with me. I'm doing this for my family."

Lawrence, 27, said his family had told him to play on as a tribute to his brother.

"My thoughts are back there but my family told me to stay here and do it for him," he said. "That's what I'm doing. I'm trying to play my best for my little brother."

The New Zealand team wore black armbands and coach Gordon Tietjens paid tribute to the courage of Lawrence.

"He was outstanding in that match with the circumstances he's under," Tietjens said.

- NZPA