Two tries in the last 90 seconds saw New Zealand snatch a 17-17 draw with Australia and book a quarter-final against Canada on day one of the Los Angeles sevens rugby tournament yesterday.
Speedster Cory Jane scored the final try to seal the draw and maintain NZ's unbeaten record in
pool play.
"Seven out of 10 overall - a couple of defensive deficiencies to let Australia through early. Once we got hold of it we played well, but we need to get the ball more," said coach Gordon Tietjens.
Wellington pair Lote Raikabula and Nigel Hunt were the two standouts of New Zealand's pool matches.
They play Canada in the quarter-finals today, with the winner likely to meet Fiji in the semifinals. Fiji beat New Zealand in last weekend's Wellington semifinals 26-14 before beating South Africa in a thrilling final.
New Zealand made short work of their first two pool C matches yesterday, beating Tonga 36-5 and West Indies 50-5, while Australia beat Tonga 38-12 and West Indies 33-0.
Canada came through a highly competitive pool D, upsetting South Africa 17-12, losing 5-12 to Samoa before beating Mexico 78-7.
South Africa pipped the previously unbeaten Samoa for the other playoff spot with a 28-12 win in their final pool match.
Fiji went through day one unbeaten but had to work hard before beating Argentina 17-15 and England topped pool A after a 24-19 win over France.
- NZPA
