New Zealand's Hong Kong sevens campaign has been rocked to the core with a narrow 24-19 escape against minnows Japan.
The Kiwi side played with little continuity or inspiration, eventually maintaining enough composure to win in the final play with a try to Dwayne Sweeney. He made up for butchering
a try against Singapore on Friday night when he was nudged over the dead ball line. There was no such hesitation putting the ball down this time.
Japan led 12-5 at halftime and 19-17 until the final minute. New Zealand's cause was not helped by the sin-binning of captain Tafai Ioasa for obstruction. Japan also lost a player for a head-high tackle on Charles Baxter in the final minute. For New Zealand, Nigel Hunt scored two tries, while Ioasa and Sweeney also crossed.
New Zealand now face what shapes as a tough battle against Scotland overnight. Scotland was earlier an 82-0 winner over Singapore, a team New Zealand beat by 52 points on Friday.
So it is a far cry from the form shown by the side that won the Commonwealth Games gold medal last month. Just five of the 12 players remain from that tournament and it has shown, with a marked increase in the team's level of on-field chaos.
New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens was furious with his side's lack of application. "I think they thought they just had to go out, put some points on and play the finals later on," said Tietjens. "You'd have to feel for Japan, they made all the play."
Tietjens said his side has never lost a pool game while he's been coach in Hong Kong, despite going close against Croatia almost a decade ago in a similar scenario. "At least we had the composure to win in the end," the disappointed coach said.
So it remains a big task for New Zealand to win in Hong Kong for the first time since 2001 at the 30th anniversary event.
-HERALD ON SUNDAY
