KEY POINTS:
Completing the year unbeaten is the next target for New Zealand's all-conquering sevens rugby team.
With their Hong Kong monkey off their back and the International Rugby Board series all-but sewn up, coach Gordon Tietjens' men can now contemplate utter domination of the 2007-08 season.
The sixth leg
of the series is in Adelaide this weekend, with London and Edinburgh hosting the final legs in late May.
A clean sweep is on the cards if New Zealand continue to play with the authority that saw them win in Hong Kong for the first time in seven years last night.
They were never challenged by their two nearest rivals, thumping Fiji 34-0 in the semifinal and South Africa 26-12 in the final.
Unbeaten in 42 games and through seven successive tournaments, the New Zealanders have soared to 110 IRB series points, with South Africa next on 72.
Captain DJ Forbes said his team had developed a self-belief that made them more and more difficult to contain in major matches.
"You have to be confident going into finals games," he said.
"It is all about pressure and we have certainly taken things forward. We have done seven (tournaments) in a row, so why can't we go all the way.
"It is special to us and we have made a bit of history which is something that the boys can be proud of. We want to be a team that is remembered."
Forbes was once again a key plank in New Zealand's tactics to dominate physically, winning the battle for possession and pressurising opponents with aggressive defence.
"We pride ourselves on our defence. Out of the six matches, we limited each side to a max of two tries per match, so we are proud of that."
Lote Raikabula inspired New Zealand in the final, scoring two tries in the first half to help open up a 21-7 lead and setting another up for Zar Lawrence early in the second half.
Steven Yates scored the other, his eighth of the tournament and 27th of an outstanding season.
South Africa opened their scoring with an opportunistic try to Mzandile Stick after an uncharacteristic error by player of the tournament Tomasi Cama, while their second was a consolation to winger Fabien Juries.
In the semifinal Victor Vito was the standout, tormenting the Fijians with his power and pace in New Zealand's six-try performance.
Tietjens suggested opponents were struggling to counter New Zealand's muscular style, while singling out Forbes for his leadership.
"The physicality of my players in contact was outstanding and keeping the ball when we needed to and also scoring some good tries to go with it," he said.
"DJ Forbes leads from the front and he is ruthless in the contact areas and is just a great leader who inspires the players. He is a different kind of captain to (Liam) Messam or (Eric) Rush, but he is a special captain."
South Africa were never in the hunt in their first Hong Kong final, leaving coach Paul Treu with more to think about ahead of the Adelaide event starting on Saturday.
"One thing that we have to realise is that we will never beat New Zealand physically," he said.
"We will have to play the game much smarter and there were a few times where we went into contact and lost the ball. Those are areas that we need to think about and just identify the opportunities on the field."
New Zealand will bring home a $US100,000 ($NZ127,388) first prize.
- NZPA
