Joe Webber snatched a dramatic victory for the hosts and defending champions in Wellington, New Zealand, a 24-21 win over South Africa, in the third round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series at the Westpac Stadium.
The All Blacks came from 14-0 and 21-7 behind to dramatically beat South Africa 24-21 in the Cup final of the HSBC Wellington Sevens.
The win sees Sir Gordon Tietjens’ move from seventh to third in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings with 47 points, five behind Fiji who finished third at the Westpac Stadium and seven behind the Blitzboks who moved ahead of Fiji for the first time this season.
There were enthralling scenes in Wellington as the hosts snatched victory at the death to claim a hat-trick of Wellington titles and a fifth in six years thanks to a match-winning try from Joe Webber. New Zealand kept the ball and their composure after the buzzer had sounded to cap a remarkable comeback, similar to that of their 17-14 pool victory over Neil Powell’s side at the end of day.
“All week we talked about how we needed a lot of heart and a lot of ticker,” said captain Tim Mikkelson. “Liam Messam came back from Japan and talked about putting the pride back in the jersey after the last couple of tournaments, and that’s what we did. We talked about securing the kick-offs and we bumbled a few and put ourselves under pressure but we knew if we coud keep the ball in hand we could win.”
