All Blacks Sevens make history in Hamilton

The All Blacks Sevens extended their record as the most successful team on home soil in the history of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with a 27-5 defeat of France in the HSBC New Zealand Sevens Cup final on Sunday.

The title was New Zealand’s tenth on home soil but the first in Hamilton, having won their last title in Wellington in 2016. It was also their 60th title in series history and the second of the season after victory in Cape Town last month.

The victory extended the All Blacks Sevens’ advantage at the top of the standings from nothing to 15 points over South Africa, who could only finish 10th in Hamilton. France are third on 48 points with England fourth on 39.

All Blacks Sevens co-captain Tim Mikkelson said, “The French have that flair and they’re a team on the rise, they’re playing extremely well. We haven’t gone that well the last couple of years so we felt like we owed it to the crowd and to our families here to go well this tournament. Everything we do we do it for each other, it doesn’t matter if you start or come off the bench, you’ve got a role to play. The boys are just keen to work for each other. To play in front of our families is something special and to do that in front of our families and to win it is even better.”

The teams now head across the Tasman to Australia for the HSBC Sydney Sevens at Bankwest Stadium on 1-2 February, round four of the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020. The Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens will take place 3-5 April.