Disappointed Kiwis turn attention to Las Vegas February 08, 2010
A philosophical New Zealand team leaves for Las Vegas today determined to use the hurt from its NZI Sevens stumble as a positive.
Both coach Gordon Tietjens and captain DJ Forbes according to reports stuff.co.nz were bitterly disappointed by Saturday's semifinal 24-14 loss to Samoa, but they viewed it more as a bad night at the office than anything of deeper concern.
They have a chance to redeem themselves this weekend, with the fourth round of the world series being held in Las Vegas.
New Zealand still top the overall standings, having won the first two rounds in Dubai and George, but their lead has been reduced from 12 to four points.
Fiji, who are second overall, picked up 24 points for winning in Wellington, while New Zealand's semifinal exit saw them claim 16.
It was a second successive anticlimax for the hometown crowd, after New Zealand lost the final to England in last year's event.
"You can turn a loss into a real positive," Tietjens mused.
"The guys are hurting but you don't like that hurt so you're going to bounce back and try and turn the situation around in the next tournament.
"That's the good thing, we've got another opportunity next week."
New Zealand have a tough draw in Las Vegas, with a probable quarterfinal against either Fiji or South Africa, but Tietjens was confident they would bounce back.
"It's never predictable, sevens rugby, but the main thing this week is to put this game behind us."
Uncompromising defence had characterised New Zealand's tournament in Wellington and was a feature of the 24-12 quarterfinal win against Australia.
But everything that could go wrong against Samoa did in a performance riddled with enough mistakes to last an entire tournament.
New Zealand dropped off tackles – Forbes was livid with himself for missing a one-on-one close to the line – standout performer Sherwin Stowers threw an intercept pass, and Tomasi Cama and Ben Souness both dropped kickoffs that led to tries.
"We missed a few crucial mistakes and we just lacked the composure that had been there all tournament, which was disappointing," said Tietjens, who denied there was a lack of focus in the semifinal, with a Fiji-New Zealand final widely predicted to take place two hours later.
"We just missed those first-up tackles and that puts a lot of pressure on you, and they gained a lot of confidence. Ad Feedback
"You're up against teams who are as good as you and it's going to come down to a spilt pass, a missed tackle, something like that. That's sevens rugby unfortunately."
Forbes acknowledged Samoa were better and, like Tietjens, he offered no excuses.
Tietjens said they would take the same squad of 12 to Las Vegas.
News on
RSS 
