New Zealand’s men’s sevens team will shoot for Olympic gold in their final in Tokyo tonight.
The New Zealand team were far too good for Britain in their semi-final, winning 29-7 and will face Fiji in the final. Fiji beat Argentina 26-14 in the other semi-final.
Five years ago, New Zealand finished a disappointing fifth in the Rio Olympics, but they now have the chance to make up for that with gold or, at a minimum, silver.
New Zealand, 14-7 up at halftime, ran in five tries, two apiece to the outstanding Scott Curry and Regan Ware, with the fifth coming from Dylan Collier.
Britain’s only try came from speedster Dan Norton and 7-7 that was the closest they got to the men in black.
New Zealand coach Clark Laidlaw was delighted with how his team played.
“They turned up with a really good attitude and lots of energy, and they put it together on attack and defence,” he said.
Laidlaw said the team’s experience was showing through.
“They’ve played a lot of big matches and you can see in the dressing room before a game how composed they are. They are nice and calm and relaxed, with quiet minds. But they can click a switch and bring in the energy and physicality. It’s exciting.”
He nominated the try by Ware right on halftime as a massive turning point. “In sevens at this level, there are moments that can turn a match, and that was one of them. It gave us momentum going into the second half.”