Sevens men into final

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.”