CARSON, CALIFORNIA (AP) – Brady Rush scored with seconds remaining to seal New Zealand’s 22-12 victory over Argentina in the Los Angeles Sevens final yesterday, avenging an upset loss on home soil a month ago.
The New Zealanders led 17-0 at halftime after a pair of tries from Leroy Carter following the long-range opener from Moses Leo, who sprinted almost the length of the field down the left wing.
But Argentina hit back with tries to Tobias Wade and Agustin Fraga to narrow the margin to five points and again threatened a comeback win.
The New Zealanders had squandered a 12-point lead to lose the final to Argentina at Hamilton last month but held firm this time to close it out and complete back-to-back titles on the World Sevens Series circuit after winning in Sydney last month.
The Kiwis have 107 points after six of 11 tournaments. Argentina moved into second spot on 86, equal with South Africa, while Olympic champion Fiji moved into fourth spot on 84 points with a 21-19 bronze-medal win over Australia.
All Blacks Sevens captain Sam Dickson said he hoped his team had given the people at home a little boost after Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand earlier this month, killing 11 people and causing billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure.
“A shout out to the people back home doing it tough. We’re thinking of you,” he said. “Hopefully you enjoyed that and it put a smile on your dial for a little bit.”
It was an unusual final in Los Angeles, featuring two teams which had lost in the group stage. Argentina lost the tournament-opening game 7-5 to Britain and the New Zealanders lost 14-7 to Samoa to finish second in their group.
But New Zealand rebounded strongly in the knockout stages, beating Britain 24-12 in the quarterfinals and Australia 33-17 in the semifinals, while Argentina had a 19-12 win over Samoa in the quarterfinals before edging Fiji 20-17 to reach the deciding match.
The first half of the final was lopsided, with Leo scoring from deep in his own quarter in the fourth minute and Carter outpacing the cover defence with a simple move from a scrum in the sixth minute. Carter crossed again on the right side two minutes later to finish off a counterattack that started from inside New Zealand’s own in-goal area with Argentina pressing for a try just before halftime.
At 17-12 and about a minute remaining, the New Zealanders opted for a midfield scrum after Argentina’s kick restart didn’t go the required distance, and maintained possession as they steadily worked up field, spreading the ball from one edge to the other. Rush picked up a loose pass, threw a dummy inside ball before rounding the defence in a 30-metre run to clinch the win.
