By Tom Chick in Hong Kong
New Zealand beat England 26-7 to lift the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, round seven of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
The win, inspired by captain DJ Forbes, puts them back on top of the Series standings, seven ahead of South Africa who won the Plate with Fiji a further 17 points behind having finished third as the defending champions in So Kon Po.
“It is a great feeling," said an elated Gordon Tietjen.
"My captain lead so well from the front, he was simply amazing. And also the other players linked in with him, we played a good final.
“That puts us back on top now, it’s topsy-turvy now which means we need to start well in Scotland, but this will certainly help in going towards winning that title."
Injury-hit SA win Plate
South Africa narrowly held on to beat Wales 19-14 in the final of the Plate to collect 13 valuable Series points thanks to two tries from Jamba Ulengo.
“It was important for us to win that," said head coach Neil Powell, who lost captain Kyle Brown to injury on day one.
"We knew when we lost to England in the quarter final we needed to win the Plate to get as many points on the Series log.”
Earlier they proved too strong for the USA 24-19 in the first Plate semi final.
Turnbull and Johnstone braces in Bowl final
Andrew Turnbull and James Johnstone scored two tries each in the final of the Bowl as Scotland beat France 31-5.
"Obviously the Samoa game sticks out as a bit of a sore point yesterday but to beat three quality eams today and win the Bowl is great," said captain Colin Gregor.
"Can't wait to get home now and for the next round of the Series in Glasgow. It is aways a great tournament and hopefully we'll be able to give the fans something to cheer about."
Earlier Scotland proved too strong for Argentina winning 24-12 while Virimi Vakatawa and Renaud Delmas both scored twice in Les Bleus' win over Samoa.
Injera fires Kenya to the Shield
Collins Injera moved into third in the all-time leading try scorers on day three as Kenya beat Portugal 17-10 to lift the Shield thanks to the Kenyan's fourth and fifth tries of the weekend.
“We started on the wrong foot and ended up in the wrong place to where we are supposed to be," said captain Andrew Amonde. "But a positive finish is something we can build on."
