New Zealand have promised to guard against complacency as they look to extend their record streak of match wins and end a seven-year title drought at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens this weekend.
New Zealand have swept all before them this season, winning in Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand and the US and they sit atop the IRB Sevens World Series with a maximum 80 points, 32 clear of second-placed South Africa.
The hot favorites beat South Africa in the US last month to extend their winning streak to 36 matches, and victory in Hong Kong would all but wrap up their eighth series title in nine years.
PHOTO: AFP
But coach Gordon Tietjens is determined not to allow any let-up as New Zealand seek their first win in Hong Kong, jewel in the world sevens series, since 2001.
Tietjens's charges will face the US, Tunisia and Taiwan in Pool A at the three-day tournament, which starts today. He said taking the title here was crucial because the winner earns 30 points, the most on offer in any event.
"Even though we have won the first four tournaments, we cannot afford to be complacent and it is important that we continue to stay focused and continue that momentum," Tietjens said.
New Zealand skipper DJ Forbes told reporters yesterday his side cannot leave anything to chance as they seek to continue their domination of this year's series.
"We take confidence from past results but we can't rest on past performances. You're only as good as your last game in sevens," he said.
New Zealand reclaimed their world sevens crown from Fiji last year in dramatic fashion when they won the last leg of the series in Edinburgh, their seventh victory since the series was created in 1999.
South Africa, who reached the semi-finals in Dubai and South Africa, are drawn in Pool C alongside Argentina, Russia and Japan as they bid for their first Hong Kong win.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS