All Blacks Sevens have edged archrivals Fiji 28-21 to capture the World Rugby sevens tournament at Los Angeles - their first victory of the series in the last event of the season.
New Zealand were on the backfoot early, with the Fijians scoring first, but put their noses in front, when Tone Ng Shiu was shoved into touch, as he dove for a try in the corner. The no-arms shoulder tackle earned Waisea Nacuqu a yellow card and two minutes on the sideline, and the Kiwis took at 14-7 with the penalty try.
Nacuqu returned to score before halftime and locked at 14-14, the match was still anyone's to win. Ng Shiu touched down to give his team the lead, but when Sione Molia was yellow-carded for a high tackle, Filipe Sauturaga answered for Fiji.
Moses Leo finally put the contest to bed for New Zealand with a try that survived a review, after he flirted with the deadball line.
The Pacific Islanders had a minute to force extra time, but could not get their hands on the ball in the dying seconds, eventually knocking on to end the match.
After meeting 29 times in world series finals, New Zealand now enjoy at 15-14 head-to-head record over their rivals.
Earlier, the Kiwis pulled off a last-gasp 28-26 win over Samoa in the semi-finals.
The New Zealanders overcame two yellow cards to fight back from 14-0 down and steal the match, thanks to a try from captain Sione Molia with time expired.
The Fijians beat Australia 29-10 in their semi-final to advance, but the Aussies sealed the overall series crown with victory over Samoa for third.
The All Blacks Sevens improved to eighth, after missing the first four tournaments of the calendar, due to COVID-19 lockdown.
After going unbeaten in pool play, the NZ men booked their spot in the final four with a 29-14 victory over Ireland in the quarter-final.
They ran in four tries in the first half to lead 24-0 at the interval, leaving the Irish far too steep a hill to climb in the second stanza.
All Blacks Sevens finished at the top of Pool B courtesy of wins over hosts USA, South Africa, and Canada.
NZ 28 (Ware, Ng Shiu & Leo tries, penalty try; Rokolisoa 2 & Baker conversions) Fiji 21 (Rasaku, Nacuqu & Sauturaga tries; Nacuqu 3 conversions)
NZ 28 (Rokolisoa 2, Baker, Molia tries; Rokolisoa 2 conversions, Baker 2 conversions) Samoa 26 (Onosai, Maliko, Sione, Scanlan tries; Melani Matavao 3 conversions)
NZ 29 (Webber, Nicole, McGarvey-Black, Ormond, Tangitau tries; Rokolisoa 2 conversions) Ireland 14 (Terry Kennedy, Ed Kelly tries; Mark Roche conversion, Billy Dardis conversion)
