NEW ZEALAND made it three in a row at the Hong Kong sevens by defeating Fiji 21-17 in an exciting final watched by over 40,000 people. Prior to the final, New Zealand were expected to win easily as no team had managed to control Jonah Lomu in the previous games.

Fiji - amazingly - managed, but New Zealand had another star in 20-year-old Wellington full-back, Christian Cullen, who wash the outstanding player of the tournament. It was his break from a seemingly impossible position close to his own deadball line that led to the decisive score.

Ireland qualified for the cup play-offs as second best group runners-up, having beaten Namibia and Malaysia and drawn with Western Samoa in a bruising encounter. Against New Zealand, however, in the quarter-finals they were never in the game, going down 49 points to nil. The statistics show that Ireland had as much possession, but the scores all came from the All Blacks.

In the semi-finals, New Zealand met England, who put up a brave performance and became the first team to score three tries against them, before going down 42-19.

Wales also went out in the quarter-final, beaten 28-12 by Fiji, while Scotland, who never made it past the group stages, suffered further disappointment when they lost 15-7 to eventual winners France in the Plate.

Next year this tournament will step aside temporarily to make way for the World Cup sevens. It will be a major surprise if this New Zealand side fail to lift that trophy after their performances over the weekend.