NZ through to Wellington sevens final

4 Feb 2012, 5:56 pm   -   Source: AAP
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New Zealand downed England 17-12 in extra time to set up a final against Fiji in the Wellington rugby sevens.

Frank Halai's extra-time try put New Zealand into the Wellington rugby sevens final in a nailbiting 17-12 win over England in the semi-final on Saturday.

They will meet Fiji, who ran riot 28-5 in a bruising encounter against Samoa in the other semi-final.

Fiji and New Zealand are tied at the top of the world sevens ladder, both with 51 points after the first three legs of the nine-tournament series.

New Zealand again started slowly, and were kept scoreless in the first half. Greg Barden opened the scoring after four minutes, as England moved the ball wide after Matt Turner's initial break.

The New Zealanders attacked the England line as halftime neared, but paid the price for losing possession and England picked up their second through Chris Cracknell on the last play after the hooter.

Trailing 12-0 at the break, New Zealand looked to have run out of ideas. England maintained momentum in the second spell, running hard at the New Zealand defence and attacking relentlessly at the breakdown.

However, composure in defence paid dividends for New Zealand as Tomasi Cama's clearing kick under pressure sat up for Charles Piutau, who had too much pace out wide.

Cama added the extras, and New Zealand drew even through All Blacks wing Hosea Gear with just over a minute remaining as England's cover defence struggled following James Rodwell's yellow card.

Halai's try after 90 seconds of extra time sealed the match, a similar result to the last time the two teams met in the semi-finals of the South African leg of the world series, when New Zealand edged England 19-14.

New Zealand captain DJ Forbes was a relieved man afterwards, but said he was always confident his team could fight back.

"It was a bit of a test of character - we've been in situations like that before where we've had to come back," he said.

"We knew we could do it, we just needed to get some possession. When we got some ball and put together a few phases, it was an awesome finish."

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