Rugby Sevens: New Zealand Claim Victory in Port Elizabeth Thriller

New Zealand scored a last-minute try to win the Port Elizabeth leg of the IRB World Sevens Series, in a close battle with the home team South Africa in the final.

The World Series defending champion New Zealand team entered the tournament having failed to deliver the goods at the first two tournaments in the 2011/12 season, including an embarrassing quarterfinal exit in the last tournament in Dubai. 

Although you wouldn't know this after their form on day one. They showed exactly why many regard them to be the best team on the planet, giving three dominant performances to see that they would top their pool and set up a quarterfinal showdown with their Trans-Tasman rivals, Australia.

A strong start saw New Zealand take what was a comfortable 21-5 win, with Australia only really threatening the kiwi's late in the game. They would progress to play champions from Dubai and England in their semifinal.

This would turn out to be a much stiffer task. After gaining a 14-0 halftime lead, New Zealand would give up two second half tries, taking the score to 14all with just minutes to play.

But the men in black dug deep to score a last-minute try that would see them progress to take on South Africa in the final.

This would prove to be a thriller, as the game went back and forth with neither team prepared to let the other get away. 

New Zealand started strong scoring two tries, but South Africa hit back and with a minute to play. The score was 26-24 in favour of the hosts.

The home side opted to send a long kick down into the New Zealand 22, meaning the men in black would have to go 100m if they were to win.

And that they did, after a regathered kick allowed Toby Arnold to cross the line before giving the ball to Tomasi Cama to touch down, giving New Zealand the luckiest of escapes.

Cama was the standout player throughout for New Zealand, delivering another typical performance that saw him key in setting up his team's tries. DJ Forbes worked tirelessly around the field, while Frank Halai continued his devastating form to be the tournament leading try scorer.

The win sees New Zealand are now tied for first place with Fiji on the overall standings, with South Africa and England close behind.