The New Zealand 7's team made a superb comeback to beat South Africa 26‑21 to clinch a quarterfinal berth at the Cape Town Sevens.
Clark Laidlaw's team had been staring down the barrel of missing the quarterfinals cut for the first time in the series' 20‑year history after losing to Samoa 21‑17 following an after‑the‑final‑hooter try to Sir Gordon Tietjens' team.
A loss to South Africa would have sent the Kiwis crashing out ‑ a week after winning the Dubai Sevens crown.
South Africa broke the game open with a try to Rosko Specman, who skipped past three Kiwi defenders, two minutes before halftime.
But New Zealand struck back with a runaway try to Andrew Knewstubb in the final minute and another to captain Sione Molia for a 14‑7 halftime lead.
But former world sevens player of the year Werner Kok tied it up with a converted try soon after the restart.
Substitute Branco du Preez forced a turnover at the tackle and later sped away for South Africa's third try for a 21‑14 lead with little over one minute to play.
But New Zealand grabbed a heart stopping win after two late tries, to Molia and Vilimoni Koroi ‑ on the last play of the game ‑ to join South Africa in the quarterfinals.
[Source: stuff.co]
