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NZ defence up with the best

Coach Gordon Tietjens described New Zealand's defensive effort in its 19-7 win over South Africa at the Wellington sevens as one of the best he has seen during his time in charge.

Saturday, 06 February 2010

Sportal.co.nz

Coach Gordon Tietjens described New Zealand's defensive effort in its 19-7 win over South Africa at the Wellington sevens as one of the best he has seen during his time in charge.

The tournament favourite was forced to dig deep early in its final pool match against the IRB World Sevens Series champions before Sherwin Stowers stepped through a couple of tackles to scorch in under the posts to break the deadlock.

But South Africa tied the match up again on the stroke of half-time before Zar Lawrence and Kurt Baker each scored to set up a Bowl quarter-final against Australia on Saturday.

"I've never seen defence like it to be fair. I've coached this team for a long, long time and that was one of the most defensive displays I've had from any of my sides," said the New Zealand coach after his side went through day one at a lively Westpac Stadium unbeaten.

"We had to work so, so hard. If you defend well in tournaments it wins you tournaments.

"It was a matter of guys emptying the tank I suppose. The guys were out for the count. I think both teams were in the end.

"It probably came down to us making the least number of errors when we had the possession and scoring vital tries."

The win, coupled with earlier victories over Wales (29-5) and Niue (49-5) ensured New Zealand avoided a potentially tricky tie against Fiji but Tietjens warned that pool B runner-up Australia would be no easy-beat.

"They've got some pace out wide. They've got some steppers. They are getting better and better," he said of the trans-Tasman rival.

"They've brought in a lot of young players they are looking to develop. It took a while for Fiji to get on top of them but once they got on top of them they sort of fell away a little bit and that may be due perhaps to the inexperience.

"But in quarter-finals they are as good as some other teams out there so it's going to be a pretty even match.

"We've got to get up for it. We might have the support here but you've still got to have the ammunition so the guys have got to do recovery and hopefully they can step up tomorrow."

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