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England eliminated by NZ
01/04/2007 13:06 - (SA)
Hong Kong - England lost to world No 1 New Zealand 0-26 in the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament on Sunday, failing to reverse a lacklustre year and dashing its hopes of a season championship.
The defending champion and world No 5, which has not won a title on the IRB Sevens circuit this year, struggled to attack against the Kiwis.
Nigel Hunt, Afeleke Pelenise and Steven Yates each scored a try to give New Zealand a 19-0 lead at the half. Solomon King found the line in the second to seal the win.
"We were beaten by a better side," said England coach Ben Ryan.
Ryan said he had dispatched too many players to steal the ball, leaving few players to run offence.
"If you get a small thing wrong against one of the top four teams, you're going to get in trouble," he said.
Ryan said England is also in transition, having lost some veteran players from last year's squad to England's senior rugby teams.
New Zealand plays Fiji in the semi-finals later. Fiji beat Scotland 28-7 in another quarter-final highlighted by a brilliant try by William Ryder.
Ryder scored after weaving his way through defenders while running the full length of the field.
World No 4 Samoa beat Australia 26-17. In the semi-finals Samoa will play South Africa, which beat Tonga 19-7.
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Rugby
