NZ 7s: Waikato comeback too much
New champions were crowned after the Final of New Zealand's national Sevens tournament in Rotorua on Sunday.
The Waikato men beat Wellington 38-19 in a feast of tries with men's player of the tournament and crowd favourite, Luke Masirewa grabbing a double-try and the attention of All Blacks Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens.
Waikato come back from a 12-point deficit to take the title.
Wellington got off to a 12-0 lead in the Final at Mt Maunganui, but Waikato came storming back to lead 14-12 at half-time.
Waikato then raced away in the second half to take the title 38-19, outscoring Wellington six tries to three.
Masirewa was on fire all weekend, and proved to be the circuit-breaker his team needed. Masirewa thrilled Waikato supporters with a 60-metre runaway try that sparked a scoreless Waikato into life, and he promptly followed that with a second five-pointer, having slipped and stepped out of Wellington's stunned defence.
That sparked a fantastic Waikato come-back.
Wellington scored another two tries in the second half, but the momentum was already lost as Waikato notched up four more tries with Dylan Collier and Declan O'Donnell both nabbing doubles.
All the play-off results:
Bowl quarterfinals:
Horowhenua Kapiti 14-10 South Canterbury
North Harbour 29-7 Mid Canterbury
Manawatu 21-7 Wairarapa Bush
Canterbury 12-19 Tasman
Cup quarterfinals:
Taranaki 10-21 Counties Manukau
Wellington 24-17 Otago
Auckland 14-28 Waikato
Bay of Plenty 17-12 Northland
Shield semifinals:
South Canterbury 12-24 Mid Canterbury
Wairarapa Bush 12-26 Canterbury
Bowl semifinals:
Horowhenua Kapiti 5-26 North Harbour
Manawatu 26-19 Tasman
Plate semifinals:
Taranaki 28-19 Otago
Auckland 7-27 Northland
Cup semifinals:
Counties Manukau 7-14 Wellington
Waikato 33-0 Bay of Plenty
Shield Final:
Mid Canterbury 19-19 Canterbury (Canterbury won in sudden-death extra time)
Bowl Final:
North Harbour 21-21 Manawatu (North Harbour won in sudden-death extra time)
Plate Final:
Taranaki 22-7 Northland
Cup Final:
Wellington 38-19Waikato
Sources: NZ Newswire & Stuff