Joe Webber scored a try after the hooter to lift New Zealand over South Africa 24-21 in Sunday's final of the Wellington leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, defending the title won on home soil last year. It was a case of deja vu, as Webber also scored in extra time to give New Zealand a win over South Africa in pool play. New Zealand beat Kenya 33-0 in Sunday's quarterfinals and England 22-5 in the semifinals while South Africa defeated Australia 26-14 and World Series leader Fiji 31-0. South Africa seemed on course for victory when it led 21-7 just after halftime but Reiko Ioane scored twice in the second half and Webber crossed with the last play of the match. New Zealand came into its home tournament in seventh place on the World Series standings after being ravaged by injuries in the first two tournaments at Dubai and Cape Town. Sunday's win thrust it back into Series contention but, more importantly, restated its challenge to South Africa and Fiji for the gold medal at this year's Olympics. South Africa leads the Series standings by two points from Fiji which beat England 24-12 in the playoff for third place. New Zealand moved up to third ahead of next weekend's leg in Sydney. — AP
