Kiwis do the double
The 2012/13 champions New Zealand ended the season on a high, beating Australia 47-12 in the Final at the London leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
In winning their second Cup title of the season New Zealand lifted their 11th World Series title in 14 years and their first London Sevens title since 2007 at Twickenham – with Tim Mikkelson ending an impressive season with two tries and a selfless assist for Warwick Lahmert with the win secured.
Hosts England finished third for the second successive tournament after beating Kenya 26-19 despite a hat-trick from William Ambaka, with Dan Norton ending the London Sevens with 10 tries to finish the Series as the leading try and points scorer.
At the end of the Series, New Zealand finished top in the overall standings with 173 points – ahead of South Africa (132), Fiji (121) and Samoa (104).
Having reached five Cup semifinals across the season Mike Friday's Kenya (99) ended fifth with the hosts England sixth (92).
In the qualifying tournament, Scotland, Spain and Portugal all re-qualified to ensure they play on all nine rounds of the 2013/14 Series.
Cup:
New Zealand head coach Gordon Tietjens said they took it "one game at a time" on their way to the title in London.
"Kenya twice was very very hard, even Australia we knew was going to be a tough one," Tietjens said.
"We work really hard and you get a lot when you work hard. We have got a great team here and a lot of young players.
"Tim Mikkelson was simply outstanding.
"There will be no easy games in the world cup and we will go there and give it our best shot that is what keeps us going."
Result: New Zealand 47-12 Australia
Third-place play-off result: Kenya 19-26 England
Semifinals:
The 2012/13 World Series champions New Zealand were the first side to reach the London Sevens Cup Final, after beating Kenya 7-0 thanks to Pita Ahki's try.
Australia then held off an onslaught from the hosts to win 14-7 in their semifinal.
Results:
New Zealand 7-0 Kenya
Australia 14-7 England
Quarterfinals:
Hosts England scored an extra-time winner to edge South Africa 19-14 in the quarterfinals.
The hosts, England, came from 0-14 behind to beat SA after sudden death extra time in the fourth and final Cup quarterfinal.
Marcus Watson scored the winning try to the delight of the home crowd after a great break from Dan Norton, and will now face Australia in the Cup semifinals.
In the first quarterfinal Kurt Baker (2), Lote Raikabula (3), Sherwin Stowers, Rocky Khan and Tim Mikkelson all scored for the 2012/13 Sevens World Series champions against Argentina with Raikabula's third try in his hat-trick was his 100th Series career try.
In the second quarterfinal Oscar Ouma scored twice as Kenya recorded a first ever victory against Fiji, winning 20-7. James Stannard then broke the hearts of the Americans, scoring a match winning try in Australia's 24-19 in an enthralling match.
Results:
England 19-14 South Africa
Australia 24-19 United States
Kenya 20-7 Fiji
New Zealand 52-7 Argentina
Plate:
Fiji prevented USA winning a third successive Plate by winning 14-5 in the final.
Result: Fiji 14-5 United States
Semifinals:
Fiji beat Argentina 26-12 in the first Plate semifinal and will face USA who beat South Africa 22-5 and the Eagles will be looking for a third successive Plate title.
Their victory was only their second ever against South Africa, the first coming on day one.
Results:
United States 22-5 South Africa
Argentina 12-26
Bowl:
Final:
Wales beat France 19-7 in the Final of the Bowl thanks to a James Davies hat-trick.
Result: Wales 19-7 France
Semifinals:
Wales met France in the Final of the Bowl competition after beating Samoa 21-12 in the semifinals, before Les Bleus defeated Canada 28-14 thanks to Terry Bouhraoua scoring 13 points.
Results:
France 28-14 Canada
Wales 21-12 Samoa
