New Zealand win IRB Sevens Series

England's failure to qualify out of their group in front of a record crowd at Twickenham on Saturday saw New Zealand win the IRB Sevens World Series title with a day remaining of the London event.

A crowd of 54,357 at 'headquarters', a record in the series' 12-year history, saw England win just one out of their three Pool matches.

The hosts, fortunate to see off the United States 31-21 after Ben Gollings appeared to drop the ball in the act of scoring a try, lost 21-14 to France after conceding a late try to Mathieu Acebes.

England had to beat Argentina to secure a quarter-final spot but were instead held to a 12-12 draw.

Meanwhile New Zealand, who will face the Pumas in the last eight, recorded convincing wins over Spain (40-7), Kenya (28-12) and Wales (31-12).

Sunday's other quarter-finals see France playing Wales, Fiji up against fellow Pacific Islanders Samoa and Australia facing South Africa.

Rugby Football Union (RFU) business director Paul Vaughan is hoping for another bumper crowd following Saturday's huge attendance.

"The first-day record is a testimony to the booming global popularity of sevens," he said.

"We hope a good second day will take a sevens weekend past the 100,000 mark for the first time, which would be a magnificent achievement."

AFP