Perfection can topple NZ Sevens: coach - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Perfection can topple NZ Sevens: coach

By Steve Larkin 04/04/2008 12:46:29 PM Comments (0)

Perfection will be required to stop an all-conquering New Zealand from claiming another world rugby Sevens title this weekend, Australian coach Bill Millard says.

The Kiwis enter this weekend's Adelaide leg of the International Rugby Board Sevens tournament on a 42 match winning streak, which has returned a record seven tournament victories in a row.

Another triumph at Adelaide Oval on Saturday and Sunday will seal the New Zealanders their eighth world crown in nine years.

"For someone to beat them, they're going to have to play that perfect game of sevens," Millard said.

"They're always very strong, they have got a lot of depth to pick from and have got a very stable team and they really grind out games.

"They're very disciplined, they do the basics well 100 per cent of the time - they don't make mistakes."

The Kiwis (110 points) are 38 points ahead of nearest rival South Africa on the overall series standings, with Australia (22 points) eighth.

The Australians bowed out of last weekend's Hong Kong leg when defeated in a quarter-final by South Africa.

In Adelaide, the host nation has been grouped with the South Africans, Canada and the United States.

Millard, retaining the same 12 players from Hong Kong for the Adelaide tournament, said his outfit was growing in confidence.

"Just the fact that we brought the same 12 that played in Hong Kong because there were no injuries, they're a little bit more comfortable with each other on-field and off-field which always helps," he said.

"They played some good footy in Hong Kong and they know if they execute the stuff we have spoken about, we can only improve.

"You never look past the quarters, obviously we are here to win the tournament, you go into every tournament to win it.

"But if you get too far in front of yourself you can get yourself in trouble."

Millard was hopeful playing on home soil would benefit the Australians.

"We get booed everywhere we go quite violently, so it's nice for the boys to have that home support and you'd like to think that gives them that extra edge come game time," he said.

The series has two more legs after Adelaide, in England on May 24-25 and Scotland on May 31-June 1.

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