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Sonny Bill Williams New Zealand won the Wellington round of the Sevens World Series
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England was beaten 24-14 by Fiji in the third-place play-off
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The men in white England, who were beaten 25-5 by New Zealand in the semi-final
Two poor Sonny Bill Williams mistakes saw the All Blacks go 21-7 behind in the final, but the hosts came back to beat South Africa 24-21 at Westpac Stadium, with Joe Webber going over to win it with the last touch.
Williams said after the win “I’m privileged to be playing with such great players, I’ve got a lot to work on, and it’s a learning curve, but I’m just glad to be doing it with these guys.”
The 30-year-old World Cup winner has committed to the New Zealand sevens team with the aim of representing his country at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Despite their defeat in Wellington, South Africa top the overall World Series standings after reaching the final.
Meanwhile, Simor Amor’s England rugby sevens team settled for fourth at the World Series event in Wellington.
After a 33-7 quarter-final victory Argentina, they paid the price for a succession of missed tackles as hosts New Zealand won their semi-final 25-5. And Fiji were always better valued in the third place play-off, winning 24-12 against a tired looking England.
England remain fourth in the overall standings – behind South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand after three events.
They’ll now be determined to make the medals next weekend in Sydney, where they will take on the USA, Japan and Wales in the group stages.