The Fiji men's sevens team were starved of possession and points as New Zealand prevailed 14-0 in the Commonwealth Games final on the Gold Coast.
Photo: AFP or licensors
The Olympic sevens champions quickly found themselves on the back-foot at Robina Stadium as Etene Nanai-Seturo and Regan Ware scored to give the All Black Sevens an early 14-0 buffer before Sevuloni Mocenecagi was shown a yellow card just before half-time for a dangerous tackle.
The Fijians had won three of the past four World Series tournaments but head coach Gareth Baber said they struggled to get their hands on the ball.
"That is the knack of the game: you control possession you control most of the game and I thought New Zealand did that well for two or three minutes in the first half," he said.
"We defended really well in parts and not so good in other parts and as you said we wrestled the ball back off them and then we gave it straight back to them.
"When it's that easy for a team in a final you know they're going to create momentum from somewhere. You can't give freebies away and unfortunately that's what we did."
The Fijians needed extra time to defeat defending Commonwealth champions South Africa 24-19 in the semi finals and, after backing up from the Hong Kong Sevens last weekend, Gareth Baber said fatigue started to kick in.
Fiji men's sevens head coach, Gareth Baber Photo: RNZ/Vinnie Wylie
"I don't think we were at our best when we got to the final. We were a little bit jaded - we had a tough semi final against South Africa and obviously came through a sudden-death clincher in that one," said Baber.
"I was really pleased with the efforts we've made over the last couple of weeks. We took a team to Hong Kong and the team that went to Hong Kong came here - one of the few teams that did that - and to put ourselves in a final and just after halftime we had a break against New Zealand.
"Had we scored off that one we probably would have created some momentum but in all fairness to New Zealand they played an excellent game this afternoon and they're deserved winners."
Gareth Baber said losing Semi Kunatani for the final, after he was concussed against the Blitz Boks, was also a big blow.
"He's a character and he's a strong player. He's defended excellently throughout the two weeks he's been involved with us but he's led the team in the contact areas as well," he said.
"Having someone like that around young players, less experienced players rubs off on them and hopefully for our future it bodes well and hopefully we will see him in a white jersey again soon."
Fijiana miss out on a medal
The Fiji women's sevens team finished in fifth place on the Gold Coast after comfortable victories over South Africa and Kenya on the final day.
The Fijiana had missed out a place in the semi finals after just one win from their three pool matches.
Captain Ana Maria Roqica was rested on Sunday because of an ankle injury but was proud of the way the team responded.
Ana Maria Roqica Photo: RNZ / Vinnie Wylie
"Our plan is to win a medal on the Commomwealth Games but we didn't make it but we continued where we ended yesterday (with a narrow 17-10 defeat by Olympic champions Australia in pool play) and then we win the two games today, we're so proud of ourselves."
The Fijiana have little time to recover before next weekend's World Series tournament in Japan while the men resume head to Singapore in a fortnight.