Victor Vito scored two tries, including the clincher 10 seconds from full-time, as New Zealand beat defending champion Samoa 22-17 in Saturday's final of the Wellington sevens.

New Zealand came from behind in both halves to win for the third time in three tournaments this season after their victories over Fiji in Dubai and South Africa.

The win gave New Zealand a commanding 24-point lead over Fiji in the series standings, after Fiji's shock 19-17 loss to Samoa in the Wellington quarter-finals.

Fiji were later beaten 26-19 by South Africa in the semi-finals of the consolation plate and took only four championship points from the tournament.

Samoa stunned New Zealand with a length of the field try to Mikaele Pesamino in the first minute of Saturday's final for a 7-0 lead.

New Zealand hit back with Vito's first try in the seventh minute and a second try two minutes later to Zar Lawrence, which gave them a 12-7 lead at half-time.

Pesamino set up a try for Reupena Lavasa in the second minute of the second half and a dropped goal to Lolo Lui put Samoa ahead 17-12.

New Zealand again recovered to tie the scores with an unconverted try to Steven Yates. Vito, playing on his home ground, broke the defence with only seconds on the clock to score the try that gave New Zealand victory.

New Zealand and Samoa both emerged from Pool A in the four-pool tournament, which was notable for upset results. England and Argentina both failed to win a match in pool play while Tonga progressed to the semi-finals of an IRB sevens tournament for the first time, before losing 24-21 to Samoa.

After beating Australia in the semi-finals, New Zealand captured their home crown with the win over Samoa.

NZ trample Australia

New Zealand's superior size and fitness told as they charged into the final with a powerful six-try performance at Westpac Stadium.

The Australians looked like they would put up a fight when Tim Wright miraculously held up Zar Lawrence when the New Zealander crossed the tryline in the opening seconds.

However, normal business resumed when impressive forwards Steven Yates and Edwin Cocker crossed for tries.

Scott Higginbotham kept the contest alive at 10-7 when he scored just before halftime for Australia.

However, as was the case against Wales, the hosts were untouchable in the second spell, with tries going to captain D.J. Forbes, Lawrence, twice, while Yates also bagged his second.

Australia's cause wasn't helped by a yellow card being dished out to Higginbotham early in the second half.

Earlier, Australia had hammered Scotland 31-7 in the quarter-finals.

"We haven't been in a final in Wellington for a little while so it's definitely a special occasion," the New Zealand captain said after the final.

"We knew Samoa would definitely be tougher than last night [when New Zealand beat Samoa 19-7 in pool play].

"They're last year's champs and we knew they'd come out firing. But we knew we'd be fitter and in the last minutes tonight we really proved it."

South Africa beat Wales 26-19 to win the plate final while England beat Argentina 12-7 to win the bowl. The United States beat Kenya 19-17 in the Shield final.

The next round of the series begins in San Diego on Friday.

Results

Shield
Semi-finals
United States 19 Canada 7
Kenya 38 Papua New Guinea 7
 
Final
United States 19 Kenya 17
 
Bowl
Quarter-finals
England 33 Canada 17
France 17 United States 12
Argentina 19 Kenya 7
Cook Islands 24 Papua New Guinea 17
 
Semi-finals
England 14 France 5
Argentina 36 Cook Islands 5
 
Final
England 12 Argentina 7
 
Plate
Semi-finals
Wales 24 Scotland 12
South Africa 26 Fiji 19
 
Final
South Africa 19 Wales 12
 
Cup
Quarter-finals
New Zealand 40 Wales 5
Australia 31 Scotland 7
Tonga 14 South Africa 10
Samoa 19 Fiji 17
 
Semi-finals
New Zealand 32 Australia 7
Samoa 24 Tonga 21
 
Final
New Zealand 22 Samoa 17

Agencies