Inspired by an outstanding performance by captain DJ Forbes, New Zealand strode to a 26-7 victory over England to secure their first Hong Kong Sevens title since 2011.

The win moves them seven points clear of South Africa at the top of the Sevens World Series after the South African's quarter-final loss at the hands of England.

"It is a great feeling," said New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjen.

"My captain lead so well from the front, he was simply amazing.

"And also the other players linked in with him, we played a good final.

"That puts us back on top now, it's topsy-turvy now which means we need to start well in Scotland, but this will certainly help in going towards winning that title."

An inspirational performance by captain DJ Forbes ensured New Zealand lifted the Hong Kong Sevens Cup ©IRB



After losing to England in the Cup semi-final, Fiji came back strongly to seal third place with victory over Australia.

South Africa bounced back from their quarter-final loss to England to edge Wales in the Plate final.

The injury-hit South Africa, who lost captain Kyle Brown on the opening day of action, narrowly held on to a 19-14 lead to collect a valuable 13 points and stay in contention atop the World standings.

"It was important for us to win that," said head coach Neil Powell.

"We knew when we lost to England in the quarter-final we needed to win the Plate to get as many points on the Series log."

Two tries apiece from Andrew Turnbull and James Johnstone saw Scotland thrash France 31-5 in the final of the Bowl, while in the Shield Collins Injera moved into third in the all-time leading try scorers as his fourth and fifth tries of the weekend ensured a 17-10 Kenyan victory over Portugal.

Japan sealed their spot on next season's HSBC Sevens World Series as a core side with victory over Italy in the World Series qualifier ©IRB



In the final of the World Series qualifier, Japan defeated Italy 26-5 to book their place on next season's HSBC Sevens World Series as a core side.

After a sudden death extra time victory over Russia in the semi-final, captain Katsuyuki Sakai scored 11 points to seal Japan's victory against a resilient Italian outfit.

"We can't put it into words, now everyone knows Japan can compete at the world level," said an elated Lomano Lemeki, Japan's coach. 

"We are excited to show what we can do on the next Series.

"Japan has not been able to compete on the world level until recently and now this is the first step.

"There is a lot to come from Japanese rugby."

The teams now have a short break in their World Series schedule before travelling to Scotland on May 3 for the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens at Scotstoun Stadium.

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