The All Blacks Sevens have hung on to beat Australia 17-14 in a dramatic Vancouver sevens final that featured three yellow cards.
NZ hung on with six players for the last 90 seconds after Sam Dickson was sin-binned for two minutes.
With Dickson having left the field, a forward pass cost Australia what would have been the match-winning try.
Australia had produced another trademark fast start with an early try to Lachie Anderson before Joe Ravouvou scored New Zealand’s first late in the first half.
New Zealand would trail 5-14 at halftime though after Maurice Longbottom streaked away to score just before the break.
Longbottom would become the first player to be binned after he denied Andrew Knewstubb a try with a high tackle.
Knewstubb wouldn’t be denied for long however with the New Zealander scoring straight from the resulting penalty after throwing a big dummy.
A yellow card to Lachie Miller meant Australia were down to five players for 20 seconds with Ravouvou scoring his second with NZ holding a two-man advantage.
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