New Zealand outlast England again

 England had come closer than anyone to snatching the IRB Sevens World Series crown from New Zealand in 2002/03 in missing out by four points, and there was little to separate the two rivals across the eight tournaments the following season.

They faced each other three times in finals, England winning the South African leg in George and their home event in London while New Zealand came out on top in the penultimate tournament in Bordeaux.

New Zealand also won their home event in Wellington by defeating Fiji in the final, while England overcame Argentina to take the honours at the Hong Kong Sevens to cut the deficit to Gordon Tietjens' side to four points with three events remaining.

However if Hong Kong marked the first occasion that New Zealand had failed to reach the final that Series, worse was to follow at round six in Singapore when both England and the four-time defending champions lost in the Cup quarter-finals.

New Zealand lost the Plate final to Fiji to collect six points, two more than England, and their victory in the French leg meant they took a 10-point advantage into the final tournament to edge closer to a fifth straight IRB Sevens title.

Their monopoly on the title was confirmed when both England and New Zealand reached the semi-finals in London, the hosts’ victory in the final ensuring the kiwis won the title by six points, 128 to 122.

The 2003/04 Series though wasn’t only about New Zealand and England with South Africa winning the tournaments in Dubai and Singapore and Argentina celebrating a first ever Cup success in Los Angeles on their way to finishing third overall.