DJ Forbes admits the HSBC Sevens World Series title is now New Zealand’s to lose after the 29-14 victory over England increased their advantage over Fiji to 11 points going into the last round at Twickenham next weekend.

The inspirational New Zealand captain marked his 50th IRB Sevens tournament with a series of impressive displays, scoring a brace in the final to take his career tally to 98. Forbes is now within sight of becoming his country’s sixth try centurion.

“We have been in situations where we have come in and had to leave a few things to fate, but this time it is only ours to lose really isn't it,” admitted Forbes.

As if winning a third Cup title of the season wasn’t motivation enough, the prospect of winning it for their captain was another factor for the players, even if Forbes is quick to divert the attention away from himself.

“There were a few of the boys saying we will do this for your 50th. Ultimately it was all about the 12 players, we all wanted to win, regardless of my 50th or not,” said Forbes, who scored five tries at the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens.

“I think ultimately everyone knows we are here to win the World Series, not for my 50th. You could say maybe one hand on the World Series trophy at the moment, but we have still got to do a job next week.”

Tietjens: "Magificent captain"

His coach Gordon Tietjens, who has overseen all of New Zealand’s nine titles to date, was quick to pay tribute to his captain and players after their five-try defeat of England.

“The beauty about today was winning it for DJ Forbes for his 50th tournament. What a magnificent captain, he just leads, is so inspirational and played outstandingly well as well,” said Tietjens.

“It’s great for the team, they are a real family these guys, a pleasure to be with them and great to see them win this tournament.

“It was a tough tournament and we found it really tough in the final as well, particularly losing two key players so early in the piece. It was great for those other players to get in and play really well against a good England team. I thought England played very well today.

“They have been challenging conditions but it is awesome to win here, it gives us a better chance to hopefully retain or win our title back. For us it is important to get more points going into the last tournament.

“It is not there yet though, we have still got a bit of work to do ... if we don’t play well, some of the guys are really injured and beaten up a bit, so we are going to have to get back up tomorrow and go to London and prepare for next week. It is going to be tough."

New Zealand need only to reach the Plate final to secure that 10th Series title and, worryingly for their rivals, if their captain's 50th tournament was extra incentive in Glasgow, Twickenham will mark vice captain Lote Raikabula’s 50-cap milestone.

“Obviously it’s Lote's 50th so there will be a little bit to play for there, but saying that we never take any game for granted, it is a blessing to be playing rugby so we will start again next week and we will forget about this," said Forbes. 

“We will enjoy tonight but soon as we jump on that plane it is back to the drawing board.”

OTHER REACTION

Tausa Faamaoni Lalomilo, Samoa coach - Plate winners

"It's (being head coach) a little bit different because the pressure is on me every time, but I'm onto it!

"We came off with a good win here today and I thank the boys for their great effort. It started with a good win in the (Plate) semi final when I changed the team to put our new young players inside and our speedster inside to work on our plan of playing at a fast pace.

"We had a few errors against Fiji (in the Cup quarter final), so we had to come back and put in a good effort against South Africa.

"I think we're looking forward to next week. Whichever teams we play we'll take it one step at a time and hopefully have a good tournament."

Henry Paul, Russia coach - Bowl winners

"I'm gald we held our nerve and got better throughout the day. To win this game comfortably against Spain was a credit to the players.

"We've had a few injuries so we've brought a few guys into the team this week. Some of them are disappointed because they didn't play much but they've had that big experience of the Series and now they have some silverware.

"Obviously we want to push now and we come back down to earth with a bang when we play some big boys on day one in London, so we have to make sure that we take this into that tournament."

Mitch Ocholla, Kenya coach - Shield winners

"It was very positive for us to win much needed points towards the Series. It was tough for us yesterday but I'm glad that we came out and were able to show what we're made of.

"It's a bit cold for us but that's the good thing about the IRB circuit, going to all the different cities, seeing the culture in these places and playing in the different conditions. I feel like we are growing.

"I'm happy for the younger players who are now coming through and making things happen for us.

"Looking ahead to London, the things that are concerning me most is our defence and the contact area, which I think really improved in these last two games. We have a lot of talent in rugby, we just have to dig deep."

Bernard Lapasset, IRB Chairman

“The tournament was fantastic, Glasgow was a great place to bring the tournament. There are fantastic facilities and it’s been very well received by the teams and the coaches and that’s very important that we have the best for the players.

“We had a great final between New Zealand and England and the most important thing was the crowd, the fans coming and creating this wonderful festival feeling.

“Glasgow is not known for being a rugby place but after this it could be soon. This stadium has been fantastic, so everything is in place to make this an even bigger success in the future.”

Ian Mclauchlan, Scottish Rugby Union President

“This was a brilliant weekend, absolutely brilliant, a total success I would say. Very high quality in a super stadium. The supporters have really got what a Sevens tournament is, and what the IRB Series, in particular, is all about and really enjoyed it.”

“I think in the future this is just going to get better."