RugbyU: New Zealand target new home sevens title

The World Sevens series resumes in Wellington today after an eight-week break with reigning champions New Zealand looking to defend their home title and consolidate their championship lead.
New Zealand, who won the last round in South Africa in early December, go into the fourth leg of the 2011-12 series as co-leaders with Fiji on 51 points and narrowly ahead of England on 48 and South Africa on 47.
"Four teams are really close and you can't afford to trip up," said veteran New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens.
"But there will be teams that do trip up, there is no question, so this is a big part of the Series and to leave here as the top seed and having won the tournament gives you an advantage going to try and win that trophy."
New Zealand have been drawn in Pool A with former champions Samoa as well as Scotland and Japan while Fiji are in Pool C with Wales, Argentina and Tonga.
England and South Africa are both in Pool B with the Cook Islands and the United States, while France, in fifth place overall, have been grouped in Pool D with Australia, Canada and Kenya.
Tietjens has included World Cup-winning All Blacks wing Hosea Gear in his side as he attempts to steer New Zealand to a 10th World crown in the 13-year history of the tournament.
Bolstering his ranks to win in Wellington is crucial to Tietjens's plans as he acknowledges his side are the favourites but the home tournament is one of the hardest to win.
"A lot of teams come out and they give it their very, very best shot when they play New Zealand," he said.
"The Pacific teams are very tough here, they get a lot of support, and you can't forget England. They won it here three years ago and, of course, we may have won it last year but it can change from year to year.
"We've seen Samoa win here, we've seen Fiji win it here, South Africa."
He pointed to the impact of home town pressure when New Zealand triumphed over South Africa 31-26 before a crowd of 30,000 in the final at Port Elizabeth in December.
"That pressure can be put on you, as South Africa felt playing us in the final in Port Elizabeth," he recalled.
Despite New Zealand's credentials, South African star and World Sevens player of the year, Cecil Afrika, does not believe there is a clear favourite in Wellington.
"In the last three tournaments there were five different finalists and it demonstrates the competitiveness of the series and that a lot of teams are performing well," he said.
"It is more exciting now because the new pool draw means you don't know who you will be playing and you have often only a few days to prepare for that."
Following the final in Wellington on Saturday, the teams head to the United States for the fifth round of the series next weekend in Las Vegas.

AFP