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O'DONNELL STARS AS HOME TEAM TRIUMPHS

The Declan O'Donnell Express hit full steam as New Zealand clobbered top seeds England 29-14 in the final of the third round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington. O'Donnell's hattrick, including one from 80 metres, took his tally for the tournament to 10 and stamped him as a rising star in the New Zealand game.

"It's my first time here and we won it so it's the most amazing feeling," said O'Donnell. "It's the best rugby I've ever played, we glued together as a family and it's great to beat England. The 20-year old Waikato centre/winger nearly didn't make the tournament after turning his ankle during the week and was amazed at the atmosphere in the crowd. "I'm looking forward to a good night tonight!"

England and New Zealand now lead the Series on 64 points, with Samoa third on 52 and Fiji further back on 44. The Las Vegas tournament starts on Saturday.

IRB CHAIRMAN PRAISES WELLINGTON

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset was another enjoying himself in the world's best fancy-dress party, calling the tournament a "fantastic" advertisement for rugby sevens. "It's a fantastic festival atmosphere, a very good tournament and the best players in the world are here and the best team won tonight," he said. "The home team winning was great for the party and augers well for Rugby World Cup 2011."

The Wellington event is so much more than rugby. The costumes have become the stuff of legends, the city is filled with revellers and the entertainment weaves itself into the very fabric of the night. Two examples saw Dragon, the iconic Kiwi band, playing the most appropriate song ever with the crowd favourite "Rain" just before the semi finals and a Freddie Mercury lookalike belting out "We Are The Champions" at the end. Wellington even gets the Mayor to dress up to present the trophies!

NO FORBES BUT KIWIS STEP UP

New Zealand had won their home event five times previously and England once, a classic 19-17 victory in 2009 over the men in black. Two tries either side of halftime, to O'Donnell and Tomasi Cama, saw them looking good for their sixth in the wet and slippery conditions.

Isoa Damudamu had opened the scoring for England with Toby Arnold scoring New Zealand's first. Playing without DJ Forbes for much of the match, and despite conceding a staggering 10 penalties, New Zealand stepped up to deny the England speedsters any possession.

England coach Ben Ryan said New Zealand deserved to win, their third in a row over England, but they were determined to go on and win the World Series. "The try to Cama just after halftime was the death knell for us," said Ryan. "We're still the Series leaders as we have played more finals however the momentum is certainly with New Zealand, but there's ourselves and four of five other sides queueing up to have a crack at them."

Ryan rued the fact that England could not shut down O'Donnell. "Danny Caprice had a good game against him but we dropped off one or two tackles and that was the end of that."

Fiji scored four tries, including a couple from long range to beat South Africa 26-12 to win the Plate. Paul Jordaan showed a glimpse of his exciting talent with a try in the final.

Kenya reversed the result of Day One with a 19-0 victory over Tonga in the Bowl to claim their first points of the Series. The teams have met eight times at Wellington, out of 10 overall, and the Africans have won six of those. The USA finished the tournament in style winning the Shield 19-12 over France after they were tied 7-7 at halftime.

TOP FOUR COME THROUGH SEMIS

O'Donnell, who made his debut in Dubai, earlier showed amazing pace to run in two tries over Australia in the 17-0 semi-final victory. Although Tomasi Cama spent some time in the sin-bin the Kiwis were too strong for their trans-Tasman rivals, who missed a number of tackles.

England won a nail-biter over Samoa, coming back from 0-5 down to win 7-5 with a Ben Gollings conversion proving the difference. The world champions completely dominated the first half but a patient England gained the upper hand once John Brake scythed through a gap to go over near the posts. Rupeni Levasa had a chance to win it after the hooter, with England down to six, but his grubber kick had a little too much oomph and went dead.

Earlier England, making their first appearance of the tournament in the "tequila sunrise", struggled against Argentina wining 14-7 after leading 14-0 at halftime. Samoa upset the form book beating a six-man Fiji 12-5. Afa Aiono scored two quick tries for Samoa before being flattened by Jerry Burotu, an act which put him out of the game. Though Fiji grabbed one back the Samoan defence held firm and put the defending champions into the Plate. Burotu was later suspended for two matches so will be eligible for Day One in Las Vegas.

Australia dominated a disappointing South Africa, scoring through captain Bernard Foley and John Grant in slippery conditions to win 14-7. And O'Donnell displayed his speed for two tries, with Tim Mikkelson and Buxton Popoali'i scoring the others in New Zealand's 26-5 win over Wales.

Nick Jordan is in Wellington thanks to Herbalife, nutrition for a better life Cup

Quarter finals

England 14 Argentina 7

Samoa 12 Fiji 5

Australia 14 South Africa 7

New Zealand 26 Wales 7

Semi finals

England 7 Samoa 5

New Zealand 17 Australia 0

Final

New Zealand 29 England 14

Plate Semi finals

Fiji 28 Argentina 0

South Africa 22 Wales 5

Final

Fiji 26 South Africa 12

Bowl Quarter finals

Scotland 24 USA 7

Kenya 19 Canada 14

Tonga 21 France 19

Cook Islands 22 Papua New Guinea 10

Semi finals

Kenya 15 Scotland 12

Tonga 12 Cook Islands 7

Shield Semi finals

USA 31 Canada 7

France 52 Papua New Guinea 12

Final

USA 19 France 12

ENDS