Karl Te Nana would make a fine gladiator. For he has a knack for escaping from impossible situations. And for turning lions into pussycats, as first Australia and then Fiji found out. Te Nana stepped out of the shadow of sevens legend Eric Rush to lead New Zealand to Cup glory at the 2001 Credit Suisse First Boston Hong Kong Sevens and help his country regain the lead in the World Sevens Series. 'That one was for Rushie,' said Te Nana after engineering one of the great escape acts seen at the Hong Kong Stadium when he scored two tries in the semi-final as the Kiwis came back from a 12-0 deficit to beat Australia 14-12 in injury time. After that epic comeback, the final was always going to be anti-climactic. New Zealand made certain of that as they scored five tries in the first half - Jared Going (two), Chris Masoe, Hayden Reid and Johnny Leo'o getting on the scoresheet - and then just erected a defensive wall in the second period to easily run out 29-5 victors. 'We knew we had to start well against Fiji and put them under pressure. As for Australia, I knew we could come back as we were only two tries down,' said Te Nana who was afterwards named Best-and-Fairest player of the 2001 tournament. Te Nana won this award last year too. Not even great countryman Rush has won it twice, which goes to prove that the dreadlocked player has truly come of age. 'He was just outstanding,' said coach Gordon Tietjens, shaking his head in awe at the way Te Nana helped New Zealand escape the clutches of Australia who thought they had the game won. 'I thought we were dead and buried. But our never-say-die attitude and our superior fitness won the day.' Australia, aiming for their first Cup title in 13 years, led 12-0 with Julian Huxley and skipper Richard Graham touching down. But with just under a minute of regular time remaining, Te Nana pulled one back when he completed a flowing move that saw the fresh hands of substitute Tafai Ioasa handling twice. Then with the clock ticking well into injury time, Te Nana once again sliced his way past a disbelieving Australian defence to score under the posts and give Mana Ashford the simplest of conversions. 'He is something special. He just stole the show and the game away from us,' said a shell-shocked Graham. 'We thought we had the game in the bag. But we paid the penalty for not playing for the full period of time. We were waiting for the whistle.' When Te Nana struck the second - and killer - blow, the clock on the scoreboard read 9:07. Two minutes and seven seconds of injury time was played out and Australia, who figured this was their best opportunity to win the Cup, were caught napping. 'I'm absolutely shattered. I thought the boys had done enough to win. But we didn't convert opportunities in the second half and they hit back,' said coach Glen Ella. He added: 'The team is gutted. We put ourselves in a winning position and then let it all go.' Yes, Australia will be kicking themselves at throwing it all away after having looked the most accomplished team in the early rounds. They knew Fiji were not the force they were and leading 12-0 with a couple of minutes to go, they were probably having visions of lifting the Cup and putting to rest that monkey on their backs for the past 13 years. If Te Nana stepped out of Rush's shadow, Fiji were a shadow of past teams. They may have danced the cibi, but in the end that was about the only thing they performed without a flaw. For the rugby was totally unrecognisable. The flair was missing from this young team of novices who struggled to keep their composure in front of 40,000 spectators. 'They froze. The atmosphere got to them. We were also carrying injuries into the final with three of our players not a hundred per cent,' said coach Tomasi Cama. Fiji's new coach - this was Cama's first tournament in charge - was trying to put up a brave front. He insisted that Waisale Serevi would not have made any difference if he had been here. 'I don't think he could have helped. We are not going to rely on him any more for we are trying to develop a new team capable of winning the next Sevens World Cup,' said Cama. However, the loss is likely to see the pressure pile on Cama's shoulders. It might have been even worse if Samoan Faatonu Fili had put over a conversion in injury-time in the other semi-final which Fiji won 12-10. They were lucky to escape with their scalps intact against Samoa. Trailing 12-5, Samoan super-sub Leamy Mealamu scored to make it 12-10. The conversion would have pushed the match into a sudden-death situation with Fiji. Fili kicked his conversion wide and Fijian fans breathed easily. But they knew in their hearts that the end was nigh. For the proof was there on show all weekend - Fiji looked sluggish. They were held to a draw by Russia and sneaked a win past Wales in the preliminary round. They beat England 22-7 in the Cup quarter-finals, but remember the English had five schoolboys in their side. And Fiji made heavy going here too. 'They haven't played well at all throughout the tournament,' said Tietjens. And coming up against a far fitter and slicker Kiwi outfit, the result was inevitable. 'They were really soft today. We got right in their faces' said Masoe, one of the new faces in the New Zealand team. Fiji's new brigade could not say the same in the face of Te Nana and his gladiators. Rush said Te Nana had proved himself a fine leader. 'The young guys in our team were trying to follow his example. In the end they were all leaders.' Rush added: 'Karl was just outstanding.' This echoed the views of coach Tietjens, pleased that someone has stepped into the shoes of Rush. Te Nana had led New Zealand to World Cup glory, too. But Hong Kong was always going to be the true test of character, for in Argentina he had Jonah Lomu to rely on. Yesterday, New Zealand found its true gladiator, and his name was not Russell Crowe either. Graphic: CUP02GST
