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Alvin Sallay

If this is a numbers game, then New Zealand are way ahead of the pack this season. Four tournaments, four titles, and a record winning streak of 36 matches going back to last season - the opposition have been swallowed by an all-powerful force. This latest edition of the Kiwis is the sevens version of a black hole.
The all-consuming gravitational field which New Zealand has created in the 2007-08 IRB Sevens has even left coach Gordon Tietjens  impressed. It speaks volumes as he has been around since 1994, and thought he had seen it all.
'This has been our best-ever start. You can't ask for a better start,' Tietjens gushed.
'Four-out-of-four this season and add the last two tournaments from last year which we won and we have won 36 games on the trot, an incredible feat. We have just got to continue now.'
Carrying on is imperative this weekend. Despite all the successes and all the records, New Zealand haven't won the Hong Kong Sevens since 2001 - seven long years ago.
Tietjens believes his 'invincibles' will be able to address that pressing issue come Sunday.
'I have an experienced team with me who have been together for two seasons or more. We have had the same starting seven in all the four finals, and I believe this continuity and experience is crucial,' Tietjens said.
'Two years ago, when we lost the IRB Sevens title to Fiji, this group of players were new. They have now matured  and this experience has hugely benefited us. I have also been lucky as we have had very few injuries this season.'
All talk of retiring is long over. Tietjens was expected to step aside last October after 14 years in charge of the sevens squad. But with another IRB Sevens crown under his belt - he has guided New Zealand to seven of the eight titles so far - rugby authorities back home have given him full backing until next year's World Cup in Dubai.
But first is the small task of ending a drought in Hong Kong - the longest stretch New Zealand have gone without winning the Cup since first sending a representative team in 1983, the very year when Tietjens first came  here as a player.
'We had not won in Wellington for three years and we did that this year. We had also not won for some time in Dubai, which we again achieved,' said Tietjens. 'Of course the pressure will be on us to win here, but it will be just the same as in other tournaments.'
A miserly defence and superb fitness and skill levels were pinpointed by Tietjens as the reasons behind New Zealand's dominance. Allied to that is the presence of flying winger Victor Vito who will be making his debut appearance in Hong Kong. Vito will arrive hoping to add to the 20 tries he has already scored.
'It is quite hard to single out any one player, but Victor has been outstanding for us,' Tietjens said. 'He is big and quick and powerful, and adds another dimension out on the wing.'
Captain DJ Forbes was also singled out for praise: 'He has been leading from the front and has been superb,' Tietjens said.
'But it is a team effort. Our defence has been the real key behind our successes - thanks to the high levels of fitness and skill of the guys. Everyone is a big game-breaker.'
That's worrying news for the opposition, who have already felt the brunt of those qualities  in Dubai, George (in South Africa), Wellington and San Diego.
But Tietjens is wary. He knows teams will lift their game to win the jewel in the IRB crown. The added bonus of US$100,000 in prize money for the Cup winners is also a powerful incentive, especially for the teams from the Pacific islands.
The 'black hole' has swallowed them so far, but will teams such as Fiji be able to resist New Zealand this time, especially with the return of their overseas-based stars  William Ryder and Marika Vunibaka.
Tietjens said: 'Any side which has the experience of players like Ryder and Vunibaka will be a danger. The magnitude of the Hong Kong Sevens will see every team pressing their claim. But we are confident and certainly looking to win.'
If New Zealand do it unbeaten, they will take the streak to 42 matches, tournament wins to seven and make it Tietjens' 57th title.
They are numbers that say a great deal.
New Zealand have maximum points in the IRB Sevens standings so far, with: 80



It all adds up to more New Zealand domination