The All Blacks Sevens have been crushed 47-15 by Olympic champions France which ended their semi-final hopes in Cape Town in the second leg of the SVNS series.
New Zealand’s men squeezed past USA in their pool opener by 19-17, but facing a new look France team they were pasted with Castres centre Antoine Zeghdar the chief destroyer.
The 25-year-old looked dangerous early pulling off a long line break down the All Blacks right edge. His next touch was a piece of play Dupont would be proud of, pulling off a no-look offload behind his back Quade-style.
The pass put Stephen Parez Edo Martin in for the opening try. Zeghdar had his second try assist moments later with a deft touch promoting the ball under pressure.
A tackle from Zeghdar forced an errant pass from New Zealand, which France scooped up and scored through Liam Delamare put France up 19-0 before an assist from Delamore added more misery at 28-0 before half-time.
Zeghdar proved unstoppable stepping inside Ng Shiu and offloading in the next tackle to set up another for France.
France play Fiji in the semi-finals, while upstarts Spain face South Africa in the other in the men’s draw.
The All Blacks Sevens will playoff for 5th-8th
