IRB: October 4, 2014 - After two days and 56 matches of frenetic action in Noosa, Fiji’s men and New Zealand’s women were crowned Oceania Sevens champions on Saturday.Fiji beat the All Blacks Sevens – playing in their first Oceania Sevens in 2014 – 21-5 in the final, while New Zealand’s women beat defending champions and tournament hosts Australia 31-10 in their title decider.In a pulsating men’s final, New Zealand took the early lead but Fiji responded with some dazzling play to wrestle back the initiative with a converted try to make it 7-5 at half-time. Converted tries by Vatemo Ravouvou and 400-metre sprinter Niko Verekauta broke the game apart for Fiji, whose defence and all round play was too strong for world champions New Zealand.“We worked very hard this week to ensure we were ready and coach Ben Ryan has done a good job with the boys,” said Fiji captain Nasami Roko. “We knew New Zealand would be very physical and they are always hard to beat. Luckily we have some good talent and in Niko we have some very fast speed out wide.”Early action in the men’s quarter-finals on Saturday saw Fiji concede their first points of the tournament to Tonga but still ran out 49-7 winners. Samoa proved too strong for Cook Islands 31-7 and Australia had no trouble accounting for American Samoa 59-0 while New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea 54-0.The semi-finals were worth the entry fee as Fiji took on Pacific neighbours Samoa and old foes New Zealand and Australia went toe-to-toe. Fiji looked very comfortable in beating Samoa 24-12, but New Zealand had to come from 14-0 down to overhaul Australia 19-14. Samoa then beat a tired looking Australia 33-7 in the third place play-off.The top four teams will now turn their attentions to the opening round of the HSBC Sevens World Series 2014-15, which takes place on Australia's Gold Coast next weekend and marks the start of the qualification campaign for Rugby Sevens' debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.HSBC Sevens World Series qualificationFor Tonga and Papua New Guinea there was some consolation at not progressing to the Cup semi-finals. PNG beat Tonga 26-17 to finish fifth and therefore qualify, as the best placed non-core HSBC Sevens World Series team, for the Wellington and Hong Kong rounds in 2015. Tonga, despite the defeat, secured qualification for Hong Kong.Papua New Guinea had to work hard to finish fifth overal as, having drawn 12-12 with American Samoa in their pool match, they faced the same opponent in the Plate semi-finals, knowing victory would secure a place in a World Series event. The sides were locked 10-10 at half-time, but PNG ran out 27-10 winners. There was disappointment for the Cook Islands after they lost 29-5 to Tonga in the other semi-final.“It’s very good as we did not expect this as we have many new players in our team, but they stepped up and replaced the missing experienced boys who were not here,” said PNG captain Hubert Tseraha.“Playing in Hong Kong and Wellington is something we had not really thought about until today. It will be a big step up but for rugby in PNG this is a really big boost.”New Zealand's women claim titleThe women’s competition came down to the expected final between world champions New Zealand and Australia, the two nations who between them had won all five rounds of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series 2013-14.New Zealand were top seeds after the pool stages, when all seven teams played each other once, with an unbeaten record. Australia, the defending Oceania Sevens champions, were second seeds after losing only one match, 19-17 to New Zealand, on day one.This set up a mouth-watering finale, but New Zealand took an early lead and dominated territory to hold a 21-5 advantage at half-time. The Series champions continued to dominate after the break, denying Australia any space and possession to run out 31-10 winners.“It was awesome, we dug really deep over the two days. We gelled really well and played for each other and the squad members at home,” explained New Zealand vice-captain Tyla Nathan-Wong.“It came down to belief and hard work and we worked them hard in the middle and then hit the ball wide which worked well.”Fiji, who will join the Women's Sevens World Series as a core team in 2014-15 after winning the qualifying tournament last month in Hong Kong, finished third ahead of Samoa, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and Tonga.Oceania Sevens 2014 resultsMen’sPool A: American Samoa 12-12 PNG, New Zealand 57-7 Niue, American Samoa 15-10 Niue, New Zealand 48-0 PNG, PNG 33-5 Niue, New Zealand 20-5 American SamoaPool B: Cook Islands 21-5 Solomon Islands, Fiji 64-0 Tahiti, Cook Islands 26-5 Tahiti, Fiji 36-0 Solomon Islands, Solomon Islands 26-7 Tahiti, Fiji 34-0 Cook IslandsPool C: Australia 21-0 Tonga 0, Samoa 40-7 New Caledonia, Australia 40-7 New Caledonia, Samoa 29-7 Tonga, Tonga 24-12 New Caledonia, Samoa 12-26 AustraliaQuarter-finals: Fiji 49-7 Tonga, Samoa 31-7 Cook Islands, Australia 59-0 American Samoa, New Zealand 54-0 Papua New GuineaFifth to eighth place semi-finals: Tonga 29-5 Cook Islands, American Samoa 10-27 Papua New GuineaNinth to 12th place semi-finals: Solomon Islands 14-12 Tahiti, New Caledonia 0-19 NiueFinal: Fiji 21-5 New ZealandThird place play-off: Samoa 33-7 AustraliaFifth place play-off: Papua New Guinea 26-17 TongaSeventh place play-off: Cook Islands 36-19 American SamoaNinth place play-off: Solomon Islands 19-14 NiueEleventh place play-off: New Caledonia 31-10 TahitiWomen’sPool stages: Fiji 38-0 PNG, Australia 41-0 Tonga, New Zealand 41-0 Cook Islands, Samoa 24-12 Tonga, Australia 24-5 Fiji, PNG 24-10 Cook Islands, PNG 34-14 Tonga, Samoa 19-0 Cook Islands, New Zealand 24-7 Fiji, Tonga 5-30 Cook Islands, Samoa 12 PNG 10, New Zealand 19 Australia 17, Fiji 50-0 Tonga, Australia 33-0 Cook Islands, New Zealand 40-0 Samoa, Fiji 50-0 Cook Islands, Australia 45-0 Samoa, New Zealand 29-7 PNG, Fiji 31-0 Samoa, Australia 31-0 PNG, New Zealand 52-0 Tonga,Final: New Zealand 31-10 AustraliaFinal standings1. New Zealand2. Australia3 Fiji4 Samoa5 PNG6 Cook Islands7 Tonga