The second sevens final in the games, like the first in Malaysia in 1998, was a tale of two veterans, only this time they were four years older. Again the prayers of Waisale Serevi, Fiji's beguiling captain, went unanswered to leave New Zealand's Eric Rush clutching gold, his country's 11th in Manchester.

Serevi, the 34-year-old who has shared in five Fiji wins in the Hong Kong Sevens since his debut in 1989, drew on all his experience, and a little help from above, to nudge his team 15-14 ahead by drop-kicking the first penalty goal of the tournament late in the second half - even though two minutes earlier they had been reduced to six players by the dismissal of Saisi Fuli for a late, late tackle.

"It was a difficult kick and I was praying to God that it would go over," said Serevi, whose lips were still moving as he trotted slowly back to the halfway line. But his attempts to waste time by delaying the restart were rumbled by the Australian referee Stuart Dickinson, and from the resulting penalty Craig de Goldi broke through to restore the All Blacks' lead.

Roger Randle and Northampton's impressive new signing Bruce Reihana scored further tries as Dickinson played more than four minutes of stoppage-time, Randle's coming against five overstretched Fijians after they had also lost Jope Tuikabe to the sin bin for throwing a punch.

"When we had the red card, I cannot do anything," said Serevi, although it had been apparent throughout that he is not quite the force of old now that the sustained pace to capitalise on his light-footed breaks is no longer there.

There was no denying, though, his claim that the dismissal had removed Fiji's chance of causing an upset. "It is very difficult to play six against seven. If we had kept seven we could have won."

Serevi thought the red card was harsh, and Rush agreed with him. "It spoiled a good game," said the greying former flanker, three years Serevi's senior, who may now delay his retirement a while longer. "There was nothing malicious intended but it was a bit of a misjudgment and it's ended up costing his team dear."

Rush had not played in the game after hurting his ribs in the 31-12 semi-final victory over Samoa two hours earlier - a result typical of the All Blacks' serene progress as they ran up 155 points to 31 in their five games.

So it was a pleasant surprise for the 38,000 crowd that Fiji made the final a genuine contest. Most seemed to enjoy the experience, even if the long gap between group matches and quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon exposed the fact that this was a two-day tournament stretched into three for commercial reasons.

But New Zealand's domination and England's early exit took the edge off the atmosphere, and Mexican waves and a variety of hakas can surely only satisfy for so long.

· South Africa, who had lost 17-7 to Fiji in the other semi-final, beat Samoa 19-12 in the bronze medal match.

New Zealand: Rush, De Goldi, Valence, Muliaina, Fleming, Reihana, Newby, Tuitivake, Randle, Masoe.

Scorers: Tries: De Goldi, Muliaina, Reihana, Newby, Randle. Cons: Reihana 4.

Fiji: Satala, Saukawa, Serevi, Ligairi, Delasau, Fuli, Tuikabe, Uluivuda, Rabeni, Ruivadra.

Scorers: Tries: Satala, Tuikabe. Con: Serevi. Pen: Serevi.

Referee: S Dickinson (Aus).