Henry Paul shone in Hong Kong

England retained their Hong Kong Sevens crown with a 22-17 defeat of New Zealand.

Tries from Ugo Monye, former rugby league star Henry Paul and second-half substitute Richard Haughton (2) gave the defending champions victory in a hard-fought final.

New Zealand had no answer to the pace of England's wide men and were always struggling when the ball was moved to the wings.

The Kiwis had taken the lead twice through Karl Te Nana and Roy Kinikilau but failed to hold on against the English, who reached the final with wins over Australia and Fiji .

Quarter-finals: N Zealand 31-5 Tonga South Africa 40-0 Kenya Fiji 12-7 Samoa Australia 14-19 England Semi-finals: N Zealand 21-17 South Africa Fiji 19-24 England Final: N Zealand 17-22 England

New Zealand, who overpowered South Africa in the semis, had been weakened by the loss of skipper Eric Rush, who suffered a muscle pull in the win over Tonga.

Earlier on, Scotland's bid to claim the Plate ended in a 19-14 defeat to Canada, while the USA won the Bowl competition by defeating Japan 24-19.

"It's very special to come back and win the title," said England coach Joe Lydon.

"We just said at half-time that we had to treat the second half as a whole new match. We stayed calm."

England dedicated the win to the Harlequins scrum-half Nick Duncombe, whose sudden death last month shocked rugby.

"It was the best possible tribute to Nick Duncombe," said Lydon. "It was an inspiration for the players."

I thought England were quite superb throughout the tournament New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens admitted England's extra pace had been decisive.

"They got on the outside of us which we were disappointed about but we can't have any complaints," he said.

"I thought England were quite superb throughout the tournament and tonight we were beaten by the better side.

"They beat Australia, Fiji and us to win the title, so that tells you how good they are."

The English had beaten Australia 19-14 in the quarter-finals before downing Fiji 24-19 in the last four.