Video: Ryan gutted as All Blacks hoodoo over England continues

England had progressed to the last eight courtesy of unconvincing wins against Hong Kong, Korea and Argentina, but succumbed to the All Blacks in the last eight for the third straight tournament after defeats in San Diego and Wellington.

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The All Blacks missed out on a chance to open up a lead at the top of the overall World Series table after suffering a bruising 21-12 semi-final defeat by eventual finalist Fiji, who lost 27-22 to Samoa in a thrilling climax to the weekend.

"It's hard to take losing to New Zealand for a third straight tournament," said Ryan. "You don't like losing in the knockouts and to lose in Hong Kong makes it even worse, particularly when we've got guys in the team that have been there and won Hong Kong in previous years.

"We are proud to be four-time holders of the Hong Kong Sevens, which means we are going to go down fighting, but out there we were outplayed by a very good New Zealand side."

New Zealand stormed into a 19-0 half-time lead through tries from Alfred Pelenise, Nigel Hunt and Simon Yates as England struggled to break down a well-disciplined All Blacks defence.

England substitute David Doherty produced England's only real scoring chance midway through the second half as the Wasps full-back was hauled down just short of the tryline before Solomon King rounded off the scoring for New Zealand in stoppage time.

"We were beaten by a better side," added Ryan. "In the first half we put one too many people into the contact area to win that ball back that just didn't allow us any space out wide. They struck early against us and we were always playing catch up."

Wales produced a stunning comeback to retain the Plate following a 26-19 victory against Argentina.

Argentina surged into a 19-5 half-time lead and Wales' prospects of repeating last year's triumph looked bleak against a well-drilled Pumas side.

But 21 unanswered points after the break saw Gareth Baber's side retain the crown they won last year following a 15-5 victory against Kenya.

Tal Selley scored the crucial try in stoppage time after Wayne Evans, Lee Beach and Alec Jenkins had all touched down.