Black Ferns Sevens
Australia pipped the Black Ferns Sevens 28-26 in a breathless final. Despite injuries to talisman Faith Nathan and Maddison Levi, Australia found a way to prevail with three 19-year-olds.
One of those rookies, Heidi Dennis, was named player of the final with two long-range tries in each half.
Initially, it was veteran Michaela Brake dictating terms. Two left-hand fends and rapid acceleration saw the Taranaki flyer, recently married to Olympic rowing champion Michael Brake, burst 55m.
New Zealand failed to find the required distance at the restart and Dennis emulated Brake on the right edge after a patient build-up.
Australia was jammed in their 22 but outflanked New Zealand to reach halfway. Tia Hinds then received with momentum and her dummy was quicker than an opportunistic mosquito.
Down 14-7, New Zealand levelled the scores by halftime when captain Sarah Hirini made a lumbering run similar to her epic Paris surge. Down three defenders Australia couldn’t stop Kelsey Teneti.
Charlotte Caslick was the last player chasing Teneti and those roles reversed early in the second half. With a trademark dummy and pivot Caslick opened a hole inside her own 22 and sprinted clear for her 184th SVNS try.
Brake is only two tries short of Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s SVNS record for most tries. She boosted her tally to 254 with another break down the left edge engineered by Jazmin Felix-Hotham.
The third tie in the game would be broken by Dennis. Teagan Levi slipped through congestion at the 22 and strode to the ten-metre mark before pulling up lame. A 30m bounce pass sat up for Dennis who critically finished as close to the posts as possible. Hinds kicked four out of four conversions.
The Black Ferns Sevens weren’t afforded any charity at the breakdown but when Australia was pinged for holding on with 90 seconds remaining hope was revived. With a bruising run, Dhys Faleafaga set up Risi Pouri-Lane whose sideline conversion didn’t have the legs.
The Black Ferns Sevens forced Australia to pass into their in-goal area but unfortunately, there was no time left for the scrum.
Australia won their own tournament for the first time since 2018 and has won 18 of 41 Cup finals.
Still, the Black Ferns Sevens lead Australia by two points in the overall standings.
Their pathway to the final was seamless, outscoring opponents 36 tries to three. Combined the Black Ferns Sevens have beaten Brazil, Ireland, and Japan in all 60 matches.
In the semi-final France was beaten 36-7, the Black Ferns enjoying a 35-4 advantage in that rivalry. Brake scored four tries after a quiet start to the tournament.
Katelyn Vahaakolo continues to look more at home in Sevens, especially menacing in the pool games. There was good impact from Teneti, Faleafaga, and Felix-Hotham in all matches.
Black Ferns Sevens
Black Ferns Sevens: 50 (Paul, Hirini, Teneti, Pouri-Lane, Miller, Vahaakolo 3 tries; Pouri-Lane 4 cons, Nuku con) Brazil: 7 (Thalita Da Silva Costa try, Raquel Kochhann con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 46 (Pouri-Lane 2, Faleafaga 2, Felix-Hotham, Vahaakolo, Nuku, Teneti tries; Pouri-Lane 3 cons) Ireland: 0
Black Ferns Sevens: 53 (Hirini 2, Pouri-Lane 3, Faleafaga, Felix-Hotham, Vahaakolo 2 tries; Pouri-Lane 3 cons, Nuku con) Japan: 5 (Suzuha Okamoto try)
Black Ferns Sevens: 29 (Teneti 2, Felix-Hotham, Brake, Miller tries; Pouri-Lane 2 cons) China: 0
Black Ferns Sevens: 36 (Brake 4, Miller, Faleafaga tries; Pouri-Lane 2 cons, Nuku con) France: 7 (Anne-Cécile Ciofani try; Rose Marie Fiafialoto con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 26 (Brake 2, Teneti, Pouri-Lane tries; Pouri-Lane 3 con); Australia: 28 (Heidi Dennis 2, Tia Hinds, Charlotte Caslick tries; Hinds 4 con)
All Blacks Sevens
The All Blacks Sevens rallied from the disappointment of missing the Cup quarterfinals to finish ninth.
Following two defeats in Pool C, New Zealand thrashed Ireland 42-5 and outlasted Keyna 19-12 in the consolation playoffs.
In the playoff for ninth New Zealand was down at halftime following tries from past halfway to Patrick Odongo and Vincent Onyala.
Regan Ware scored the first try, sprinting 65 metres after a delightful offload from Ollie Mathis. Ware has 127 tries in 54 SVNS tournaments.
Ware would turn provider for Andrew Knewstubb as the All Blacks Sevens leveled the scores three minutes after the break. Knewstubb wobbled over the conversion and it was 14-12.
The All Blacks Sevens finally found some rhythm, and Kenya appeared to be fatiguing. A sweeping movement that stretched to both touchlines eventually saw Sione Molia attract two defenders on the left edge, creating an overlap for skipper Dylan Collier in his 58th SVNS tournament.
Following a restart that failed to go ten metres and a string of penalties, Keyna rallied and almost had a try at the death. The ball beat all chasers over the dead ball line. New Zealand has won 53 of their 59 matches against Kenya.
If it was experience that foiled Keyna, youthful exuberance blew away Ireland. Mathis with a double and debutants Maloni Kunawave and Frank Vaenuku thrived in the best display of the season. Maloni Kunawave is a 19-year-old from Fiji linked with Tasman out of Rotorua Boys’ High School. Frank Vaenuku has made three appearances for Bay of Plenty and is one of four players in the All Blacks Sevens squad at present from De La Salle College in Auckland.
The All Blacks Sevens started the first day with a come-from-behind victory over Keyna before being stunned for the first time by Uruguay. Uruguay dominated possession and capitalised on Kiwi errors with Juan Manuel Tafernaberry slotting a penalty attempt from close range in the 15th minute to complete the win.
Debutant Ignacio Rodriguez was the first-half hero with two tries. Alfonso Vidal was a defensive trojan.
“I'm really, really happy with these guys, it's an incredible effort," Uruguay coach Gabriel Puig said.
“They don't care about their body which you see in how they tackle."I'm very happy with them and looking at them enjoy it, they deserve it.”
Earlier Uruguay had beaten Fji 24-17 after trailing 17-0 before halftime. Fiji had beaten Uruguay by 70-7 in Cape Town in December.
The game turned dramatically before the break when Dante Soto showed soccer skills to rival that of Luis Suárez.
Uruguay closed the gap further with four minutes remaining when Ignacio Facciolo dived over to make it 17-14.
Fiji was rattled; Uruguay inspired and tries to Juan Tafernaberry and Pedro Hoblog sealed the famous win.
Unfortunately, the All Blacks Sevens incurred the wrath of the Dubai champions, Fiji motivated and flamboyant in a crushing 33-5 win.
Fiji started the game strongly, putting New Zealand on the back foot from the opening whistle. Iowane Teba broke the New Zealand defensive line using his pace and power to open the scoring in front of a loud contingent of Fijian Sevens fans in Perth.
Andrew Knewstubb replied for New Zealand, but possession proved elusive. Terio Veilawa delivered a viral offload for one of Fiji’s five tries.
League champions Argentina successfully defended the Cup title with a resounding 41-5 victory over Australia. Matteo Graziano scored three tries, Luciano Gonzalez two while superstar Marcos Moneta opened the scoring after he bagged three tries in a 40-5 demolition of Spain in the semi-finals. Argentina conquered Great Britain 27-14 in the quarter-final. On day one the Pumas had beaten Australia in extra time 31-26.
Fiji, Argentina, and Spain are joint leaders of the series after three events with 48 points each. The All Blacks Sevens are seventh on 28 points, 14 points clear of Kenya and the potential regulation zone.
All Blacks Sevens
All Blacks Sevens: 29 (Vaenuku, Ware, Knewstubb, Vai, McGarvey-Black tries; McGarvey-Black 3 cons) Keyna:14 (George Angeyo, Patrick Okongo tries; Nygel Pettersan Amaitsa 2 cons)
All Blacks Sevens: 12 (McGarvey-Black, Vai tries; Knewstubb con) Uruguay: 17 (Ignacio Rodriguez 2 tries; Juan Manuel Tafernaberry 2 cons, pen)
All Blacks Sevens: 5 (Knewstubb try, con) Fiji: 33 (Iowane Teba, Joji Nasova, Pilipo Bukayaro, Vuiviwa Naduvalo, Terio Veilawa tries; Teba 2 cons, Veilawa 2 cons)
All Blacks Sevens: 42 (Mathis 2, Kunawave, Vaenuku, Collier, Rush, Knewstubb 5 cons, Kunawave con) Ireland: 5 (Jordan Conroy try)
All Blacks Sevens: 19 (Ware, Knewstubb, Collier tries; Knewstubb 2 cons) Keyna:12 (Patrick Odongo, Vincent Onyala tries; Anthony Mboya con)