The Black Ferns Sevens outscored five opponents 218-33, scoring 36 tries and conceding just five, to extend their unbeaten record in Singapore to 15-0. They have now won 44 SVNS Cup finals, including 23 out of 33 against Australia.
By halftime, the Black Ferns Sevens had already decided the final, leading 24-0 against Australia. Jazmin Felix-Hotham opened the scoring after a scrum move that began with a run to the right and quickly switched left.
Kelsey Teneti kneed the restart to Mahina Paul, who linked with Jorja Miller, the Black Ferns Sevens Player of the Year, skittling aside three in a 40-metre burst.
At last, Australia gained possession, but Teneti made three key tackles. Pouri-Lane then collected a deflection and kicked into open space, forcing Australia back. Miller scored her second try from the next lineout, making it 19-0. Miller now has 95 SVNS tries. Australia got the kick-off, but Paul’s cleanout and collection finished a flawless first half.
Even when things went wrong, they went right for the Black Ferns Sevens. Felix-Hotham mopped up an errant pass before Australia finally broke through. Fittingly, the Black Ferns Sevens had the last say. Olive Watherston snatched a turnover, and Katelyn Vaakaholo shoved aside two to apply an exclamation mark.
The semi-final was just as one-sided, with the USA beaten 44-7. One highlight was a Felix-Hotham try, where she ran to the left corner, stopped, then changed direction to score in the right corner, dodging every US defender. Teneti also repeated her hat-trick against the USA from Cape Town.
The Black Ferns Sevens started the tournament with their biggest ever win over Great Britain. They scored five tries in each half and maintained their intensity throughout, except for an early mistake that quickly turned into a try. Vaakaholo inexplicably dropped the ball over the try line, and Great Britain took advantage, racing to the Black Ferns Sevens' 22. Felix-Hotham chased, tackled, and won the ball back, then Miller ran 80 metres to score. After that, the match was one-sided, with a green British team featuring six debutants and four others with fewer than five tournaments, overwhelmed. In the second half, Otago’s Watherston had a special moment, scoring her first SVNS try at age 20.
The Black Ferns Sevens earned their 40th win in 43 games against Canada in dramatic fashion. With two minutes left, Olivia Apps palmed off Felix-Hotham twice to score her second try, tying proceedings at 12-12.
Apps restart for Canada was short. Pouri-Lane caught it decisively, delivering a bullet pass to Braxton Sorenson-McGee. Sorenson-McGee was stopped by Canada at the 22-metre line. The Black Ferns Sevens stayed patient, and when Paul connected with Miller on a cut, the Black Ferns Sevens Player of the Year scored her second try by rushing past three nearby defenders. Earlier, Felix-Hotham had offloaded while being tackled by two players, setting up a cartwheeling Stacey Waaka, before crafty Apps answered for Canada with a sabre thrust.
The Black Ferns had no such stress against France, setting a new record for their highest score against Les Bleus, surpassing the 54 points they scored in Sao Paulo in 2014-15. They now have a 39-4 record against France and dominated a team that included six players with five or fewer tournaments under their belts. The Black Ferns scored the first three tries before conceding one just before halftime. In the second half, they were nearly perfect, with a strong contribution from reserve Alena Saili and the usual energy from Miller and Waaka.
Black Ferns Sevens Scoring
Black Ferns Sevens: 64 (Miller, Vaakaholo 2, Sorenson-McGee 2, Paul 2, Pouri-Lane, Watherston, Teneti tries; Sorenson-McGee 4, Davis 2, Pouri-Lane cons) Great Britain: 0
Black Ferns Sevens: 19 (Miller 2, Waaka tries; Davis, Miller cons) Canada: 12 (Olivia Apps 2 tries; con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 55 (Miller, Teneti, Waaka 2, Paul, Vahaakolo, Saili 2, Kolose tries; Davis 2, Sorensen-McGee 3 cons) France: 7 (Mariama Tandiang try; Faustine Piscicelli con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 44 (Flex-Hotham, Teneti 3, Miller, Waaka, Vahaakolo, Watherston tries; Sorenson-McGee, Davis cons) USA: 7 (Ariana Ramsey try; Ashley Cowdrey con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 36 (Flex-Hotham, Miller 2, Paul, Vahaakolo tries; Sorensen-McGee 2 cons) Australia: 7 (Bienne Terita try; Tia Hinds con)
All Blacks Sevens Third
Southland Stags winger Michael Manson has been described as the quickest man in New Zealand rugby. A freakish try he scored over 60 metres to win the All Blacks Sevens a third-place playoff is as good as it gets from a debutant. Down 12-7, Mason rushed down the left wing. In the grasp of a tackle, he put boot to ball and gathered in an electric swop. Riley Williams converted from near the sideline to make it 14-12.
The All Blacks Sevens had to defend stoically to ensure the win. Rob Rush, Regan Ware and Brady Rush pilfered pivotal turnovers.
Earlier, both teams scored tries in the first half. South Africa took the lead after halftime with a try from Sebastiaan Jobb. Just when it looked like the game was lost, Manson pulled an antler from a hat.
The All Blacks Sevens had lost a Singapore semi-final for the first time in five matches, 21-14 to Fiji. The All Black Sevens started urgently and precisely. Akuila Rokolisoa's skip pass found Frank “The Tank” Vaenuku in space. A left foot step and right shoulder drive saw him power over the line.
Vaenuku was a menace for Fiji and went within a whisker of a second try after a barnstorming run. George Bose received a yellow card for a cynical play at a ruck, and from the quick tap, Brady Rush scored.
The All Blacks Sevens missed the ten-metre mark on the restart, which proved costly. Joseva Talacolo then scored after a classic, flashy Fijian attack.
Fiji tied the score by halftime when Vuiviwa Naduvalo, who has twice been player of the final in Singapore, received an offload after Bose won a turnover.
The All Blacks Sevens lost their discipline, and Naduvalo scored again to make it 21-14. They nearly pulled off an unlikely win at the end. Regan Ware made a herculean 40-metre surge into the Fijian 22. Williams kicked ahead for Kele Lasaqa, who was stopped just a metre short. Lasaqa popped the ball up to himself and reached out to score, but was penalised for playing the ball on the ground. Fiji has won 87 of 149 SVNS semi-finals, while the All Blacks Sevens have won 112 of 164.
The All Blacks Sevens had opened pool play with a 19-12 loss to France. The All Blacks Sevens started strongly, with Rob Rush bursting down the right and engineering a try for Rokoliso. But the French defence soon became impenetrable. The All Blacks Sevens kept the ball for two minutes but lost ground, and when France had a three-on-one advantage at a ruck, they won a penalty. Simon Desert then scored a try, even though France had only made two passes compared to the All Blacks Sevens forty.
The All Blacks Sevens couldn’t secure the restart, gave away a penalty, and France scored again with a try from the strapping Antoine Zeghdar.
Andy Timo received a yellow card for France early in the second half, but instead of panicking, the French controlled the game as the All Blacks Sevens struggled with discipline. There were three lineouts while Timo was off, and Nelson Epée, who now has 52 tries in SVNS, scored a third try that proved decisive, even though Ware finished with a flourish. This was only France’s ninth win over the All Blacks Sevens in 77 SVNS matches.
The All Blacks Sevens came from behind three times to stun Argentina 26-20 and keep their semi-final hopes alive in their second group match. Trailing 10-0, 15-14, and 20-19, Lasaqa stepped up as the hero. The 19-year-old from Bay of Plenty soared to claim a tricky restart, pivoted sharply, found a gap, and sprinted 60 metres to score the winning try on the final play.
The All Blacks Sevens lead Argentina 85-19 all-time, but had lost four of their previous five matches against the Pumas before this encounter.
Earlier, Argentina galloped to a 10-0 advantage with tries to Santiago Gagardiz and Santiago Vera Feld. Composure and experience would be required to rally, and Captain Tone Ng Shiu was the catalyst with a 40-metre break.
After halftime, Vaenuku followed his captain’s example with a stampeding run that ended just short of the try line. The All Blacks Sevens then found themselves under pressure after some loose passes. Rokolisoa straightened the attack and threw a long pass to Vaenuku, who managed to acrobatically avoid World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Luciano Gonzalez and finish in the corner.
Argentina took back the lead when Rokolisoa received a yellow card for a high tackle, and Marcos Moneta scored his 166th SVNS try from a well-placed Matteo Graziano grubber.
Kitiona Vai, ravaged by injury, responded with a gut-busting 50 metre surge only for Argentina to rally again with a breathless half-dozen pass sequence sparked by Moneta.
The All Blacks’ Sevens best pool play performance came in their 29-10 win over Australia, where they once led 24-0. Rokolisoa started strongly with a turnover and a try. Rob Rush made a big impact on the edge, and Southland’s Michael Manson scored his first international try with a chip, chase, and regather from inside his own 22.
Fiji defeated France 21-12 in the Cup final, earning their second cup win of the season and taking the lead in the SVNS standings after three rounds. The series continues next weekend in Perth.
All Blacks Sevens Scoring
All Blacks Sevens: 12 (Rokolisoa, Ware tries; Ware con) France: 19 Simon Désert, Antoine Zeghdar, Nelson Epée tries; Paulin Riva 2 cons)
All Blacks Sevens: 26 (Ng Shiu, Vaenuku, Vai, Lasaqa tries; Rokolisoa 2, Lasaqa cons) Argentina: 20 (Santino Zangara, Santiago Vera Feld, Marcos Moneta, Eliseo Morales tries)
All Blacks Sevens: 29 (Rokolisoa, Notoa-Tipo, Rob Rush 2, Manson tries; Rokolisoa 3 cons) Australia: 10 (Aden Ekanayake, Jayden Blake tries)
All Blacks Sevens: 14 (Vaenuku, Brady Rush tries; Rokolisoa 2 cons) Fiji: 21 (Joseva Talacolo, Vuiviwa Naduvalo 2 tries; Terio Veilawa 2, Iowane Teba cons)
All Blacks Sevens: 14 (Lasaqa, Manson tries; Notoa-Tipo, Williams con) South Africa: 12 (Tristan Leyds, Sebastiaan Jobb tries; Leyds con)
