The HSBC SVNS league championship has now become a twelve-team SVNS Grand Final trilogy, but the result has been the same in 10 of the last 11 tournaments: a Black Ferns win over Australia in the final.
Though the Black Ferns led throughout their 19–14 victory, it was a tense, rip-roaring affair.
Australia maintained possession for the opening 90 seconds — gruelling stuff.
The Black Ferns took fewer than a handful of passes to score. On her 25th birthday, Mahina Paul glided sideways, then straightened, accelerating into a hole that lasted 55 metres.
Captain Risi Pouri-Lane was named player of the final. Her wizardry included a backwards move followed by a netball-style chest pass to Manaia Nuku. Nuku, who tore her ACL last year, reached the Aussie 22 with renewed vigour. Jaymie Kolose supported. Her pass rebounded off Maddison Levi, then bounced favourably for Kolose to regather and deliver to Jorja Miller, who scored her 41st try of the season.
A minute before halftime, Australian captain Isabella Nasser rallied her country with her first try of the weekend, plunging through the middle of a ruck at the Black Ferns 22 and staying untouched for 80 metres.
An overzealous contest at the restart saw Tegan Levi sin-binned. It was 14–7 at halftime.
Heidi Dennis chased down Kolose with a heroic tackle, and Tia Hinds secured the jackal. But Australia was too slow to stop Pouri-Lane’s vice-like grip at the next ruck; the prompt tap penalty allowed Miller to deliver to Kelsey Teneti.
Tegan was determined to atone for her indiscretion. This time, her aerial proficiency was spotless, forcing a Black Ferns fumble. From the scrum, she put sister Maddison in a favourable position, and with momentum, she scored under the posts — 19–14.
The Black Ferns might have had flashbacks to a Madrid Sevens tournament in which they lost to Australia on a kickoff fumble after failing to secure the restart. Fortunately, time expired.
Earlier, the Black Ferns did concede the first try in two matches but remained undefeated in 76 outings against Brazil, Japan and Fiji. Pouri-Lane hinted at her final heroics, outwitting plucky Spain in the quarters, while Canada suffered their second loss to the Black Ferns in 24 hours, with the fifteen-a-side version no doubt cheering on their sisters in Kansas. Two teams traversing the Yellow Brick Road. How good!
The Black Ferns Sevens have won 23 of their last 24 matches in Hong Kong and 48 of their 60 SVNS Cup final appearances. Twenty-seven of those wins have come in 37 matches against Australia. The Black Ferns Sevens have now won their last 26 consecutive matches. The Black Ferns Sevens have won 383 of 423 SVNS matches.
Much of the Black Ferns’ focus this weekend was on honouring past pioneers in Hong Kong, including Aotearoa Māori, who won 33 consecutive matches and the women’s tournament every year from 2002 to 2007. Coach Peter Joseph sold his house to fundraise for the event.
Before that, unofficial New Zealand “Wild Ducks” teams won in 1997 and 1999. New Zealand’s official Sevens team won in 2000 and 2001. The Black Ferns Sevens have won 62 of the 94 tournaments they have contested since 2000. They have also won 533 of 585 matches across all competitions.
Black Ferns Sevens Scoring
Black Ferns Sevens: 29 (Vahaakolo 2, Miller, Teneti tries; Nuku, Sorensen-McGee cons) Brazil: 12 (Camilla Carvalho 2 tries; Julia Leite Rodrigues con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 38 (Miller 3, Paul, Pouri-Lane, Vahaakolo tries; Nuku 3 cons, Davis con) Japan: 7 (Mei Ohtani try; Michiyo Suda con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 38 (Pouri-Lane, Kolose, Waaka, Miller 2, Davis tries; Nuku 3 cons, Pouri-Lane con) Fiji: 0
Black Ferns Sevens: 32 (Teneti, Miller, Pouri-Lane 2, Paul tries; Sorensen-McGee con) Spain: 5 (Carlota Caicoya try)
Black Ferns Sevens: 31 (Pouri-Lane, Waaka 2, Miller, Vahaakolo tries; Nuku 2, Pouri-Lane cons) Canada: 12 (Olivia Apps, Eden Kilgour tries; Savannah Bauder con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 19 (Paul, Miller, Teneti tries; Pouri-Lane 2 cons) Australia: 14 (Isabella Nasser, Maddison Levi tries; Tia Hinds 2 cons)
All Blacks Sevens Fourth
The All Blacks Sevens were pipped for the bronze position by Spain 32–28 in an enthralling third-place playoff.
Spain has beaten the All Blacks Sevens six times in their last eight matches and made an electric start with three unconverted tries. Tobias Sainz-Trapaga scored the first two tries, sprinting past halfway and jostling faster than someone in a panic at the Pamplona Running of the Bulls festival. Roberto Ponce popped his shoulder to evade the desperation of Brady Rush.
Akuila Rokolisoa was the All Blacks Sevens’ best all weekend. He scored five tries and helped create four others. His 65-metre dash closed the gap to 15–7. Then Rodreick Solo, the top tackler in the tournament, nailed Spain behind their tryline. The ball spilled loose and Brady Rush, falling side-on, outstretched his left arm as far as he could to palm the oval on the grass, circumnavigating the nearby post too — 15–14 at halftime.
Anton Legorburu caught the All Blacks Sevens napping with a grubber and gather to make it 22–14. Solo then went solo over 75 metres with a fend and blast-off. Soon, the All Blacks Sevens had the lead. Rush and Dylan Collier combined to deflect the restart, and Sam Clarke scampered clear.
Spain refused to surrender and capped their best Hong Kong Sevens performance with the scorching pace of Josep Serres and Legorburu, too exhausting to suppress.
Unfortunately, the All Blacks Sevens campaign unravelled in the semi-final against eventual first-time champions South Africa, who beat New Zealand three times in a row for the first time since 2018.
The first five and a half minutes were scoreless, with brutal defence and some wayward passing. Rob Rush was especially aggressive for New Zealand.
A chip-and-chase by Solo pinned South Africa five metres from their line, but Bulls flyer Sebastiaan Jobb hurdled a prone defender and rushed suddenly to the 22. Outflanked, Tristan Leyds passed to Shilton van Wyk as the Blitzboks went coast to coast.
Zain Davids then employed the kick-and-chase to unlock the black wall. A collision with Solo saw him yellow-carded for high contact just before halftime. The All Blacks Sevens defended manfully. Eventually, the greater numbers prevailed, and Sebastiaan Jobb finished.
Down 14–0 at halftime, New Zealand couldn’t retain the restart. When the crafty Shilton van Wyk crossed, prospects of a win were dashed at 21–0. Defensive titan Ryan Oosthuizen, in his 63rd SVNS tournament, was rewarded with a fourth try.
Rokolisoa galloped 60 metres to restore some respectability before Michael Manson, dubbed the fastest man in New Zealand rugby, retrieved a kick-and-chase.
Earlier, the All Blacks Sevens defeated the top two SVNS 2 sides, USA and Kenya, in pool play to confirm a spot in the quarters. Clarke, with two tries, five conversions, and some playmaking flair and nous, underscored his recent improvement. The All Blacks Sevens have beaten the USA 58 times in 69 matches and Kenya 54 times in 60 matches.
A blip against Australia was remedied in the quarter-final victory against Olympic champions France, 19–10. Clarke and Rokolisoa scored tries to build a 12–0 halftime lead.
French captain Paulin Riva was sent off midway through the second half for a late shot — his second yellow-card offence.
Solo had a try ruled out before Brady Rush sealed it with his 50th SVNS try after pouncing on a loose ball from Manson’s chip.
All Blacks Sevens Scoring
All Blacks Sevens: 19 (B Rush, Rokolisoa, Clarke tries; Clarke 2 cons) USA: 12 (Lucas Lacamp 2 tries; con)
All Blacks Sevens: 28 (Solo, Clarke, Rush, Lasaqa tries; Clarke 3 cons, Williams con) Kenya: 12 (Kevin Wekesa, Nygel Pettersan Amaitsa tries; Amaitsa con)
All Blacks Sevens: 5 (Dylan Collier try) Australia: 12 (Dietrich Roache 2 tries; con)
All Blacks Sevens: 19 (Clarke, Rokolisoa, Rush tries; Clarke 2 cons) France: 10 (Liam Delamare, Gregoire Arfeuil tries)
All Blacks Sevens: 14 (Rokolisoa, Manson tries; Rokolisoa, Clarke cons) South Africa: 26 (Tristan Leyds, Sebastiaan Jobb, Shilton van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen tries; Leyds con, Selvyn Davids, Ronald Brown cons)
All Blacks Sevens: 28 (Rokolisoa, B Rush, Solo, Clarke tries; Rokolisoa 2, Clarke 2 cons) Spain: 32 (Tobias Sainz-Trapaga 2, Anton Legorburu 2, Roberto Ponce, Josep Serres tries; Francisco Cosculluela con)
