New Zealand replaces Australia at the top of the SVNS standings with their 38th tournament victory. In all events, New Zealand has won 51 of 82 tournaments with Sweeney involved in 34 of those successes.
In the final, the Black Ferns Sevens rallied from a deficit of a dozen to topple the USA 26-12.
The USA started feverishly when Nia Toliver beat Theresa Setefano and dashed 60 metres. With seven tries, including two in the shock 24-19 upset of Dubai champions Australia in the semi-final, Toliver was one of the stars of the weekend.
In her second tournament, Alyssa Porter was another to contribute plenty and when she collected a spillage by Kelsey Teneti and flashed clear to leave New Zealand reeling.
The USA was rampant. Sarah Levy put the ball to toe and won the race for possession. It should have been three unanswered tries but Levy fumbled.
Jorja Miller is often the source of good for New Zealand and her 56th SVNS try, outpacing Toliver in a breathtaking 65 metre surge shifted momentum.
Remarkably the Black Ferns Sevens led 14-12 at halftime. Setefano intercepted and was pulled down narrowly short of the paint. The USA infringed and from the penalty, a quick tap saw Jazmin Felix-Hotham unmarked.
The Black Ferns Sevens dominated the second half. With the line at her mercy, a Miller kick was fumbled by Teneti. In the following phase, Teneti scored from a clinical Risi Pouri-Lane pass. Her sideline conversion to make it 21-12 was even more slick.
Dhys Faleafaga was hugely productive throughout the tournament. In a tricky pool game against Japan, she combined twice with Sarah Hirini to score tries in a contest New Zealand briefly trailed 12-10.
Against USA her power was put to good use when she was freed down the left wing.
“It was a bit of a grind at the start but we knew if we got the ball we would be away,” Player of the Final Jorja Miller said while warning: “The next four years are going to be epic.”
Swarming defense catalysed New Zealand’s 43-0 whitewash of France, their largest SVNS semi-final victory. In the opening two minutes, the Black Ferns forced a five-metre scrum, and from that stoppage, Felix-Hotham cruised over following quick distribution.
France failed to enter the New Zealand half as Miller, Hirini, and even Kelly Brazier bullied France at the breakdown. A Miller turnover created a scrum and a second try for Pouri-Lane.
When Mahina Paul scored a long-range try to make it 19-0, it was curtains for France. New Zealand was in total sync, committing just one handling error and conceding one penalty in a near-faultless display. New Zealand has won 20 of its 23 semi-finals since 2020. France are 1-13 in semis against New Zealand.
Australia finished fourth after being beaten in the third-placed playoff by France. Two converted tries from the prolific Maddison Levi couldn’t overhaul a 17-0 deficit. When Levi scored a try to push Australia 19-7 ahead, it appeared yet another Trans-Tasman decider was in store. But Australia wasn’t as polished as they were in the desert.
In pool play, Australia scrambled past Canada after being reduced to five players after losing Tia Hinds and Sariah Paki to the sinbin. The match was also notable in that Levi failed to get on the scoreboard for the first time in 27 matches. Against the USA two restarts were kicked out on the full and missed tackles were plentiful in a narrow defeat.
In pool play the Black Ferns Sevens improved their records to 10-0 against China and 18-0 against Japan.
Black Ferns Sevens - Summary
Squad: Manaia Nuku, Jorja Miller, Risi Pouri-Lane, Dhys Faleafaga, Kelsey Teneti, Justine McGregor, Mahina Paul, Theresa Setefano, Sarah Hirini, Katelyn Vahaakolo, Alena Saili, Kelly Brazier, Jazmin Felix-Hotham.
Black Ferns Sevens: 40 (Paul 2, Pouri-Lane 2, Faleafaga, Vahaakolo tries; Pouri-Lane 5 cons) China: 10 (Liao Jiuli, Zhou Yan tries)
Black Ferns Sevens: 22 (Faleafaga 2, Hirini, Nuku tries; Pouri-Lane) Japan: 12 (Hana Nagata, Hanako Utsumi tries; Utsuni con)
Black Ferns Sevens: 43 (Felix-Hotham; Pouri-Lane, Paul, Miller, Teneti, Hirini, Vahaakolo tries; Pouri-Lane 3) France: 0
Black Ferns Sevens: 26 (Miller, Felix-Hotham, Teneti, Faleafaga tries; Pouri-Lane 3 cons, Nuku con) USA: 12 (Nia Toliver, Alyssa Porter tries; Kayla Canett con)
All Blacks Sevens Struggle to Sixth
When veterans Joe Webber and Andrew Knewstubb were ruled out before the tournament, an already tough assignment for the All Blacks Sevens became tougher. A mystery illness that swept through the team and left New Zealand with only two reserves on the first day added insult to injury.
Withstanding health battles, the All Blacks Sevens bravely battled past the USA 19-17 in a repeat of their first-round victory in Dubai.
Unfortunately, Olympic gold medalists France were a different class overwhelming New Zealand 47-15, their largest victory against New Zealand and just their seventh in 75 matches in SVNS. Rookie Oli Mathis built on his promising start in Dubai with consistent displays in all four outings but the try he scored against France would rank as bizarre. The referee copped a stiff arm to the chest, dropping to his knees before bouncing back to his feet bravely. After beating the man with the whistle, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black spun a long ball to Mathis on the left edge who bamboozled the defense after slipping over.
Sofia Maka was the youngster bamboozling Great Britain. He scored a 65 metre try with an explosive fend and applied a smashing tackle leading to another strike as New Zealand earned a crack at Argentina for fifth.
Maka was the fore again against the Pumas who repeated their victory over the All Blacks Sevens from Dubai.
Fletcher Carpenter and Rob Rush were All Blacks Sevens debutants.
South Africa beat France 26-14 in the Cup final to secure victory at home for the first time since 2015. It was 14-14 at halftime but the Blitzboks pulled clear in the second spell. Zain Davids was named player of the match in the final.
All Blacks Sevens - Summary
Squad: Joey Taumateine, Cody Vai, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Sofai Maka, Sione Molia, Tone Ng Shiu, Dylan Collier, Brady Rush, Jack Gray, Oli Mathis, Lewis Ormond, Fletcher Carpenter, Rob Rush.
All Blacks Sevens: 19 (Vai, Ormond, Maka, tries, McGarvey-Black 2 cons)
USA: 17 (Will Cheavier, Aaron Cummings, Peter Sio tries; Sio con)
All Blacks Sevens: 15 (McGarvey-Black, Mathis, Ng Shiu tries) France: 47 (Stephen Parez-Edo Martin, Celian Pouzelgues, Liam Delamare, Paulin Riva, Victor Hannoun, Simon Désert, Enahemo Artaud tries; Riva 3 cons, Artaud 2 cons, Parez-Edo Martin con)
All Blacks Sevens: 21 (Maka, McGarvey-Black, Ng Shiu tries; McGarvey-Black 2 cons, Maka) Great Britain: 17 (Ryan Apps, Sunni Jardine, Luke Mehson tries; Matt Davidson con)
All Blacks Sevens: 12 (Molia, Maka tries; Maka con) Argentina: 17 (Joaquin Pellandini, Matías Osadczuk, Matteo Graziano tries; Osadczuk con)