Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand’s women’s team celebrate with the trophy after defeating Australia to win the HSBC SVNS Vancouver rugby sevens tournament. AFP / DON MACKINNON
An injury-depleted Black Ferns Sevens side pulled off a hard fought victory over Australia in the Vancouver Sevens final on Monday.
Reduced to just three players on their reserves bench with Braxton Sorensen-McGee, Jazmin Felix-Hotham and Manaia Nuku unavailable, the odds were stacked against the Black Ferns, who have got the better of Australia in three of their four previous title clashes during the series.
Leading 12-5 at halftime, New Zealand appeared to be running out of steam as the Aussies reeled them in level the scores at 17-17 with a couple of minutes left on the clock before a late try Alena Saili sealed the victory for the Black Ferns.
Player of the match Jorja Miller was the crucial point of difference between the two teams.
Miller scored one and set up a second in a full-throttle final as the Black Ferns Sevens held off Australia maintain their perfect winning record in Vancouver.
Miller said the adversity faced by the team during the tournament made the win more meaningful.
“I am so proud of this team, I’m so honoured to wear this black jersey. We’ve had a few girls go down this weekend … it means a lot more to us than just rugby,” the
And, on International Women’s Day she remembered who had inspired her. “When I was younger I was looking up to the greats, amazing players like Portia and Sarah Hirini.
“I hope that, as a team, we can inspire young girls and young boys to play rugby.”
USA beat France in the third-place play-off to end a nine-tournament wait for a podium finish, while Canada got the home crowd on their feet as they claimed fifth, and Japan claimed seventh at the end of an end-to-end play-off against Great Britain.
In the men’s draw, South Africa toppled Spain to take out the title.
South Africa beat and Spain 38-12 in the men’s final.
The All Blacks Sevens failed to reach the semifinal stage after losing to both of the eventual finalists during pool play.
The series now heads to New York for the next weekend’s tournament.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
