New Zealand sit proudly atop the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series table after three tournaments as the Black Ferns Sevens put in a consistent display over the course of two days to win the USA Sevens in Las Vegas.
Player of the Final Ruby Tui (Photo: Mike Lee)
In the final, New Zealand never looked in trouble against Olympic champions Australia, racking up a 28-0 lead before Mahalia Murphy responded with a consolation try for the Aussies. Meanwhile, Portia Woodman, Tyla Nathan-Wong, player of the final Ruby Tui and Alena Faalogoifo Saili had put the Black Ferns Sevens out of sight and they finished 28-5 to the good.
Afterwards, a beaming Woodman said: “We came second in the Olympics to Australia so to beat them now in two finals this season, in Dubai and again tonight, is kind of bitter-sweet. But we are delighted with this win, we’re going to enjoy it and then look ahead to the next tournament and see how we go from there.”
Meanwhile, in the bronze final, Canada won the battle of North America, beating USA 31-7 much to the disappointment of around 30,000 home fans packed into Sam Boyd Stadium for the two-day party that is the HSBC USA Sevens in Sin City.
Patricia Garcia’s Spain won the Challenge Trophy, beating England 10-0 in the final.
Now half-way through the series, attentions will shift to Kitakyushu, Japan, for the fourth round from 22-23 April. New Zealand are definitely the form team at the moment but with teams like Fiji, Ireland, Spain and Russia putting more and more pressure on the top teams, they know they will be pushed every inch of the way.
Report courtesy of World Rugby
