- New Zealand beat France 35-19 to claim women’s gold with hattrick for Portia Woodman-Wickliffe
- Ecstatic scenes as hosts Canada overcome women’s SVNS leaders Australia 19-14 to win bronze
- New Zealand close gap on Australia to six points in women’s league title race
- Fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 takes place in Los Angeles on 1-3 March, tickets available from svns.com
New Zealand’s Black Ferns Sevens were back to their exhilarating best and proved too strong for France in the women’s final. Played in an electric atmosphere under the roof of BC Place stadium, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe ran in a hattrick of tries to help secure a 35-19 victory.
Woodman-Wickliffe said: “To come out here, we’ve got some really new girls, we took out all the excess stuff that didn’t need to be there and made the game simple: get the ball wide, create space and play from there.”
“Our game’s not perfect, we’ve got a long way to go. Australia is always the pinnacle but France is such a massive side. They’re strong, they’re physical, they bring a different game that no one else does. We’re looking forward to the next tournament. We’ve got some girls that are coming back from injuries. It’s going to be exciting.”
There was double medal joy for France, just months ahead of hosting the Olympic Games in Paris, as former World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year award winner Antoine Dupont capped an imposing display by claiming France’s final try in a 42-12 defeat of USA to claim the bronze medal, a result all the more impressive given they were trailing 12-0 and down to six men following a yellow card to Dupont in the first half.
In the women’s bronze medal match there were ecstatic scenes as hosts Canada overcame women’s SVNS leaders Australia 19-14 to delight the home crowd of more than 67,000 spectators that attended across the weekend.
Australia maintain their position at the top of the women’s standings with 72 points but see their lead cut to six points by New Zealand in second on 66 points and France a further four points behind on 62 points.
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The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points after seven events will compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final, where the women’s and men’s SVNS champions will be crowned.
The four lowest ranked men’s and women’s teams after the seventh round in Singapore will join the top four teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in a high stakes promotion and relegation tournament in Madrid, meaning every match and every point counts throughout the HSBC SVNS, which is proving to be more competitive than ever in 2024.
The best 12 men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams in the world now move on to Los Angeles for the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 on 1-3 March as the race to become league winners at the seventh round in Singapore hots up.
The pools for HSBC SVNS in Los Angeles were drawn shortly after the final in Vancouver and threw up some exciting encounters to look forward to next weekend.
The men’s draw sees current SVNS leaders Argentina together with Ireland, South Africa and Spain in Pool A. Hosts USA are in Pool B together with reigning series champions New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. Vancouver bronze medallists France are in Pool C with double Olympic champions Fiji, Great Britain and Canada.
New Zealand are in women’s Pool A alongside Fiji, Brazil and South Africa. Current SVNS leaders Australia are drawn with France, Perth winners Ireland and Japan. Pool C sees hosts USA together with rivals Canada, Spain and Great Britain.
Tickets to HSBC SVNS in Los Angeles are available from www.svns.com
Fans can watch the HSBC SVNS action wherever you are in the world, either via broadcaster partners or online on RugbyPass TV.
With thanks to World Rugby
