Three and easy for mighty Black Ferns
Victory over USA moves New Zealand up to first in series on points difference
New Zealand’s women yesterday won the Sevens for the second year running, with a decisive 36-7 victory over USA at Hong Kong Stadium.
Victory moved them up to first in the HSBC SVNS Series on points difference, leapfrogging rivals Australia who they beat in the semi-finals and who ultimately finished third.
The Black Ferns have now won the past three tournaments in the series, picking up gold in Vancouver and Los Angeles before coming to Hong Kong.
“To come back to Hong Kong with back-to-back wins was really special,” said Michaela Blyde, who scored a hat-trick in the final. “We’re really proud of the way we performed today.”
On the pitch, New Zealand made light work of an impressive USA side that smashed Fiji and brushed aside France on their way to the final.
Jorja Miller started the evening with a sprint from the 22 and it was the speed of New Zealand that punished USA throughout.
On multiple occasions, the Kiwis worked the ball wide and created space for Blyde, whose second came when they had a player advantage, following Steph Rovetti’s yellow card.
There were some signs of life from the USA at the beginning of the second half.
Ilona Maher broke clear leading to Alex Sedrick’s first try of the tournament and USA’s only one of the game, bringing the score to 17-7.
But that just seemed to inspire New Zealand, who smashed in another 19 points in five minutes to put the game to bed.
“It’s not really something that I aim for,” Blyde said of her three tries. “The goal for us is to just play our best in the final … And if that means me scoring three tries, then I’m happy with that.”
New Zealand’s Shiray Kaka won the tournament award for best and fairest player for a weekend that included four tries and several dominating displays, a significant U-turn given her omission from the squad for the tournament in Perth, Australia.
For the Americans, the final was a game too far, and Sedrick said they were disappointed because “we didn’t convert on things that we knew we could do better and that’s the kicker”.
But she was also full of praise for her opponents and the way they approached the game.
“They’re a very good team and they have very good ball movement,” she said.
“They identify space really quickly. So if we happen to leave it on the left side, you know, it seemed like that they were going to exploit it.”
Sedrick had tears in her eyes as she lined up for the national anthem pregame, and other members of her squad were also clearly emotional.
On top of that, the sell-out crowd was bouncing, bringing another level to the atmosphere on the last super Sunday the stadium is expected to host.
“It’s been a while since we were in a cup final, and it’s something that in every tournament we strive to do,” she said. “To play in the final and to have this be the last that will be played in this stadium, we were really excited.
“We love the South Stand, we see a lot of American flags in the stands.”
Salom Yiu Kam-shing could not hold back the tears after what was likely to be the last Hong Kong Sevens of his long representative career.
Yiu and his Hong Kong teammates had rounded off his 14-year affiliation with the tournament in style, in the shape of a stunning 22-10 victory over Japan to win the Melrose
Claymore competition.
The city’s men’s team had lost to the same opponents a day earlier, but their victory second time around was rarely in doubt. They powered to a 22-0 lead through a pair of tries by Fong Kit-fung, sandwiched between one each from Bryn Phillips and Hugo Stiles.
Japan’s Kippei Taninaka did all he could with two tries of his own, but it was too little, too late.
Hong Kong lost 24-10 to China in the women’s Melrose final. Chong Ka-yan, with her third try in as many matches over the three days, joined Chan Tsz-ching in touching down.
“We set out to reach the final and we did,” Chong said. “We wanted to win in front of our home crowd in our last game here, but it was not to be.”
Captain Natasha Olson-Thorne called the tournament’s last hurrah before a planned move to Kai Tak Sports Park “sad, because this is the stadium I grew up watching rugby in”. “But I am so glad we got to experience it for a last time,” she said.
Yiu, Hong Kong men’s rugby’s longest servant, says his international sevens career is over after 75 tournaments. After a seemingly never-ending lap of honour, the outgoing legend was raw with emotion when he started talking to the media.
“I still cannot calm down. This is the end, the full circle,” he said. “I appreciate the coach [Jevon Groves] sending me on in the final few minutes for my last game, in this final dance at Hong Kong Stadium.”
He tried to continue: “I’ll miss all these …”
When the 36-year-old was composed enough to resume, he dedicated his “grateful” tears to the spectators, who he said “gave me this identity”.
Yiu said it was important for Chinese players to be part of the Hong Kong team.
“I will continue promoting rugby in the community, so that we can find and encourage more local players,” Yiu said.
Yiu had long tipped Fong as his “successor” and the 26-yearold did not disappoint, touching down twice in front of the South Stand.
Mike Chan