Women extend win streak
The Black Ferns continued to prove they are the world’s best team in women’s sevens by winning their fifth World Series tournament in a row yesterday.
New Zealand took a third-minute lead and never trailed in a 26-14 win over Canada in the Dubai final.
That followed the Black Ferns’ triumph at the season-opening Glendale Sevens in Denver, Colorado, in October.
After taking out the last three tournaments of last season’s World Series, yesterday’s victory means the New Zealand women have now won 30 matches in a row.
Tyla Nathan-Wong scored two tries and kicked three conversions against Canada to be named Player of the Final, while Sarah Goss won Player of the Tournament honours.
New Zealand were initially pushed by Ireland before winning their final pool game 24-17 but were otherwise untroubled by any other Dubai opponents.
They won their other pool games against Kenya 34-7 and Russia 29-12 before stepping up a gear in the knockout rounds.
Russia were dispatched 31-0 in the quarter-finals and the United States — finalists at Glendale — were overwhelmed 22-0 in the semifinals.
Michaela Blyde became the fifth woman in World Series history to reach 100 tries when she touched down for New Zealand’s last try in their quarter-final, then scored the first three in their semifinal.
With four World Series tournaments remaining — the next in Sydney in February — New Zealand top the standings on 40 points, six ahead of second-placed Canada.
That may not seem much of a lead but the World Series scoring system means one bad tournament can be costly. The Black Ferns Sevens won three of last season’s five tournaments but losing in the quarter-finals of the first was enough for Australia to finish champions by two points.
The New Zealand men's team beat Wales 28-7, Spain 28-17 and the US 24-7 to top their group in Dubai and set up a quarter-final against Scotland.
The Scots, who had beaten New Zealand just once in 44 previous attempts, held them out for most of the first half but three converted tries wrapped up the match. Scotland scored on fulltime to close the margin to 21-7. New Zealand faced England overnight in the semifinals.