Ferns ‘absolutely gutted’ after loss to Australia ends golden run

BIRMINGHAM: The Black Ferns Sevens’ impressive run at major tournaments came to an end as they lost a thrilling Commonwealth Games semifinal to Australia yesterday.

After a run of Commonwealth Games, World Cup and Olympic titles, the 1712 loss was heartbreaking for the Ferns, who will now play off in the bronzemedal match against Canada.

‘‘I’m absolutely gutted to be honest and pretty emotional,’’ captain Sarah Hirini said.

‘‘I know how hard those girls will take that. Just the amount of work they put in to get to that point and for it to be so close.

‘‘But we’ve also been on the winning end of a few games like that.

‘‘I guess that’s the good and . . . thing about sevens.

It is revenge for Australia after New Zealand beat it in extra time on the Gold Coast four years ago to claim gold.

The two rivals faced each other in the semifinals after Australia was earlier stunned by Fiji in their pool match.

Australia will now play Fiji for gold.

‘‘We just didn’t hold on to the ball for long periods or phases,’’ Hirini said.

‘‘We know if we do that, it’s a lot easier to score tries.

‘‘We just couldn’t contain the ball in rucks.

Australia’s Maddison Levi led the way with a hattrick, including the crucial goahead try with just over a minute to play.

Levi was then yellowcarded for pulling Portia Woodman’s hair, leaving Australia with six players, but a crucial steal with New Zealand hot on attack ended the game.

‘‘I thought we had it,’’ Hirini said.

‘‘When we’ve got a little sniff, we’ve got an opportunity and we’ve got the ball, I back our team 100% to get over the line, but we just didn’t.’’

Teammate Tyla Nathan

Wong did not mince her words after the game.

‘‘It bloody sucks,’’ NathanWong said.

‘‘We work hard for those moments and unfortunately that one slipped away.

‘‘Today just wasn’t good enough.

‘‘We’ll soak in it, marinate in it, take some learnings from that, and we’ve still got a medal to play for, so will still hopefully do our country proud.

The All Blacks Sevens had wins over Sri Lanka (635), Samoa (1917) and England (200) in pool play.

They thumped Kenya 310 in the quarterfinal, and were to playing Fiji in the semifinal this morning.