Black Ferns Sevens show fans what they have been missing
Relishing the chance to play at home, New Zealand’s Black Ferns Sevens dominated the inaugural Fast Four tournament in Hamilton on Sunday to beat France 31-0 in the final.
It was an impressive showing by the home side with Stacey Waaka scoring a hat-trick of tries to finish with six for the tournament.
France tried to create opportunities with determined defence which put the pressure on New Zealand, but fast hands and assurance at the breakdown allowed the Black Ferns to absorb the pressure and claim the win.
Captain Tyla Nathan Wong said it was special to win at home and a dream come true for the side, who needed to do it after losing their captain Sarah Hirini to a leg injury on the first day.
“I’m glad at how well the girls hung out together, we were connected on defence,” she said.
It was the power of the New Zealanders to break tackles that made the initial impact in the final, Michaela Blyde achieving it first, followed by Waaka for her first try.
But for impact it was hard to go past the length of the field effort by Shakira Baker who broke a tackle on the New Zealand line and then had the pace to get a try that took them out to a 24-0 lead.
Waaka capped off the effort with her final two tries, the last of them coming after Ruby Tui kicked a dropped ball by the French through to control the ball. When it was cleared, Niall Williams was able to throw a long pass which found Waaka unmarked.
They completed their roundrobin games by beating China 41-0 earlier but they needed to work hard to quell the determined defence of the visitors. However, the timely ability to keep the score mounting eventually resulted in them gaining
I’m glad at how well the girls hung out together, we were connected. Tyla Nathan Wong
a dominance.
Baker and Alena Saili scored two tries while Gayle Broughton marked her arrival as a substitute by immediately fooling the defenders as the Blacks Ferns cashed in on a lineout steal. Broughton shaped to go one way before turning back the other way to open space and run away for the try.
The game was rounded out by Blyde coming back on the angle to take a Broughton pass to go in under the posts.