Blitzboks dominate All Blacks Sevens as Black Ferns reach Hong Kong final
The All Blacks Sevens have fallen short yet again, this time in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Sevens against South Africa, going down 26-14 on Sunday evening.
Tristan Leyds opened the scoring for the Blitzboks, running down the right-hand touchline with no Kiwi defender in sight.
The All Blacks Sevens weren’t helped by a first-half yellow card to Roderick Solo, a short period where the South African side managed to score two tries in quick succession, either side of the half.
Sebastiaan Jobb punished New Zealand’s defence on the stroke of halftime, extending the lead to 14-0 at halftime.
Shilton van Wyk and Ryan Oosthuizen then crossed for South Africa, before late tries to Akuila Rokolisoa and speedster Michael Manson tightened the gap to twelve.
Meanwhile, the Black Ferns Sevens have booked their place in yet another final, this time smashing Canada, 31-12 at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong.
Cory Sweeney’s Black Ferns side will take on Australia in the final for the seventh time this season, having played their arch-rivals in every tournament so far in the 2025-26 HSBC SVNS Series campaign.
In the semi-final, experienced superstar Stacey Waaka took matters into her own hands, scoring a quickfire double during the first half against Canada.
Waaka’s first try came after Jorja Miller took advantage of some slow retreating defence by Canada, taking a quick tap in the middle of the field prior to passing it to Mahina Paul, who had the easy task of handing it off to her winger.
Just one minute later, Waaka was the beneficiary of Miller’s brilliance once again, running in under the posts.
Canada hit back through Olivia Apps, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough as the Black Ferns stormed home through tries to Miller and Katelyn Vaha’akolo.
The Australian Women took care of business in the other semi-final against France, 26-5, taking some much-needed momentum into Sunday’s final.
Australia’s semi-final was dominated by two players in particular, Maddison Levi and Tia Hinds. Both players ran in doubles, proving to have too much quality for France.
In the Women’s side of the draw, New Zealand will take on Australia at 10:35pm NZT, while Canada will battle France for third and fourth at 9:35pm NZT.
For the Men, Argentina found their way to their first HSBC SVNS Series Men’s final since Cape Town in December 2025, where they will take on the Blitzboks at 11:14pm NZT.
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