Australia and New Zealand to renew SVNS rivalry in Singapore decider

Australia and New Zealand will contest a HSBC SVNS Series Women’s Cup Final for the third time in as many events this season, booking their place in the Singapore Sevens decider with wins against Canada 35-10 and the USA 44-7 respectively on Sunday.

Jorja Miller received Player of the Year honours after helping the Black Ferns Sevens take out the winner-takes-all World Championship in Los Angeles last May. Following a stint in 15s, the 21-year-old has continued to wreak havoc on the world’s premier sevens circuit.

Miller was ranked first on the RugbyPass Women’s SVNS Series leaderboard after two events, with the Black Ferns Sevens making both the Dubai and Cape Town finals. New Zealand took out the Dubai Sevens title before falling to Australia 26-12 in South Africa’s Western Cape.

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New Zealand flew through pool play at SVNS Singapore, winning against Great Britain, Canada and France, which included two particularly comprehensive performances. The Black Ferns Sevens finished the group phase with a +119 points difference.

Meanwhile, Australia boasted a flawless 3-0 record from matches against the USA, Fiji and Japan. Debutant Maya Stewart, who is the all-time top try-scorer in Wallaroos history, raced away for the match-winner in a thriller against the USA on Saturday evening.

Australia returned to the National Stadium for a semi-final clash with Canada after 2:00 pm (local time) on day two. The Canadians have been bolstered by the return of some 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup stars, including Olivia Apps and Alysha Corrigan.

Kennedi Stevenson made a half-break early on as the Canadians looked to take an early lead, but Maddison Levi chased the SVNS Series rookie down. Levi turned defence into attack soon after, beating Stevenson with sheer pace along the right sideline.

Younger sister Teagan Levi added the extras as Australia took a 7-0 lead inside the first few minutes, but Canada hit back almost immediately. Apps broke through Australia’s defence and managed to hold off Faith Nathan for a while.

Nathan is one of the quickest athletes on the SVNS Series, and the Australian managed to bring Apps to ground about one metre shy of the try line. Corrigan dove over for Canada’s first five-pointer about two phases later, but the conversion attempt missed the mark.

Heidi Dennis crossed for the only other try of a nail-biting first half, fending off Carrisa Norsten en route to the try line. Teagan Levi went two-from-two with conversion attempts, with the Aussies taking a 14-5 advantage into the half-time huddle.

It was one-way traffic in the second half, with Maddison Levi completing a hat-trick of tries during a stunning team performance. Maddison touched down for tries in the ninth and 13^th minutes, while sister Teagan scored a try in between those efforts.

Canada had the last point-scoring say of the contest, with Savannah Bauder powering off for a score in the final play of the match. But Australia still won by 25 points, not setting their sights on a third consecutive SVNS Singapore Cup Final appearance.

New Zealand are the two-time defending champions in the Lion City, and they’ll have a chance to defend their crown later on Sunday. Risi Pouri-Lane set the tone with an early shot in defence, before Jazmin Felix-Hotham weaved across the park to score the first try of the semi-final.

Miller drew in a few USA defenders about five metres out from the try line soon after, as the New Zealanders looked to add to their early advantage. The 21-year-old offloaded the ball to Braxton Sorensen-McGee, who found Kelsey Teneti unmarked out wide.

An overthrown lineout saw Miller walk in for a try with about one minute left in the half. But the conversion attempt was again unsuccessful, with the Black Ferns Sevens leaving six points out there with those attempts.

Teneti capped off a dominant first-half performance from the New Zealanders with another try in the final play before the break. It was 20-0 as both teams grouped for their respective huddles in the middle of the field.

There was a sense of déjà vu early in the second term when Teneti completed a hat-trick, showing pure pace during an impressive break along the left sideline. With the successful shot at the uprights, New Zealand led by 27 with about five minutes left.

Stacey Waaka and Katelyn Vahaakolo extended New Zealand’s lead even further with tries in quick succession, but the USA eventually struck back through Ariana Ramsey. New Zealand had the final say with Waaka setting up Olive Watherston in the 14th minute.