Australia handed tough Vancouver pool draw after Perth heartbreak

It doesn’t get any easier for Australia after losing the HSBC SVNS Perth Cup Final to New Zealand on Sunday, with the powerhouse side drawn in the same pool as two recent semi-finalists for next month’s event at Vancouver’s BC Place.

Vancouver will host the penultimate tournament of the SVNS 1 season, with Australia drawn in Pool B along with the USA, Canada and Fiji. Canada made the final four in Singapore earlier this month, while the USA qualified for the semi-finals in both Singapore and Perth.

Olivia Apps, Kennedi Stevenson and Carissa Norsten helped lead the Canadians to their first semi-final appearance of the season in Singapore. They were beaten by Australia in a one-sided Cup eliminator, but returned to winning ways in the third-place playoff against the USA.

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Apps produced some individual brilliance to ultimately win that golden-point thriller, with the playmaker marking her memorable return to SVNS with a runaway match-winner. Canada had come close to a win over New Zealand on day one, but Jorjia Miller won it with a late moment of magic.

Canada were left to fight for fifth in Perth after finishing third in Pool B behind the Aussies and France. Maddison Levi flew downfield for a double in a 38-10 win over the Canadians, en route to their fourth Cup Final in as many events this season.

The USA are coming off consecutive fourth-place finishes in Perth and Singapore, which included a 21-14 defeat to France in the third-place playoff on Sunday. Cassidy Bargell and Sammy Sullivan both scored but the French did enough to secure their place on the podium.

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Perth champions New Zealand headline the other group, which includes France, Japan and Great Britain. Jorja Miller and Katelyn Vahaakolo both scored doubles as the Black Ferns Sevens ran away with a 34-14 victory against France in the Perth semi-finals last weekend.

The Black Ferns Sevens sit in first place on the overall SVNS Series standings with 78 points, having won titles at three of the four events so far this season. New Zealand emerged victorious in Dubai, Singapore and Perth, but were beaten by Australia in the Cape Town decider.

“I’ve never received something like this before,” Kelsey Teneti said after receiving Player of the Final honours.

“It’s more than just a game for our whanau back home. We carry our whanau and our country on our shoulders.

“To go back-to-back really means a lot.”

In men’s sevens, Cape Town and Perth winners South Africa will face New Zealand in Pool A, as the SVNS Series juggernauts chase another semi-final appearance. Spain and Great Britain round out the group, with GB coming off a hard-fought win over the All Blacks Sevens in Perth.

Fiji are in Pool B along with a talented Australia side, two-time reigning League Winners Argentina and Olympic champions France. Los Pumas Sevens made the Cup Final in Cape Town but have otherwise failed to make the semi-finals at the other three stops.

Vancouver is the second-last stop of the SVNS 1 season, with New York set to host a sevens event for the first time on March 14 to 15. It’ll then by time for the three-event World Championships, with tournaments in Hong Kong China, Valladolid and Bordeaux.