Black Ferns Sevens into another SVNS decider against Australia

The Black Ferns Sevens are through to their ninth-consecutive Cup Final on the HSBC SVNS Series after beating France 19-7 at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium. They will take on a familiar foe in the decider, with Australia claiming a 34-7 win over the USA.

New Zealand topped Pool A with a perfect run of three wins from as many matches on Saturday, finishing the group stage with a plus 66 points differential. Australia claimed the number-one seed out of Pool B, also going through unbeaten against tough opposition.

With the new SVNS Series format sending the top two teams from each pool directly through to the semi-finals, both New Zealand and Australia turned their focus to the final four, along with impressive France and USA outfits.

France opened the scoring in the first semi-final through Alycia Christiaens, as they looked to snap a five-match losing streak against the New Zealanders that dates back to the Hong Kong Sevens in 2024.

24-year-old Christiaens raced away for a long-range effort to five France the lead, as they dared to dream of an upset win. It was a tense first half, with the French giving themselves every chance of a result against the defending SVNS Series World Championship winners.

Jorja Miller ran upfield before running a switch play with Stacey Waaka. Waaka ran straight into a gap, and the two-time Olympic gold medallist had too much pace, racing away to the try line for the decisive score.

It was 7-all at the break.

New Zealand needed someone to step up, they needed a hero to win this semi-final, and it was Jazmin Felix-Hotham who answered the call. The Paris Olympics gold medallist gave New Zealand the lead less than 30 seconds into the second half.

Felix-Hotham helped the Black Ferns Sevens all but seal the win later in the match, tackled to ground before getting a pop pass off the deck to Alena Saili. Saili crossed with three and a half minutes left, and the New Zealanders were good enough to hang on for the 12-point victory.

In the second semi-final, Heidi Dennis gave Australia the lead with a five-pointer in the fourth minute. Australia appeared to be in control anyway, but Maddison Levi reinforced that belief by gliding down the left sideline shortly after.

Australia co-captain Isabella Nasser sent Maddison Levi over for her second in the final play of the half. While the conversion missed the mark, the Australians had put themselves in a commanding position with one half left to play.

Kaylen Thomas gave the USA hope of a comeback early in the second half, picking off a pass before running away to score. Tahna Wilfey added the extras, reducing the deficit to just 12 points with plenty of time left.

Alex Sedrick was shown a yellow card with a few minutes left, and Australia sealed the win with the one-player advantage. Maddison Levi dove over for her hat-trick, which was the try-scoring machine’s 13^th five-pointer of the season already.

Bienne Terita scored another try for Australia, before Maddison Levi completed a four-try haul, securing a comprehensive semi-final win for the Australians in Cape Town.