‘Job’s not done yet’: Black Ferns Sevens win five of six SVNS events

Risi Pouri-Lane has led the Black Ferns Sevens to another Cup Final triumph on the HSBC SVNS Series, with the New Zealanders going on a 17-0 run late to complete a remarkable comeback over Australia in the New York Cup Final.

New Zealand and Australia have met in every women’s decider in SVNS 1 this season, and the arch-rivals produced an all-time classic clash on Sunday at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Kelsey Teneti scored twice as the New Zealanders secured a nail-biting 22-21 victory.

The Black Ferns Sevens won five of six regular season events during the 2025/26 season and have been crowned SVNS Series Winners once again. But there’s still plenty to play for in the months ahead, with the new-look three-leg World Championship starting in just a matter of weeks.

Catch up on HSBC SVNS Series action on RugbyPass TV. You can create an account HERE.

World Rugby unveiled the new three-tier SVNS model last May, which includes the opportunity for second division sides to fight for the top prize. Four teams in SVNS 2 will qualify for the World Championships along with the eight sides in the top flight.

The Hong Kong Sevens is the first of three World Championship events, followed by Valladolid on May 29-31 and Bordeaux on June 5-7. With a dominant regular season in the books, the Black Ferns Sevens will soon turn their focus to the season-ending series.

“That’s the biggest thing is being consistent,” Pouri-Lane said post-game on the broadcast.

“Evey team is getting better, I think that’s the beauty of having the top eight teams at the moment is there’s no easy game. Every game is treated like a final.

“To have the consistency over the past five months has been huge for us, but the job’s not done yet.”

New Zealand trailed 21-5 at one stage during the SVNS New York Cup Final, with the Levi sisters starring for Australia. Teneti opened the scoring for the Black Ferns Sevens, before Maddison Levi hit back and Teagan Levi completed a double.

With Australia ahead by 16 points with five minutes remaining, the Black Ferns Sevens were down but not out. Alena Saili gave the team a spark of hope with a try in the 10^th minute, which started the team’s point-scoring blitz.

Teneti crossed for her second of the Final in the 12^th minute, making the difference just six points with two minutes left. Jorja Miller was effective around the breakdown, allowing the Black Ferns Sevens to throw the ball around and attack with intent.

Saili was held up just shy of the try line by Maddison Levi in the dying stages, only for Katelyn Vahaakolo to burrow over in the next phase. Pouri-Lane remained cool under pressure, nailing the conversion attempt to give New Zealand the lead with 20 seconds on the clock.

“For us, even just before the game started, we knew it was all going to be about heart. Finals footy can go either way, we all know that,” Pouri-Lane reflected.

“But to grind it out when the odds may not be in your favour… the belief within every single person behind you is huge.

“We spoke about just being really critical and making sure we’re doing the simple things well. We had a gameplan, sometimes the gameplan doesn’t always go the way you plan, but we knew that if we stuck to the basics and we had our numbers from a defensive point of view, because we know the Aussie girls are talented… we knew what we needed to do to try and shut them down.”

Teneti has been one of the form players on the SVNS Series in 2025/26, with the Black Fern Sevens ace receiving Player of the Final honours in Perth last month. Others like Miller, Vahaakolo and Pouri-Lane have also stepped up in big moments throughout an impressive season.

“We’ve had Jaymie step in… she’s grown so much in that starting role, starting position,” she added.

“Jazmin [Felix-Hotham] going down last week, Maia Davis back in the squad, but Kelsey [Teneti] she stood up in big games.

“That’s the exciting team about this team is that there’s so much depth and so much potential that’s still untouched at the moment.”