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Michaela Blyde hat-trick helps New Zealand take top spot on SVNS standings
They may have started the early stages of the season uncharacteristically inconsistent but the Black Ferns Sevens’ run of three consecutive Cup final triumphs has seen the Kiwis rise above Australia on the overall SVNS Series standings.
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New Zealand only made one of the first three Cup finals of the season and that was a defeat to arch-rivals Australia in Dubai. But the three most recent events have been a different story altogether with the women in black taking control of the Series.
The Black Ferns Sevens snapped their Cup final glory drought with a win over France in the Vancouver decider, and the New Zealanders have matched those heroics at the two most recent legs in Los Angeles and now Hong Kong China.
Michael Blyde, who brought up her 50th international tournament at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens, scored a stunning hat-trick as New Zealand ran up a big score over finalists the USA.
20-year-old Jorja Miller opened the scoring, and replacement Mahina Paul also crossed for a double as the Black Ferns Sevens registered a 36-7 win in what very well could be the final SVNS Series women’s final at the iconic venue.
New Zealand are now first, ahead of arch-rivals Australia, on the overall SVNS Standings on for-and-against. The neighbours separated by the Tasman Sea are equal on overall points which sets up a titanic event in Singapore to determine the league winners.
“To come back with back-to-back wins in Hong Kong is really special. We’re really proud of the way we performed today,” Michaela Blyde told RugbyPass and other reporters.
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“We’re glad to have finished this Hong Kong Stadium with a win. Hopefully we can bring some more wins next year in the new stadium.
“We obviously weren’t impressed or happy with how we performed at the start of the season. We had a lot of things that we needed to work on,” she added when asked about moving up to first on the SVNS Standings.
“We just need to bring it back to basics. There are a lot of teams that are starting to develop their skillset very quickly so for us we just wanted to stay on top of the game by being the best versions of ourselves, doing the simple things right, width-to-width, good accuracy with our passes and to try and be fitter and faster than most teams.
“As soon as you bring some speed and fitness into the game, you take control of momentum. If we can keep on top of that in our team, we can hopefully continue this constancy moving on into the Olympics.”
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Olympic gold medallist Blyde scored all three of her tries down the left edge. The New Zealanders spread the ball wide and the SVNS veteran was good enough to finish each opportunity with both class and precision.
Blyde’s first try required a bit more acrobatics in the corner than the other two, but overall, the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year has been sublime throughout the event and was rightfully rewarded with Player of the Final honours.
“Very happy. It’s not really something that I aim for but the goal for us is to just play our best in the final and then hopefully… by us just doing our best with what we can with our strengths, we can come away with some wins like that,” Blyde explained when asked about the hat-trick.
“If that means me scoring three tries then I’m happy with that. If that means that our middles are doing some good gooies and some steps then I’m happy with that as well.
“Overall I’m just really proud of how our team performed as one.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Quite right. Punish the time wasters. Its BS these time delays for non-injuries. The Boks have been using it for years now to slow down opposition and now its a scourge on the game. Put players like DeGroot on the sideline and restart play immediately. Watch how 5-6 min to fix your boots quickly becomes 1-2 minutes. Better still how about some personal professional management and you check the conditions/turf beforehand and get yourself better prepared. It might even help your team.
1 Go to commentsWhat drivel. Rugby as a contact sport should not be further diminished by crying over legal hard tackles. Take on the line? Be ready to take the hit. This is PC nonsense.
2 Go to commentsGregor Paul is going to be proved totally wrong. The Crusaders will get in the top 8 and are capable of winning this comp. The return of magnificent captain and player Scott Barrett on Friday was huge. There are a number of players returning and Ethan Blackadder showed huge progression in only his third game back. Christian Lio-Willie has added a new dimension , these two’s combination with Cullen Grace was fantastic. This builds depth when you have outstanding players like Tom Christie and Dom Gardiner also available. The tight five improved ten fold and this is with Tamaiti Williams and Codie Taylor being back.Others are set to return. Johnny McNicoll on his return home has been a revelation. Paul can dismiss Fridays win by the Crusaders as much as he likes and he will prove very popular in this country in doing so. But he will be proved wrong , Rob Penney and his coaching team will have the last laugh.
7 Go to commentsI haven’t seen or heard to many whinging about Finau quite the opposite. The TMO’s have reviewed each time and taken no action, so if they have now been alerted it’s not from people whinging The player comes flying out of the line and launches himself at the attacker so it is probably ruled as a committed tackle, but at what point does it move to tackling a player without the ball Time will tell
2 Go to commentsThis cracked media record of aligning success or failure on head coaches is remarkable. Using the crusaders past history as an example, a more sensible observation and analysis could be that the recent head coaches had inherited a extremely successful combination of players linked to their traditional historical support of the Canterbury people. That period ended this year when the new coach was introduced to virtually a new team. And in a year where other franchises have grown much stronger than their respective past, it was always an anticipated reality that the coach and his new crusader team were up against it. Therefore, I humbly believe that unlike some commentators present, I laud coach Penny and the team for their efforts to date and I am sure given another term and with Canterbury behind them they will be riding high once more. Strange all this coming from me who lives in Taupo and a one eyed chiefs supporter. Can't wait for all future chiefs and crusader games!
7 Go to commentsGrt bench player..keep him there..
3 Go to commentsA Springbok 2-0 win: haha told you we were champions now shut up An Irish 2-0 win: the referee was under orders from world rugby to cheat us but luckily we don’t care because this is part of Rassie’s grand world Cup plan.
112 Go to commentsI hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
7 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
7 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
7 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
112 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
112 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
112 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
112 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
112 Go to comments