New Zealand 7s punish Australia to bag women's final at Dubai SVNS

New Zealand Women’s 7s ended Australia Women’s 7s’ long reign as queens of the Dubai SVNS, claiming their first title in the Emirati desert in six years.

New Zealand’s pressure and a willingness to let Australia self-destruct proved key. The reigning champions came in with an ambitious offloading strategy – but it failed to click. New Zealand simply waited for the mistakes, and when they came – and they came often – the women in black pounced with cold efficiency.

Australia actually carved out the first meaningful break, stringing together a chain of offloads to surge upfield. But, establishing the game’s theme, the final pass hit the deck. New Zealand snapped onto it and never looked back. After a long, controlled spell of possession, Stacy Waaka finished almost untouched in the corner.

The conversion slid wide but the tone was set.

Australia kept running it back with intent, but every optimistic pass only dragged them deeper into trouble. When another loose offload bobbled free, New Zealand struck from transition, Kelsey Teneti sweeping up the final pass to make it 10-0.

Teagan Levi then overplayed her hand at a ruck in the dying seconds of the half, penalised for playing the ball. From the resulting platform, Jorja Miller stepped off her right and knifed through under the posts for 17-0 at the break.

Things deteriorated further straight after the restart. Again an Australian handling error proved fatal, Risi Pouri-Lane snapping up a fumbled ball and strolling in beneath the sticks for 22-0.

New Zealand briefly wobbled when Jazmin Felix-Hotham was yellow-carded for slowing the ball. Finally enjoying a numerical advantage, Australia got the foothold they’d been crying out for. Heidi Dennis backed her pace from 40 metres out, pinned her ears back and put Australia on the board.

But normal service resumed quickly. Miller crossed again, New Zealand’s fifth, a questionable tackle in the build-up surviving review as the margin ballooned to 29-7.

Dennis grabbed a late consolation to close it to 29-14, but the damage was long done. Australia’s Dubai SVNS crown slipped away under the weight of their own errors, and New Zealand walked off deserved champions.