Teneti stars as New Zealand bounce back from shock USA upset

Hat-trick hero Kelsey Teneti led the way for the Black Ferns Sevens as the defending HSBC SVNS Series champions bounced back from last weekend’s shock defeat to the USA in Dubai, beating the same opponent 38-12 in Cape Town on Saturday.

On the opening day of the new campaign, the USA claimed an early contender for upset of the season with a four-point triumph over the Black Ferns Sevens. While the New Zealanders still went on to win the title that weekend, it was a blip on their otherwise flawless record.

With New Zealand and the USA both drawn in Pool A for the second stop of the SVNS Series in Cape Town, a chance to claim some revenge awaited the Black Ferns Sevens. In the second round of pool matches, the New Zealanders got their chance in the Western Cape.

New Zealand couldn’t have started this clash any better, with Maia Davis placing the ball down for the opening try just 18 seconds into the match. Jazmin Felix-Hotham threw a brilliant offload, which saw Davis race away for the early score.

Teneti helped the Black Ferns Sevens build on their lead, with the SVNS Series regular crossing for the team’s second try 90 seconds into the fixture. Risi Pouri-Lane added the conversion, which saw the New Zealanders take a 14-0 lead after just two minutes.

It was a commanding start, but the USA refused to give up. Sariah Ibarra got the Eagles Sevens back into the contest with an important effort in the fifth minute, but the conversion attempt failed to hit the mark.

Teneti completed a double just before the half-time break, seeing the Black Ferns Sevens take a commanding 19-5 advantage into the huddle. The 22-year-old made it a hat-trick of tries less than one minute into the second term, reflecting New Zealand’s dominance.

Su Adegoke hit back for the USA but it was all New Zealand from there, with Jorja Miller and Katelyn Vahaakolo crossing for a try each. With last weekend’s defeat to the USA now firmly in the past, the Black Ferns Sevens are set for another semi-final appearance on the SVNS Series.

“We knew that wasn’t good enough and we hold our standards very high,” Teneti said on RugbyPass TV when asked about last weekend’s loss to the USA.

“We knew we had a lot of work to do… our main goal was to redo what we did last weekend and just show the USA a good game.”

Dubai Sevens finalists Australia went two-from-two to start their weekend at DHL Stadium, which included a 26-19 victory against Canada. Isabella Nasser has led by example, with the co-captain scoring three tries in two appearances to start the weekend.

Fiji made a statement with a 40-0 win over Great Britain, and France returned to winning ways with an upset 29-19 triumph over Japan. With the new SVNS Series format seeing the top two teams from each pool qualify for the semi-finals, the stakes couldn’t be higher on day one.