Sevens: Woodman leads try scorers but NZ finish second

Kaikohe's Portia Woodman dominated the try scoring tally with 43 five-pointers across the World Series. Photo / Getty Images

Portia Woodman's continued try-scoring exploits couldn't help New Zealand knock off Australia in the World Sevens Series.

The Black Ferns Sevens have beaten rivals Australia in the final of the Paris Sevens but have still finished second in the series.

New Zealand won 33-7 to claim their third title of the sevens series, one more than Australia, however they finished two points behind the Olympic gold medalists on the series standings.

Woodman and Michaela Blyde both scored doubles while Sarah Goss also crossed over in the final.

The Kaikohe back said the win puts them in good stead heading into their last major tournament of the season.

"It's the confidence we need going into the World Cup but there's only so much you can take away from that," she said.

"We've still got a lot to work on, from this series we've learnt you can't win without defence and the patience holding on to the ball."

Woodman's double saw her finish the series with 43 tries. Her 215 points tally was more than any other player.

Her efforts saw her picked in the series Dream Team along with Blyde. Coach Allan Bunting was named the women's coach of the year at the World Sevens Awards.

Woodman is currently the second highest female sevens point scorer of all time with 925 points, second to Canada's Ghislaine Landry with 984.

Captain Sarah Goss said while missing out on the series title wasn't ideal, their Paris effort has the team on the right track.

"I'm so happy with how we've gone in this tournament," Goss said. "It was amazing, especially heading in to the World Cup to keep building momentum.

"We were a little bit disappointed that we couldn't win the series but I'm really proud of how the girls have finished off the series. We'll be going home and working on our preparations for the World Cup in San Francisco because it's going to be a big one."

"Very proud but didn't expect anything less," New Zealand coach Allan Bunting said.

"This was our last chance to show what we've learned this year. All we could control was what we did, nothing to do with Australia. We've still got a lot to improve on and the next part of our journey for the World Cup is going to be important."

The teams head to San Francisco for the Rugby World Cup Sevens next month.