Sometimes, sport comes down to a matter of inches. For the All Blacks Sevens, they were on the wrong side of the equation in this weekend’s final against Argentina.
A 12-0 lead at half time wasn’t enough to set the side up for a win on home soil, with Argentina scoring two tries under the posts - easily converting them - to take a 14-12 win.
It came down to the final play of the game, with Roderick Solo putting a grubber in behind the defence. The bounce didn’t favour the Kiwis, though. As Brady Rush tried to plant it for a try, it bounced up and while Rush did plant it with his elbow, he was deemed to have made contact with his hands first and knocked on, the TMO ruling out the fairytale finish for the Kiwis.
The Argentinians knocked out the fifth, fourth and third seeds in order on their way to the title, coming in as the No 8.
7:48pm- BLACK FERNS SEVENS WIN IN HAMILTON
The World Rugby Sevens Series will depart Kiwi shores with only one name on the trophy for its women’s event: New Zealand.
After winning the inaugural New Zealand world series event at home in 2020, the Black Ferns Sevens have defended their throne with a 33-7 win over the United States.
Two quick, early strikes through Michaela Blyde and Jazmin Felix-Hotham set the tone for the home side, but it was their defence that they could credit for holding a 14-0 lead at half time. After Felix-Hotham’s strike in the third minute, USA had the bulk of the football and tested the Kiwi side across the park. The defence, however, was immaculate.
The second half started the same as the first with Blyde scoring quickly, before young star Jorja Miller also pulled off one of the more remarkable solo efforts you’ll see. She came close, but ultimately got the ball at the right end of the park, and Blyde scored again soon after.
One last try to Portia Woodman-Wickliffe sealed the result, with the Black Ferns Sevens claiming capping off an impressive win in style.
7:17pm - USA men’s and Australian women’s teams claim bronze
Australia continued their run of podium finishes in the women’s draw with a bronze in Hamilton, toppling Ireland 33-17 in their playoff for third. It’s the first time this season they have not featured in the gold medal match.
In the men’s draw, the USA scrapped a 15-14 win over France. France fought back from a 10-point deficit early, but couldn’t make the most of a USA yellow card in the second half, with the USA scoring late to claim bronze.
Women’s tournament: Papua New Guinea 12, Canada 11, Brazil 10, Spain 9, Fiji 8, France 7, Japan 6, Great Britain 5.
Men’s tournament: Japan and Uruguay 15=, Canada 14, Spain 13, Great Britain and Tonga 11=, Kenya 10, Samoa 9, South Africa and Fiji 7=, Ireland 6, Australia 5.
4:20pm - “If they’re meeting us in the final, they’re going to be good”
That was All Blacks Sevens star Leroy Carter’s response when asked what he expected in tonight’s final against Argentina.
A side who came into the weekend eighth in the overall standings, Argentina have upset Fiji (5) and USA (4) in their run to the final so far, and now have their sights on the world No 3 New Zealand side.
“We just need to keep our momentum going and not let it slip. We really want this one at home.”
The All Blacks Sevens have won 10 of the 21 New Zealand tournaments contested to date, and would love to add to that phenomenal run on home soil to cap off the country’s tenure as a host on the series.
The World Rugby Sevens Series will not be returning to New Zealand following this year’s event for the foreseeable future, with a revamped series to be revealed later this year. While no venues have been confirmed for the new schedule, World Rugby has confirmed New Zealand will not be one of them.
3:07pm - ALL BLACKS SEVENS THROUGH TO FINAL
In their semifinal in Hamilton, the All Blacks Sevens needed just 15 seconds to open the scoring against France.
A slick move to the right edge saw Leroy Carter get the ball in plenty of space, and he raced away to score. From there it was one-way traffic as the Kiwi side routed their French counterparts 38-0.
The French weren’t helped in the final two minutes by having two players sent to the sin bin for a couple of incidents away from the ball, but they were never in with a look.
It was a determined performance from the New Zealanders to book a spot in the final of their home tournament, where they will meet either Argentina or France.
Joe Webber - “I couldn’t have asked for a better occasion”
In his 50th tournament for the All Blacks Sevens, Joe Webber has been an influential part of the side trying to secure another title on home soil.
It’s been a long time coming for Webber to reach this milestone. He made his debut on the World Series all the way back in 2011, but injuries have limited his availability over the years.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better occasion; bringing up 50 in front of my best mates at home where it all started,” Webber said.
“It was always on my mind. I think I was there for most of the boys’ 50ths - Lote (Raikabula), DJ (Forbes), Tomasi (Cama) and Timmy (Mikkelson) - just seeing them get to 50, it was something I really set my mind on. I was stoked to finally get it; I probably took longer than most of them though - bloody injured all the time.”
2:00pm - BLACK FERNS SEVENS THROUGH TO THE FINAL
If you want to get a crowd excited, just push your opponent off with a huge fend as you race to the try line. It’s something Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is well practiced at, and something that had the Hamilton crowd roaring.
Woodman-Wickliffe put an emphatic ‘don’t argue’ on an attempted tackler during the Black Ferns Sevens semifinal win over Ireland, scoring one of the side’s six tries in the 32-0 win.
Doubles to Jorja Miller and Michaela Blyde, as well as a try to Stacey Fluhler, saw the hosts through to the final in a rather one-sided encounter. They will now take on the USA in the final, while Ireland meet Australia in the bronze medal match.
For the first time in this campaign, Australia will not feature in the women’s cup final. The current ladder leaders were toppled by the USA in a tight match, falling 12-7.
The USA will meet either New Zealand or Ireland in the final.
12:25pm - All Blacks Sevens survive Irish challenge
The All Blacks Sevens gave fans a nervous watch in their quarterfinal against Ireland, overcoming an early deficit and a yellow card to claim a 10-5 win.
Ireland scored inside the opening minute as Aaron O’Sullivan beat Akuila Rokolisoa one-on-one and no one could match him for pace as he raced away to score.
Both sides were forced to do a lot of defensive work in a rather frantic first half of football, but it was the Kiwis who crossed next through their captain Sam Dickson.
Dickson again made a massive play in the context of the game in the second half. After Dylan Collier was sent to the sin bin, Ireland got the ball into good field position with a numbers advantage, only for Dickson to force a turnover at the ruck. The New Zealand side were smart in trying to milk the clock while Collier was on the sideline, running substitutions and taking the time to discuss their penalty options at length.
The turnover secured by Dickson was a turning point, as the New Zealand side got another penalty soon after and made their trip into Irish territory count as Brady Rush crossed in the final minute to secure the win.
They will meet France in the semifinals, while the USA take on Argentina in the other match.
Jorja Miller - “It was a bit weird”
A milestone was achieved for Black Ferns Sevens young gun Jorja Miller earlier today, unwanted as it may have been, as she picked up her first-ever yellow card on the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The 18-year-old was sent to the sin bin early in the side’s 43-12 win over Japan in the quarterfinals and said it was a case of just having to “suck it up” when the referee went to their pocket.
“It was a bit random sitting on the sideline waiting to go back on, but I couldn’t do anything about it,” she said.
“Yeah, it was a bit weird.”
Miller made amends almost immediately after returning to the pitch, scoring an impressive long-range effort; standing up her defender before running about 40m to plant the ball.
Playing in just her third tournament with the national side after debuting in Dubai late last year, Miller has continued to show she belongs at the top level; her footwork at times leaving defenders grasping at air.
Miller hasn’t taken long to get comfortable playing at the top level; she said breaking each match down to “it’s just a game of rugby” has been beneficial in that aspect.
In Hamilton, she is also getting a chance to play with some of the more experienced players for the first time; an opportunity that she is relishing.
“It’s so cool having them back. At the end of last year, we had a younger group of girls and it was cool to go on tour with them, but now with the older girls back, getting them back into the environment and showing them what we’ve learned, and them bringing what they’ve learned back to us has been really cool.”
11:43pm - Fiji crash out in quarterfinals
A bit of a blow for the many, many Fijian fans in the crowd as both of their sides have crashed out of the Cup draw in the quarterfinals. The women’s side were toppled by USA 27-7, while the men have just been upset by Argentina 19-10.
Argentina will now meet France in the semifinals, after they upset the current world No 2 South African side 22-17 in the first of the men’s main draw knockout matches.
10:58am - Black Ferns Sevens to meet Ireland in semifinals
The Black Ferns Sevens will meet Ireland in the semifinals after beating Japan 43-12 in their quarterfinal.
Risi Pouri-Lane with a show-and-go from inside her own half to break the line and score the opener. A yellow card to Jorja Miller soon after opened the door for Japan to hit back, doing so despite some big efforts from the New Zealanders to cover the numbers disadvantage. Miller made amends soon after coming back onto the pitch, shaking off a defender to score from about 40m out.
The fast-paced game of the Japanese did cause them some problems, and a nice wrap-around play saw Japan cross again in the second half. However, a hat-trick to Shiray Kaka pushed the score line out as saw the hosts comfortably through to the semifinals.
They will meet Ireland at 1:42pm.
10:12am - Familiar faces in first women’s semifinal
Australia and USA will meet in the first women’s semifinal of the tournament, after beating Great Britain and Fiji in their respective quarterfinals this morning.
Australia has made both finals on the World Series so far this campaign, winning in Dubai before losing to the Black Ferns Sevens in the Cape Town final. USA have finished third at both events and after losing to Australia in their semifinal in Dubai, the USA will be looking to get one back on the current Series leaders.
Sarah Hirini - “It’s lucky I’ve got good teammates”
In an ominous showing on day one of the tournament, the Black Ferns Sevens blanked each of Papua New Guinea (56-0), Fiji (27-0) and Great Britain (20-0) to finish atop their group.
While a performance like that might suggest one-way traffic in what is widely known as an attack-favoured code, those score lines don’t paint the full picture.
Yes, against Papua New Guinea that was the case, but against Fiji and Great Britain it was the defence that caught the eye as it took some impressive efforts to keep that scoreless run going. Notably, Michaela Blyde and Jazmin Felix-Hotham made impressive chase-down efforts to prevent their opponents from scoring - both having to turn on the jets to cover plenty of ground to make the plays.
An important part of the game, team captain Sarah Hirini said the defensive performance was a case of something from the training paddock transferring onto the main stage.
“It’s pretty important to be able to (defend), especially on the World Series; teams are amazing at attack and everyone has pretty good strike weapons. But if you’re able to stop them and put pressure on them, it’s a lot easier.
“I know myself alone probably coughed up a few balls (against Great Briatin) but when you have a team who wants to keep going forward on defence and put pressure on, it makes it a bit easier to attack from.”
Hirini, returning to the Sevens arena for the first time this campaign after focusing on the 15-a-side game at the back end of 2022, added she wasn’t happy with her own performance in the side’s final pool game against Great Britain, but was happy with the final 20-0 win.
In particular, she said an attempt at throwing a pass to Stacey Fluhler mid-spin that was well off the mark might haunt her for some time.
“Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed by that,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to watch the game because of how terribly I played, but that’s OK. Sometimes that happens, and it’s lucky I’ve got good teammates.”
Among those teammates, young stars such as Felix-Hotham and Jorja Miller have continued to shine for the Black Ferns Sevens despite the return of more experienced players in Hamilton.
The side had to rely on some of their more youthful and more inexperienced players for the first two events on the World Series in Dubai and Cape Town. That didn’t hamper their performances though, as they came away with a tournament win and a runner-up finish.
“It was awesome to be able to watch the way they played in Cape Town and Dubai, and to just see them really flourish on the World Stage,” Hirini said of the side’s young talent.
“They’ve been doing that a lot at training back home for a long time, but to now have that World Series experience, you can see how confident they are with that.”
9:30am - Welcome back to overcast Hamilton for the final day of the 2023 New Zealand Sevens.
If you missed the action from day one, both New Zealand teams went through the group stages unblemished - with the Black Ferns Sevens not conceding a single point across their three matches which was very impressive.
They’ll both play in the quarterfinals looking to back up their respective titles from the last time the event was in town in 2020.