Another week, another streak busted.
The Black Ferns Sevens’ staggering run of 14 straight final appearances on the sevens circuit has come to an end after they were beaten in the semifinals of the Cape Town Sevens.
The New Zealand women’s team hadn’t lost a semifinal since October 6, 2019 in the World Series format, though did suffer a semifinal defeat at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Last weekend the Black Ferns’ 41-match unbeaten streak ended with a defeat to Australia in the Dubai final.
The final run ended when the Cape Town defending champions went down in a 24-12 defeat to France overnight.
France got out to a 12-0 halftime lead but the Black Ferns Sevens fought back to level the semifinal up first with a try to Michaela Blyde and then Portia Woodman-Wickliffe crossed over while French player Caroline Drouin was in the bin. But despite being down a player France retook the lead when Camille Grassineau broke free with two minutes left.