Rugby: Black Ferns off to Olympics

Tyla Nathan-Wong was named Player of the Final. Photo / Getty Images

The Black Ferns Sevens survived a late scare to claim their fourth World Series tournament of the season, beating Australia in the Langford final to claim a hat-trick of titles in Canada.

The win confirmed New Zealand as the first sevens team to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The World Cup and Commonwealth Games champions bounced back from a disappointing fifth-place finish in Kitakyushu in Japan last month to go unbeaten in Canada.

Sarah Hirini and Niall Williams scored first-half tries as New Zealand led 14-10 at halftime, before standout Tyla Nathan-Wong showed her class, scoring one try, converting all three and proving the difference in the 21-17 win. Her performance saw her named Player of the Final.

Winning four of this season's five tournaments, the Black Ferns Sevens had done enough to qualify for the Olympics after beating Spain in the quarter-finals early yesterday.

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew congratulated the side on their efforts this season and for confirming their place in Tokyo.

"Olympic qualification was the big goal for the Black Ferns Sevens this season and it's great to see that Olympic spot confirmed. I'm sure the focus now will turn to claiming that Series title in France next month and we're looking forward to them ending the season on a high," said Tew.

One tournament remains to round out the 2018-19 season, with teams travelling to France for the Biarritz Sevens on June 16-17.

Yesterday's success takes New Zealand to the brink of another World Series — they need to finish seventh or better at Biarritz to claim their fifth title in the seven-year history of the competition. Australia won the other two, including last year.

New Zealand top the World Series standings with 92 points, 12 ahead of the United States in second.