Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Portia Woodman scored a try, but the Black Ferns Sevens lost their Commonwealth Games semi-final to Australia.
The title defense of the Black Ferns in the Commonwealth is over.
So dominant in the group stage, they suffered a heartbreaking 17-12 defeat to Australia in their semi-final at Coventry Stadium on Sunday morning (NZT).
After beating the Aussies in that thrilling extra-time final in the first staging of the women’s sevens at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast, this was an equally engrossing trans-Tasman battle, but the women in black came out on top. off on the other hand, after a Maddison Levi hat-trick saw them relegated to the bronze medal game on Monday morning (NZT).
With winger Portia Woodman returning from the ankle injury she sustained on day one, New Zealand had previously beaten host England 38-7, fellow winger Michaela Blyde brought her tournament try-tally to 10 as the Black Ferns defeated their group opponents. defeated 143-13.
Their reward? A semi-final with 2022 World Series champions Australia.
And it was the Aussies who got off to a better start, opening the score when Levi came out on a fine outburst from Sharni Williams in the second minute.
But New Zealand fought back well and took a 12-5 lead en route to halftime.
They turned the ball around and went on the attack and Tyla Nathan-Wong sent a beautiful ball to Woodman to finish, before adding another just before half-time when Nathan-Wong hit the line and a nice inside ball for Theresa Fitzpatrick stopped to dot down.
The Aussies needed an own goal and certainly got it early in the second stanza, when Levi raged and fended off Sarah Hirini to take control in the left corner to cut the deficit to two.
Then, with 90 seconds to go, a brilliant team effort from 60 yards saw Levi shoot it down that left flank again to pass for her third.
It left a desperate Black Ferns side that fought to the death. With time on the clock, Woodman went for a run in the Aussie 22m and Levi was shown a yellow card for pulling the flyer’s long dreadlocks.
However, by spinning the ball wide, New Zealand muscled off the ball at the ruck and the Aussies were able to close the deal.
Meanwhile, after beating England 20-0 to start the day, the All Blacks Sevens also went through the group stage undefeated and face Kenya in the quarter-finals at 8.10am on Sunday.