Sarah Hirini looked at the pain on the faces of her teammates and felt as if she had been punched.
“Absolutely gutted,” the Black Ferns Sevens captain said moments after her team’s Commonwealth Games title defense was buried under the hands of the Aussies.
Hirini then collapsed, tears filling her eyes as she tried to control her side’s 17-12 defeat in Coventry on Sunday morning (NZT).
PHOTO SPORT
Australia celebrates beating New Zealand in the women’s sevens semi-final.
A moment earlier, teammate Tyla Nathan-Wong also stood in the same spot and was also in tears, forcing her to take a moment to regain her composure.
Both tried to make sense of the painful defeat and wondered why they couldn’t turn a numerical advantage into a last-ditch effort in the 2018 Gold Coast final rematch.
“To be honest, that’s the good thing about sevens,” Hirini said of the fine lines that often decide matches.
The Black Ferns had a golden opportunity to steal the game after Australian hat-trick scorer Maddison Levi was shown a yellow card for pulling Portia Woodman’s hair.
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Black Ferns Sevens (LR) Sarah Hirini, Portia Woodman and Kelly Brazier after their semi-final defeat to Australia at the Commonwealth Games.
With time on the clock, the Kiwis grabbed a scrum in the 22, knowing a converted try would send them into the gold medal game.
However, they threw the ball wide and were gobbled up by the Aussies, who suffered a lot from the ruck throughout the game.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it fucking sucks,” Nathan-Wong complained.
“We work hard for those moments and unfortunately they have eluded us.”
Before Hirini and Nathan-Wong stopped to talk to the media, a dejected Woodman trudged along with her ultra-long locks.
Which begs the question: Would she have scored if Levi hadn’t gotten a hold of them?
“Yeah, well, we’re going back to check that out.” Black Ferns coach Cory Sweeney said.
Woodman had opened New Zealand’s bill in the first half and helped her side take a 12-5 lead at half-time.
After beating their group opponents 143-13 en route to the semi-finals, it all seemed to be going according to plan.
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
It’s a bull’s eye for Australia as they secure their place in the gold medal match.
However, the Australians’ physicality during the ruck forced the Black Ferns to make mistakes, denying them the chance to hold onto the ball after the break.
“Just seeing the disappointment on my teammates’ faces probably makes me a little more upset,” Hirini said.
“I don’t want anyone to blame themselves for what they did, and I’m sure the girls will have a pretty hard time.”
Richard Heathcotea
Australian Maddison Levi was shown a yellow card for pulling the hair off Portia Woodman’s Black Ferns wing.
Hirini doesn’t believe the one-sided beating they dealt during the group stage left them ill-prepared to face the 2022 World Series champions, pointing out that Canada and England were the top six.
Instead, she blamed the team’s inability to hold the ball, and the fine margins in sevens.
“We haven’t lost very often. And to be honest, the ones we’ve done we’ve probably watched 1000 times, I know them by heart.”
Now the Black Ferns must get ready for Monday morning’s bronze medal game against Canada.
Nathan-Wong, having found her voice, didn’t believe that would be a problem. In fact, quite the opposite.
“Watch out, whoever we play tomorrow, we’re coming for you.”
The All Blacks Sevens kept their gold medal title defense alive on Sunday morning by beating Kenya 31-0 after two tries by Regan Ware in their quarterfinals.
It booked a semi-final with Fiji on Sunday night. The winner will play in the final against Australia or South Africa.